Legalizing marijuana isn't something most people on Ebaums are against, so I thought I'd share some real facepalm educing arguments I've heard against legalizing marijuana. But first of all I'd like to give props to Ebaums for including the new subscriptions button; nice move.

     About a year ago I was having a conversation with an interesting fellow my aunt was dating at the time. He was college educated and was well versed in his stance on certain issues. The subject of legalizing marijuana then came up, and he compared it to legalizing pedophilia if the underage person gave his or her consent. I was shocked at what a dumb argument this was, and that this man actually believed it was a valid reason. His point was that there are some things society doesn't want to have to deal with. Pedophilia-with consent- is something no society should make legal; just like marijuana.

       First of all pedophilia with consent is still harming the child in question. There is a reason people should be of a certain age to legally do things. No one with a brain has argued that the legal use of marijuana should be given to people of all ages; you should be at least 18 or even 21. Use among minors would most likely decrease because it will be regulated. The other benefits go on and on. Increased revenue through tax, decrease prison population substantially, decrease the street crime revolving around marijuana, farmers could legally grow hemp (and we all know the literal thousands of benefits hemp could bring), and of course medical marijuana.

       This actually leads me to my second facepalm moment. I was discussing medical marijuana with another person. This person was once again well educated, but largely misinformed about pot. They argued that with all of the other medicines out there, there is no need to legalize medical marijuana. What this person failed to understand that the drugs like codeine, morphine, opiates, etc. are much much more addictive and turn you into figurative zombies. I had some really close friends become slaves to opiates and they physically turned zombie-like. If the above the influence commercials had said people melt into the couch after taking opiates THAT would have been much more accurate. 

     I really hope to see some social changes in my life time, and have good reason to believe they will happen before I'm gone. I'm 21 and the majority of the people my age that I meet are really into the idea of minimal government interference in our social lives. Things like legalizing pot, and equal marriage rights are things that only effect  the people involved. In my eyes nothing of the sort should be illegal.