The fact that marijuana is illegal makes it a uncontrolled substance. As such it's growth, processing and distribution remain unregulated so that those who use it have no idea what they have actually inhaled/consumed with each use. It could be tainted with anything, and unfortunately often is. Dangerous pesticides, urine, feces, and other "fertilizers" of unacceptable origin are sometimes used by growers, dealers have been reported to have added or "laced" cannabis with dangerous drugs or substances to enhance the weight and perceived value of low grade marijuana. Add to this that because of the potential legal consequences someone that gets sick from tainted weed is less likely to seek medical treatment. All of these reasons alone scream out for legal, regulated cannabis growing, processing and distribution.

Because of the illegality of "paraphernalia" the development and distribution of safer and more health conscious methods of administration, such as vaporization instead of smoking, marijuana continues to be less benign and harmless than it would be if it were a regulated, legal "controlled substance". The DEA has thus far effectively stifled research on the benefits of cannabis and repressed research that demonstrate it's benefits, thereby depriving hundreds of millions of US citizens from the health benefits cannabis compounds offer.

We all know that the use of cannabis will never end, no matter how harsh the laws are or what the propaganda campaigns of rogue agencies like the DEA try to tell us. Every rational person should be able to understand that marijuana, even in it's current unstandardized, unregulated state, has tremendous therapeutic benefits as demonstrated by the fact that "Marinol"(an FDA approved, artificial form of cannabis's most highly touted ingredient:THC) is being used in hospitals and prescribed by doctors across the United States for chemotherapy induced nausea, wasting syndromes, MS muscle spasticity and the much more, and has been successfully for many years. Those well versed on the topic know that Marinol has been shown to be far less effective for most patients than smoked cannabis.

One can easily argue that the US federal government is guilty of knowningly poisoning it's constituents every day, by not legalizing and regulating cannabis growth, preparation and sales.

Because of the illegality of marijuana and other controlled substances the value/price for obtaining it has been driven to unrealistically high levels, providing unimaginable wealth to those who traffic in it, giving those with criminal intent the money and power to effectively defy entire governments. This natural consequence of prohibition is leading to the weakening of civilization in several countries, Mexico in particular. It is only the prohibition of drugs that makes them so valuable that those trafficking in them can afford weapons, soldiers, bribery and to set at defiance a nations governmental authority. The US federal government, and the DEA in particular, is responsible for destabilizing several countries, besides our own, through prohibitionist policies.

The drug warriors everyday are putting patients and their providers in jail, destroying patient support facilities, tearing apart families because a parent uses cannabis medicinally or otherwise, selectively targeting people who have assets they can seize for prosecution, enforcing unbelievably harsh penalties for essentially benign actions, planting evidence and lying under oath to convict innocent people, often on a racial bias basis and doing far worse. Innocent people are being killed all over the US because of the level of force the drug warriors routinely use. A 16 year old girl was shoot to death by drug enforcement agents after being mistaken, in broad daylight, for a 40 year old male suspect in a drug investigation. A grandmother is shot to death in her own home when drug warriors, dressed in ski masks raid the wrong house in the middle of the night. A man in prison after being convicted of cannabis possession dies of a rare condition that had been held at bay for years by his use of cannabis. The list of accounts like these is endless and grows every day prohibition continues.

If our government will not stop poisoning us and tearing our families apart, and throwing us in gulags, and killing us, trying to justify killing innocent bystanders and even perpetuating the destabilization of other countries as they carry out this unholy war on it's own citizens, then we must each individually and collectively rise up from complacency and take action. Not just in a brief moment of passion, but every day. We must get involved, change the laws and remove from power all in positions of leadership who support the "war on drugs". To not do so is to silently accept responsibility for all the horrendous events that take place every day in our city, state, country and world because of prohibition that emanates from the US.

We are the government, but only if we act. Only by banding together can we protect one another from the anti-cannabis gang like groups (DEA, special drug enforcement police units, not to mention private prohibitionist groups) who are trying to force their personal values on the rest of us. Let's not allow another brother or sister go to jail or otherwise be "legally" abused for smoking a plant, for growing a weed, for having a joint in their pocket or bits of ganja on their floorboards. Let's put an end to allowing one another to become victims of the drug war.

We must each personally help others understand the harms being done by prohibition. Federal drug prohibition is nothing more than an extremely sophisticated, federally funded and supported, protection racket which creates fears of harm that we must give them our tax dollars for them to protect us and our children from. Protection they do not provide, from harms they create via prohibition. "Illicit" drugs of all kinds are more pervasive, more numerous, cheaper and more readily available to adults and children today than in the last year, the last decade or the last century. Prohibition as a policy has a well documented natural outcome that our society must not ignore, for if we ignore this our country will be brought to it's knees.

We must vote for and campaign for people who support ending prohibition and vote and campaign against prohibitionists. We must contribute substantially to those who work full time to bring about an end to prohibition. There are many organizations that are getting real results around the country in changing attitudes and changing laws. Support local activist groups, local initiatives and regularly contact your representatives to voice your support for ending drug prohibition and your intention to make voting and contribution decisions based on their action in regard to this issue.

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What I freely have been given let me freely share