June 02, 2014
Monday PM

Legalization? It is weird for me to say that i am a former pothead, most people who know me would be shocked. But it's true. In college I tried it for the first time and discovered that it helped me deal with all the stresses I was faced with, and kept me on track to getting an AA with a gpa of 3.75. My grades improved because i smoked, but I was concerned that if i got arrested for it I would lose everything - my scholarships, my grades, my respect. I was fortunate to never get caught buying or selling it because I grew it myself.

When it was time to stop there were absolutely no physical withdraws, but the mental stresses that were always there came back, and I had to deal. Anyone who says they had withdrawals is not telling the whole truth -- even a heavy pot smoker can quit cold turkey and have less physical reaction than if they tried to quit a three cigarette a day habit.

Legalization of pot, in my opinion, will not create a whole generation of potheads who destroy their lives by sitting around stoned out of their minds. they already have the chance to do that now. What it will do is reduce the numbers of people who fear that they will lose everything just by smoking it. It will also reduce the load of court trials, and prisoners who are charged for its possession, and ease a already loaded legal system. it will provide taxes to a tight state budget and medical alternatives to people who can't or won't take harsh man made drugs (which are proven addictive).

Honestly I don't see a single downside to legalization. So by not voting pot legal all the naysayers are doing is ignoring a reality that already exists, which is ironically what they accuse potheads of doing.

Marie Zellmer
Ketchikan, Alaska

Received May 31, 2014 - Published June 02, 2014

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