Many crimes more serious than weed use
by Shannon Harrison, managing editor

    Marijuana, weed, pot, cannabis and grass are words that most people around the world recognize. The question is how do most people feel about this drug so widely used around the world?

    Many countries in Europe have decided to give leaner sentences to people caught with marijuana. Some countries have even legalized it. They believe they have more important crimes to focus on.

    Peter Lilley, former deputy leader of the British Conservative Party, drew attention by backing the sale of cannabis in licensed shops for off-premises consumption, just like liquor. The drug would carry health warnings and be taxed. It would also be procured legally from licensed growers.

    He thinks this will hurt drug syndicates and help make dope “simply boring.”

    I don’t see the harm in legalizing marijuana, and I’m sure many will agree with me. Medical personnel support its use for pain, and many countries have already legalized marijuana.

    Marijuana has never been known to harm anyone, unless of course they over-eat, and in fact, it has been known to help people with painful long-term medical conditions.

    Even if marijuana is not legalized, people will still smoke it. A European Union drug-monitoring report says at least 45 million of its citizens—18 percent of those ages 15-64—have tried marijuana at least once, and about 15 million have done so in the past 12 months.

    I don’t smoke pot, but I do not have a problem with others smoking it. It’s their business if they want to participate in this drug.

    People who use marijuana are not hurting others, and according to statistics, they aren’t even hurting themselves. Marijuana is about as bad as smoking cigarettes, and those are legal.

    As other countries are becoming more lenient toward marijuana, the United States seems not to be following the crowd.

    Even the Canadian Bar Association, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police all conditionally support decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of pot.

    British Columbia’s underground marijuana industry earns about $4 billion each year and employs approximately 150,000 people, earns some $4 billion a year and sends as much as 95 percent of the output to the United States.

    One entrepreneur speculates that legalization will occur within two years in Canada. He is currently planning for a chain of cafes along the 3,987-mile U.S. border, selling high-quality weed to go in vacuum-sealed bags.

    Even if the United States doesn’t follow this trend, it is not now nor will it ever be hard for Americans to purchase this drug.

    I believe there are more important crimes in the world for the police to deal with than some teenager who wants to smoke a joint.
People need to stop worrying about others inhaling or not inhaling marijuana and start concentrating on crimes such as murder and rape.

    As long as these people aren’t harming themselves or others, there is nothing wrong with toking on a left-handed smoke.