Pubdate: Thu, 03 Mar 2011 Source: Augusta Chronicle, The (GA) Copyright: 2011 The Augusta Chronicle Contact: http://chronicle.augusta.com/help/contact Website: http://chronicle.augusta.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/31 Author: Shayne Felberg OPPRESSION KEEPS MARIJUANA ILLEGAL How many more lives have to be ruined by marijuana prohibition before we step up and legalize marijuana? Why is the most useful plant known illegal? Because crooked corporations that buy crooked politicians fear competition from superior, safer and more environmentally friendly hemp products -- and because the government loves to oppress, jail and steal from the people! Alcohol, tobacco, petroleum, cotton, timber, chemical and pharmaceutical companies, just to name a few, all see marijuana as unwanted competition. The best way for we the people to regain our constitutional rights and liberties is to demand a complete ban on corporate lobbying. We are supposed to have Government of, for and by the people , not of, for and by corporations! Corporations are not people! Marijuana does not cause aggressive behavior. It does not cause dangerous driving. Marijuana does not cause cancer, brain damage or any serious health problems. Marijuana prohibition does not keep kids away from marijuana; illegal dealers don't ask for ID. Marijuana is not a "gateway drug"; there is absolutely nothing about marijuana that causes people to use other drugs. Marijuana is not addictive. Marijuana is safer than many foods we consume and give to our kids all the time! What good is this prohibition doing, and who is benefiting from it? When was the last time you heard of the cops being called to break up a fight at a marijuana party? Never! When was the last time you heard about a marijuana consumer beating his wife -- when alcohol was not a factor as well? Never! The cops and the politicians know marijuana is no threat to society, but they keep screaming their fearmongering marijuana lies at every opportunity. Did you ever wonder why? There's a saying: If people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny. Shayne Felberg Augusta - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.