<p style=

“text-align: justify; text-indent: 14px; margin: 0px; font: 10px Times;”>

Sometimes in an act of

desperation, a government will go to extreme measures in an effort

to collect revenues to support the size it has reached. We have

seen this occur in California with the referendum that was defeated

in last Tuesday’s election.

<p style=

“text-align: justify; text-indent: 14px; margin: 0px; font: 10px Times;”>

Proposition 19 was an effort

to legalize and tax cannabis. This should, if legalized, be

legalized for medicinal purposes only, for the social costs of the

drug are more than I wish to bear.

<p style=

“text-align: justify; text-indent: 14px; margin: 0px; font: 10px Times;”>

According to the Office of

National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), marijuana affects alertness,

concentration, perception, coordination, and reaction time—skills

that are necessary for safe driving. 

<p style=

“text-align: justify; text-indent: 14px; margin: 0px; font: 10px Times;”>

A roadside study of reckless

drivers in Tennessee found that 33 percent of all subjects who were

not under the influence of alcohol and who were tested for drugs at

the scene of their arrest tested positive for marijuana. In a 2003

Canadian study, one in five students admitted to driving within an

hour of using marijuana.

<p style=

“text-align: justify; text-indent: 14px; margin: 0px; font: 10px Times;”>

Studies have shown that

cannabis users have more sexual partners and engage in unsafe sex,

according to the ONDCP. This always ends up coming back to hurt the

taxpayer, as we have yet another single mom on the welfare rolls

and we have to pay for her mistake.

<p style=

“text-align: justify; text-indent: 14px; margin: 0px; font: 10px Times;”>

The crime rate will increase

as a result of marijuana usage, as seen even today without

legalization. Young people that use marijuana are four times as

likely to commit violent crimes than non-users. Also, more than 41

percent of male arrestees in sampled U.S. cities tested positive

for marijuana, according to the ONDCP.

<p style=

“text-align: justify; text-indent: 14px; margin: 0px; font: 10px Times;”>

Most law enforcement officials

would attest that simple marijuana users rarely get sent to jail.

In fact, a substantial number of states and localities rate simple

possession of marijuana as a misdemeanor, subject only to a small

fine. 

<p style=

“text-align: justify; text-indent: 14px; margin: 0px; font: 10px Times;”>

Our prisons are not filled

with people whose only crime was smoking marijuana. The vast

majority of those behind bars for marijuana offenses are mid and

large-scale traffickers and distributors, according to the

ONDCP.

<p style=

“text-align: justify; text-indent: 14px; margin: 0px; font: 10px Times;”>

On the federal level, nearly

98 percent of the 7,991 offenders sentenced for marijuana crimes in

2001 were guilty of trafficking. Only 2.3 percent—186 people—were

sentenced for simple possession of marijuana, according to the

ONDCP.

<p style=

“text-align: justify; text-indent: 14px; margin: 0px; font: 10px Times;”>

The median amount of marijuana

involved in the conviction in federal court of marijuana-only

possession offenders in 1997 was 115 pounds. In other words, half

of all federal prisoners convicted just for marijuana possession

were arrested with quantities exceeding 115 pounds, according to

the ONDCP.

<p style=

“text-align: justify; text-indent: 14px; margin: 0px; font: 10px Times;”>

These are some costs that we,

as American citizens, would have to assume if marijuana is made

legal. Thank goodness the citizens of California had the sense to

reject the proposal. We must fight every day to make America a

safer place for all.