The readers of HIGH TIMES want marijuana legalized, nationwide, and now. The 420 Campaign is a plan to bring legalization before the US Congress and the public. We want to use April 20th as a focal point every year to concentrate pressure on Congress to legalize marijuana until we get the job done.

Here are our top ten reasons marijuana should be legalized:

10. Prohibition has failed to control the use and domestic production of marijuana

The government has tried to use criminal penalties to prevent marijuana use for over 75 years and yet: marijuana is now used by over 25 million people annually, cannabis is currently the largest cash crop in the United States, and marijuana is grown all over the planet. Claims that marijuana prohibition is a successful policy are ludicrous and unsupported by the facts, and the idea that marijuana will soon be eliminated from America and the rest of the world is a ridiculous fantasy.

9. Arrests for marijuana possession disproportionately affect blacks and Hispanics and reinforce the perception that law enforcement is biased and prejudiced against minorities

African-Americans account for approximately 13% of the population of the United States and about 13.5% of annual marijuana users, however, blacks also account for 26% of all marijuana arrests. Recent studies have demonstrated that blacks and Hispanics account for the majority of marijuana possession arrests in New York City, primarily for smoking marijuana in public view. Law enforcement has failed to demonstrate that marijuana laws can be enforced fairly without regard to race; far too often minorities are arrested for marijuana use while white/non-Hispanic Americans face a much lower risk of arrest.

8. A regulated, legal market in marijuana would reduce marijuana sales and use among teenagers, as well as reduce their exposure to other drugs in the illegal market

The illegality of marijuana makes it more valuable than if it were legal, providing opportunities for teenagers to make easy money selling it to their friends. If the excessive profits for marijuana sales were ended through legalization there would be less incentive for teens to sell it to one another. Teenage use of alcohol and tobacco remain serious public health problems even though those drugs are legal for adults, however, the availability of alcohol and tobacco is not made even more widespread by providing kids with economic incentives to sell either one to their friends and peers.

7. Legalized marijuana would reduce the flow of money from the American economy to international criminal gangs

marijuana’s illegality makes foreign cultivation and smuggling to the United States extremely profitable, sending billions of dollars overseas in an underground economy while diverting funds from productive economic development.

6. marijuana’s legalization would simplify the development of hemp as a valuable and diverse agricultural crop in the United States, including its development as a new bio-fuel to reduce carbon emissions

Canada and European countries have managed to support legal hemp cultivation without legalizing marijuana, but in the United States opposition to legal marijuana remains the biggest obstacle to development of industrial hemp as a valuable agricultural commodity. As US energy policy continues to embrace and promote the development of bio-fuels as an alternative to oil dependency and a way to reduce carbon emissions, it is all the more important to develop industrial hemp as a bio-fuel source – especially since use of hemp stalks as a fuel source will not increase demand and prices for food, such as corn. Legalization of marijuana will greatly simplify the regulatory burden on prospective hemp cultivation in the United States.

5. Prohibition is based on lies and disinformation

Justification of marijuana’s illegality increasingly requires distortions and selective uses of the scientific record, causing harm to the credibility of teachers, law enforcement officials, and scientists throughout the country. The dangers of marijuana use have been exaggerated for almost a century and the modern scientific record does not support the reefer madness predictions of the past and present. Many claims of marijuana’s danger are based on old 20th century prejudices that originated in a time when science was uncertain how marijuana produced its characteristic effects. Since the cannabinoid receptor system was discovered in the late 1980s these hysterical concerns about marijuana’s dangerousness have not been confirmed with modern research. Everyone agrees that marijuana, or any other drug use such as alcohol or tobacco use, is not for children. Nonetheless, adults have demonstrated over the last several decades that marijuana can be used moderately without harmful impacts to the individual or society.

4. marijuana is not a lethal drug and is safer than alcohol

It is established scientific fact that marijuana is not toxic to humans; marijuana overdoses are nearly impossible, and marijuana is not nearly as addictive as alcohol or tobacco. It is unfair and unjust to treat marijuana users more harshly under the law than the users of alcohol or tobacco.

3. marijuana is too expensive for our justice system and should instead be taxed to support beneficial government programs

Law enforcement has more important responsibilities than arresting 750,000 individuals a year for marijuana possession, especially given the additional justice costs of disposing of each of these cases. marijuana arrests make justice more expensive and less efficient in the United States, wasting jail space, clogging up court systems, and diverting time of police, attorneys, judges, and corrections officials away from violent crime, the sexual abuse of children, and terrorism. Furthermore, taxation of marijuana can provide needed and generous funding of many important criminal justice and social programs.

