Heather DeAnda

March 17^th, 2009 a 20-year-old Grand Valley State University student Derrek Copp who is currently hospitalized and in serious conditions after a police officer shot him in the chest while serving a drug warrant. Derrek claims he had no idea the officer was even an officer after coming through his apartment’s back door, then shining a flashlight in his eyes. He never even got a chance to see who was coming at him. Derek was unarmed and police haven’t told whether he had possession of marijuana or not. (Webster) Does this seem like something to get shot over? It’s not exactly even clear why he was shot?

            Illegal drug policy, which is currently in effect, is just stupid. Poor innocent people who are not harming anyone while doing drugs and going to jail for years and life sometimes is insane. For a first time offence you can get a fine up to a $5000 fine and go to jail up to a year. (Analysis)  People are going to do drugs whether they are legal or not and it is causing people to go crazy just to get it. It’s putting people in extreme debt and making them homeless because illegal drugs are so expensive. Tell me why this makes any sense? Police arrest more American people for marijuana charges alone per year, then they do for rape, murder, robbery, and aggravated assault combined. (NORML) Convicted marijuana offenders are denied federal financial aid, welfare, and food stamps and may be removed from public housings. Is all this really necessary if its not harming anyone? It should be your own choice. In some states, convicted marijuana offenders are automatically stripped of their driving privileges even if the offence is not driving related.

            Decriminalizing marijuana is treating marijuana like a speeding ticket and getting a fine. Instead of going to jail, you get treatment and it does not go on your record, which I think is an awesome plan. Each year we waste $7-10 billion just prosecuting users alone it.(NORML)

             Decriminalizing drugs just seems more reasonable; your not making them legal but you are also not making people  who use them affected for life, just for trying it once and getting caught. This policy is also making it possible for people to get treatment and get better rather then going to jail and going right back into doing drugs again when they get out.  People are going to jail and paying all of these fines for something that is not harming anyone. Getting treatment for doing drugs is a much more positive solution then being sent to jail. In treatment there’s usually a relapse but that’s the case for everything. Just keep going. More then 76 million Americans have admitted to trying marijuana. The majority of these people did not go on to becoming regular users, try other illicit drugs or suffer from any deleterious effects to their health. (NORML)

            A recent research report published in Thorax an international journal of  respiratory medicine stated that; “  Smoking a Joint is equivalent to 20 cigarettes in terms of  lung cancer risks.” ( Marijuana). Cigarettes and alcohol are worse then Marijuana. Alcohol affects your liver and other health problems that kill you.  Juniors in High School drank 35 % of all wine coolers in the US. Alcohol related accidents are the leading cause of death among people 15 to 24 years of age. Half of all youthful deaths are alcohol related. Cigarettes cause lung cancer and birth defects that kill you and are also harmful to your body. Not only are cigarettes a gateway to higher worse drugs, they are also more likely to get into fights, carry weapons, attempt suicide and engage in high risk sexual behaviors. The US Department of Education echoes the CDC found that people who begin to smoke at an early age are more likely to,  develop severe levels of nicotine addiction that those who start at a later age. (Keeping).

            Everyone should have the right to choose what is affecting his or her health or not. Who is to say whether alcohol is better then marijuana or cigarettes to marijuana? Who is the one who judges this? Right or wrong?  It’s your life and you should be able to make your own decisions. Who are you to say what’s someone should do or not? Marijuana should be at least decriminalized and treated like a traffic ticket at least.  If anything I think Cigarettes and alcohol should also be banned, not just marijuana.

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