Why I am Voting Yes on Question 7

I previously offered an interview with Neal Levine from CRCM (and he's not a stoner, as many have indicated they suspect). I want to offer my thoughts and reasons for supporting Question 7.

One theory that I have recently heard is that it is the first step to legalizing all drugs. The theory happens to come from someone who's opinion I value greatly and consider on many issues. While there is no doubt a portion of the yes on 7 folks who have that type of an agenda, I do not; and it is my opinion that the "legalize all drugs" crowd represents a very small portion of those of us who support question 7.

So why weed and not coke, meth, or heroin? My reason is simple. Our government is here to protect us from our enemies, not ourselves. The only people being hurt by marijuana are the uses themselves. In my opinion, it is your God given right to destroy your body and brain in any way you so choose. The problem with the other drugs I have listed is the effect they have on people. People do not think or act right when they are under the control of those substances. Meth steals your soul, and I have seen it first hand. People whom I used to call friends turned from honest, generous people to shady, unethical theives in a matter of months. The side effects of drugs like meth cause people to steal and become violent in search of more.

The effects of marijuana include laziness and mental slowness. I have met plenty of people who have never touched weed that are slow and lazy. No one tries to lock them up. As long as you take care of yourself and your family so I don't have to, I really don't care how slow or lazy you are.

I find most of the arguments agianst Question 7 especially baffling living in Nevada. We have 24/7 gambling, alcohol, and prostitution. You can light up a cigarette anywhere you please, but pot is evil? And don't forget, fast food on every corner. Every single one of those things I just listed is more damaging to society than pot. If you visit drugwarfacts.org, they have the proof. Their statistics are a little old, but still valid.

We'll start at the top, with cigarettes. They kill 435,000 Americans every year. So if you are hell bent on a mission to save people from themselves, that would be a good place to start. Not to mention second hand smoke. Funny thing is, most of the people who have told me that they don't want 7 to pass, are voting against both 4 and 5. I really don't understand what the logic there is. You don't want a people to be able to smoke weed at home, but you are all in favor of sucking down a lucky strike at the slot machine at Albertsons, around our kids? If you are one of those people and you are reading this, please comment on why you feel that way. I would really like to discuss it with you.

Next on the list is poor diet and exersise. 365,000 Americans each year die due to poor diet and exersise. I know for a fact many of the same people that are against question 7 hit the drive through for lunch almost daily. Maybe next election cycle we need an initiative to outlaw fast food. It is much more dangerous than marijuana.

Third on the list? Alcohol. 85,000 people each year due to alcohol consumption. And eleventh on the list is sexual behaviors, of which I would include prostatution. 20,000 people each year die from their sexual behaviors.

All of the things I have just discussed are available 24 hours per day, seven days per week here in Nevada. So what is the number of deaths due to marijuana consumption each year? Well, in 2000, that number was zero. Nada, zip, zilch, nothing, not one. Not a single person died due to marijuana consumption. So by leaving marijuana illegal, you are still not even saving anyone from themselves.

But what kind of a message does it send to our kids? I hear that one a lot. Well, all of the things we just talked about are legal and in our kids faces every day. We choose to educate our kids about the dangers of alcohol, tobacco, and sex, why not add marijuana to the list? Education is the key to keeping your kids away from all the bad habbits you don't want them to have. I am perplexed by the fact that most of the people that use the "what about the kids argument" are against sex ed in school. You don't trust the government to teach your kids about sex, but you rely on them to teach your kids about drugs? That dog don't hunt. Again, if this is you, please comment, because I really don't understand.

So we have established that marijuana is not nearly as dangerous as the government would have you believe. So when is marijuana dangerous? Marijuana is dangerous when it is being sold. Drug dealers carry guns and take part in violent activities. If a pot head could get is pot at the local head shop, he would have no reason to go visit a scary drug dealer in a bad neighborhood. You could effectively wipe out a huge portion of drug dealers in Nevada with one piece of legislation. Put them all out of business.

A survey taken at my high school while I was there (it's been about ten years now) showed that 71% of the seniors at my high school had tried pot, regardless of the illegal status. For those of you who's biggest fear is the message to the kids, I hope that's a message to you. If you have more than one child, statistically you will have a kid that at least tries smoking weed once. When they do, would you rather have them go to get it from a drug dealer in a bad neighborhood with a gun, or a local store?

In wrapping up my tyraid, I moved to Nevada 3 years ago from the socialist state of California. One of the major reasons was the tax structure here in Nevada. Thanks to casinos and gambling, we pay very little in taxes compared to other states. If the weed is gonna be sold anyway, why not get our share? Those new cops we are crying for, could be financed by weed. Not to mention the man hours that would be freed up if our law enforcement wasn't wasting their time putting a kid in jail over night for a joint.

Oh yeah, and that court battle that is coming if Question 7 passes, bring it on. We are long overdue for a states rights battle, I would love to see it happen right here in Nevada.

Vote yes on Question 7.