2. marijuana use has positive attributes, such as its medical value and use as a recreational drug with relatively mild side effects

Many people use marijuana because they have made an informed decision that it is good for them, especially Americans suffering from a variety of serious ailments. marijuana provides relief from pain, nausea, spasticity, and other symptoms for many individuals who have not been treated successfully with conventional medications. Many American adults prefer marijuana to the use of alcohol as a mild and moderate way to relax. Americans use marijuana because they choose to, and one of the reasons for that choice is their personal observation that the drug has a relatively low dependence liability and easy-to-manage side effects. Most marijuana users develop tolerance to many of marijuana’s side effects, and those who do not, choose to stop using the drug. marijuana use is the result of informed consent in which individuals have decided that the benefits of use outweigh the risks, especially since, for most Americans, the greatest risk of using marijuana is the relatively low risk of arrest.

1. marijuana users are determined to stand up to the injustice of marijuana probation and accomplish legalization, no matter how long or what it takes to succeed

Despite the threat of arrests and a variety of other punishments and sanctions marijuana users have persisted in their support for legalization for over a generation. They refuse to give up their long quest for justice because they believe in the fundamental values of American society. Prohibition has failed to silence marijuana users despite its best attempts over the last generation. The issue of marijuana’s legalization is a persistent issue that, like marijuana, will simply not go away. marijuana will be legalized because marijuana users will continue to fight for it until they succeed.

War on Legalization of marijuana..which side do you choose?

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amen to everything said there, LIke jsut becuase they say its illegal doenst mean people are jsut gunna stop, Rules are ment to be broken, why dont they just legalisze it adn get support from all the stoners lol CHEAH

number 9 is the dumbest fucking thing i ever heard. it made high times sound like a bunch of idiots. of course there were a higher rate of blacks and mexicans aressted for it cause this survey was for new york only and not the whole usa. there are more blacks and mexicans in new york then many other places. for example, oregon. if we did a survey there i bet almost anything more whites the blacks and mexicans are aressted for marijuana "crimes"

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Stoners live Stoners die so fuck the world lets get high pots a plant it grows in the ground if god didn't like it it wouldn't be around so smoke a bowl and rock n roll to all you preps who think your cool fuck you bitchs stoners rule!!!

Im sure if they did the survey in another state they would have similar results. sure the results would differ because there are more blacks in some states and more white in other but blacks and mexicans are target more for pot more. Its not fair but its true

the thing is, a lot of white, upstanding citizens smoke pot in the privacy of their own home. They buy from urban dealers, they smoke in hidden locations. And they don't get caught. It's not our fault we're better sneaks.

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I do not smoke, nor do I grow, marijuana. It's illegal. Everything I do or say is a lie. Including this.

That's another great point. I always smoke in hidden areas. Unless i'm lazy then i just smoke on my back pouch.

Better Sneaks? If you knew anything of the drug war marijuana was made illegal over fabricated lies and racism. Actually there are 2.1 million inmates in the u.s. 910,000 of them are blacks. African americans make up 43.9 percent of the federal state prison but only 12.3 % of the us population. Now that is fucked up, and it's not because there not good at hiding from the cops either. America is built upon a heaping pile of racism and lies

So it is you who looks like an idiot

Fuck the government..... im not sure if im for the cause of legalizing marijuana because i dont want to pay out the ass for it in vice taxes, But damnit People who are ill and cannabis alleviates some of there pain then im for it all the way! medical patients should not be persecuted by the fuck nuts in washington!

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fuck legalization!

to many jobs will be lost!


street dealers!
drug lords!
judges!
cops!
dea agents!

think about it thats y its not legal!
and right now we need all we can keep! (jobwise)
so i you gotta take a little bid (90 days max) or get probation fuck it you the one who fucked up!

how not to get caught
never smoke in car!
put ins. and reg. in sun visor!
put weed in glovebox!
lock it!
protected by the law! and if they open it the case will b thrown out due to illegal search and seziure!


just dont give them any proable cause!! and they cant search you! well the can but only were they can jump crawl or reach! they cant open anything locked (trunk or glovebox) if your legal. license reg and ins. must b on you at all times! ive been pulled over plenty of times with weed on me like 5 times with 4 ozs or more! and its been in my glovebox! and they always ask if they can go in their and i say no i know my rights, the trunk is locked also you dont have just cause to search it! and their isnt shit they can do! they can call the dogs but i dont worry about that i live in detroit wats the chances of their bing a k9 unit around! and if they say im calling them. say i have to go to work if your not arresting you have no right to hold me im leaving. NOTHING THEY CAN DO! never had to say the last part but my boy said he did and went on his merry way!

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