There are many things corrupt in our government. This, we know. This, we have learned in the past hundreds of years. We abide by many laws that are inconsistent with our American values and beliefs (we JUST recently granted the right of marriage to every human being, a right that was taken away from slaves as a tactic to dehumanize them, just as a reminder). One inconsistency I find most puzzling about our government is the illegality of a drug which has only proven to naturally be mentally and physically healing. The legality of a drug whose effects come not an inch near the damaging and detrimental effects of alcohol, a drug who kills nearly 100,000 people a year, and prescription pills, a drug which completely robs the life of a person and are issued by none other than the government. Yet marijuana (known to cause zero deaths per year, but treats cancer patients and a list of other diseases) remains illegal. We group the potheads with the felons, the robbers, the rapists, the mentally ill. It was only a matter of time before I went here, folks.

Side effects/potential harms of excessive consumption of alcohol: brain damage, nausea, vomiting, black-outs resulting in memory loss, impaired decisions, increased blood pressure, heart failure, liver failure. I could elaborate on the mere ability of alcoholism to completely ruin and destroy an entire family, but I won’t.

Side effects/potential harms of excessive consumption of marijuana: treats glaucoma, helps to control epileptic seizures, contains a chemical which halts cancer from spreading, decreases anxiety, eases physical pain of every type, increases appetite to (OK, perhaps a dangerous) amount. Might make you fall asleep in class, or try to lock your friend’s car with your own keys, or even just provide a break for your mind (if it’s anything restless, like mine). But it will surely not make you come home and beat your wife, or kill somebody by getting behind the wheel of a car.

There are stereotypes that marijuana makes you a lazy or unmotivated person. I’m sorry, but don’t blame the drug. Marijuana does not make you lazy; it makes you innovative. It reaches a different part of your brain which alters your perception in a natural and freeing way. If you become unmotivated or lazy because of weed to the point where it’s actually affecting your priorities and life, you need to work on your determination. I wouldn’t let a drug deter me from my path and future. I would only consume and involve my body and mind in something that will enhance this path. If smoking weed makes you lazy, you were a lazy person before you hit the joint. Why is a drug defined as so criminal today? What are the government’s purposes for withholding the legality? Why don’t they look as it as a financial opportunity -- do you know how much money we could produce in America and use for greater causes with the legal selling of this drug?

The government and law is one issue, but another lies in the perception of the person who “smokes weed.” Kids are labeled potheads, losers, stoners, burnouts. So they believe it. And may I remind you there are a vast number of reasons why somebody may routinely enjoy smoking marijuana, and you CAN function of a productive member of society while blowing it down every night. I understand the argument of marijuana acting as a “gateway drug,” because, honestly, I don’t disagree. Marijuana could 100 percent potentially be a gateway drug to the wrong person. But I can tell you something else: In today’s society, that person will find their way to drugs somehow.

To look into the history a bit, one must understand that “hemp” is what’s currently banned in the U.S. Hemp is essentially the basis of marijuana, as there is non-remedial hemp as well as remedial. But the mystery of hemp is the plethora of uses it provides. Hemp can be (and has been) used to produce clothing, paper, plastics, fuel, building supplies, and is a major contribution to chemical cleanup. Yet hemp remains illegal in 2016. But in the 1880′s, all school paper was created from hemp. People were allowed to pay taxes with hemp. George Washington (the man on the dollar bill) and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp. For thousands of years, 90 percent of all rope used in ships sailing were made from hemp. 80 percent of all textiles, fabrics, linen, and clothes were created from hemp in the 1820′s. The first ever maps, Bibles, charts created were made of hemp. Betsy Ross’s flag. The first drafts of the Declaration and the Constitution: hemp. Look all of this up if you don’t believe me.

Yet, the drug remains illegal. The drug that uses no pesticides to produce and is easily produced in large quantities remains illegal. Our government, our society does not value the benefits and wondrous gifts and solutions nature provides us. I hope we are working towards a future of dispelling this, of removing the pot growers from the criminals, of using marijuana as the truly remedial and medicinal drug its use is intended for. And to stop labeling people based on their similar consumption, for all drugs. People are all different. People take drugs for different reasons. The richest people don’t escape from drug addictions, nor do the people who seemingly have it “altogether.” Drugs are a sickly thing, but if we can focus on legalizing the right ones -- and withholding the wrong, extremely addictive and detrimental ones -- maybe we could work to lessen our drug addiction as a nation.