Issue Position: Marijuana/Hemp

Issue Position

Can one possibly commit a crime if there is no victim? Why are we sending people to jail for marijuana possession in order to learn criminal activities?? At minimum, their punishment should be God's Law and Natural Law... not men violating another man's rights to life, liberty, and property... which is exactly what our government agents are doing. Or else, we should have specific drug courts that work to keep people off drugs and especially out of jail. I rather liked the idea of offering a choice to misdemeanor convicts -- Church for one year or jail. How is what we are currently doing "Right"? The argument can't be based on it being a gateway drug if most people start with cigarettes and alcohol.

Surely, pregnant women are victimizing their soon-to-be child and must be placed in a new, clean environment if abusing ANY substance. We should promote better role models and educate the real effects of drugs and alcohol to others

Hemp can be used to make almost everything we need: clothes, paper, oil, medicine. How many companies and jobs could we create by being the first state to legalize cannabis? The government has required farmers to grow tons of hemp during wartime, so this can be done. Our U.S. Military Troops are actually promoting more opium growth for Afghani druglords than they had before we entered their country. Watch for yourself... Marines grow opium for their masters, as seen on Fox & Friends. How can we allow such hypocrisy to plague the decisions of our government agents??

Marijuana is listed as a "Schedule 1" drug (which is above cocaine and "on par" with heroin), allegedly having "no medicinal uses", yet we all know that's not true, since it is grown right here in our state, at Ole Miss, for medicinal purposes... against the desired intent of the Controlled Substance Act. We must change these laws to fit the reality of our situation, where marijuana actually has medicinal benefits, where marijuana users are NOT criminals that victimize others, where hemp farms create jobs, renewable paper, clothing, & energy, and where equality before and under the law is paramount. We can't outlaw something that God created for us in the form of an herb-bearing seed.. Maybe you think that's the case, because you work for the cotton or tobacco industries, but I work for ALL people. If God creating an herb-bearing seed is not Law, then I don't know what is.

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