I'm so sick and tired of the fact that people find it so difficult to stand up, be who they are, and demand the right to be. We as a community cause no major issues, hold the fact the possession and consumption are in themselves illicit acts and occasionally there is a bad seed weed dealer with a gun and no brains, but that problem would be solved through legalization. It would also make people stop losing their jobs over the stigma of usage held over from the reefer madness bullshit.

I'm tired of hiding, and every self respecting individual that has to hide their illicit activities like common criminals.

Fuck what the us government says. We are PEOPLE. Individuals capable of making our own choices.

Hell, I feel the same way about seat belt laws and cigarette smoking.

I just wish the community as a whole would get fed up enough to do something as a whole instead of in random, disjointed, unorganized, stoned-looking spurts. NORML has been trying semi-successfully for years, yet our governemnt turns a deaf ear and continues jailing us and shoveling us under the rug. Its exhausting, humiliating, and at times dibilitating to sociological function.

Information War

Well, frankly, its great that you can say that most Americans have become informed on the issues, but until the politicians get the proverbial sticks out of their collective holes and learn to look past the "reefer madness" ideology of their fathers and the educational system which lumps marijuana into the same category as methamphetamine and crack, the voice of the people will never be heard. Unlike most, I have no fear of repercussion from my government because I leave my name on this because frankly, I couldn't be more oppressed whilst simultaneously being fed the constant ideological high of "freedom" than I already am.

What?

Am I going to disappear because I believe the American people should have a voice about what they do, how they behave, and what they believe? If I do, then we don't live in America anymore. Florida may not be America anymore...

I know Florida may be pretty, but we have a saying here:
Come on vacation, leave on probation, come back for violating.

I believe in the voice of the people. The problem is getting people to stop talking and start DOING. You want marijuana legalized, get a group together, a large group, a minimum of 25-30 to gather in DC and start handing out and smoking spliffs in front of the white house. Smile and wave at the police officer who will inevitably come over and explain you are exercising your right to gather and peaceably protest. Wave a f***ing sign or something already.

Freedom

Marijuana is one of the least addictive and least harmful drugs available on the market today.

Show me one life destroyed by marijuana and not the legality or stigma attached to the use! Just one average American citizen with no history of addiction or psychosis and I will change my mind.

Up to this point, however, all evidence obviously points to the decriminalization and even the open sale of marijuana in the American market place. We the people have demanded it, and were denied. We have followed legal recourse, we have been ignored and even abused by our government over an issue of purely free choice. We are the country which is supposed to be founded on personal freedom, on the government listening to the voice of the people and we have been silenced!

And we have allowed it to go on for so long, the lies and truths have become intertwined so that the average American citizen cannot find the truth among the war of lies and mis/disinformation open to them. The public is given no one to believe in.

Michael Phelps was busted smoking marijuana. Is that not enough to prove the point for legalization? You smoke a joint and win a gold medal, then we'll talk.

I for one am sick of it. I am intelligent, traveled, well read, and socially informed on the basest of levels, and I can say again: WE DEMAND IT! WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES DEMAND OUR FREEDOM!