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Greetings my fellow tree huggers, vegetarians, hippies, earth lovers, and other hippies. Recently I was asked a question by this far out, beautiful girl, named Jessica that happened to catch my interest. She said to me:

"I like the hippy ways, and even tho I am not a "real" hippy, I think that you promote a lot of good things. Most hippies are concerned with caring for Mother Earth, keeping the world a peaceful place, preserving forest lands, picking up litter, buying organic foods, and protecting the animals. All of the things that you promote are great, besides drug usage. If all hippies are concerned with being natural, and protecting all of Mother Earth's creations, doesn't that include us - human beings? Why use drugs and hurt your body and mind - Mother Earth's greatest creation? How can you promote all of these good things but at the same time kill some others? "

Well Jessica, this is a great question to ask me. You ask this question from a position of innocence. So let me ask you a few questions. How do you define drugs? Have you ever taken any? Is there a difference between illegal drugs, prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, alcohol and tobacco besides the legality? Are ALL drugs good or evil? Remember just because something is illegal doesn’t mean it’s necessarily bad. It just means it’s illegal. For instance taking a prescription drug without having a prescription is technically illegal. Does that make the drug taken bad???

You’ve obviously heard the anti-drug message in school, on TV, from parents, friends etc. This is a good message, especially for children. Children don’t need to experiment with drugs. Many children are given drugs in school whether they want them or not! Ritalin is just one drug used to “control” students. This is the point. Some drugs are used to “control” when authorized and issued by the government, schools, even parents. Drugs that affect your mind can either control it or open it! The underlying goal of schools and the educational system is to create “good citizens. Good citizens are productive members of society. That is they work hard, pay taxes, and obey all laws without question.

If this were truly the “American Way”, we would still be a British Colony! No, America has always had freedoms denied to other countries. Freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Freedoms including Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. The founders of our country refrained from trying to define this since further definition might limit these freedoms. Several of our founding fathers grew and smoked hemp! Now it is illegal, does that mean Washington and Jefferson were criminals?

You mention that you respect the hippy values concerning mother earth. Which would seem more “natural” to you, ingesting an organically grown plant in it’s native state, or something synthesized in a laboratory, mass produced in a factory, bottled under sanitary conditions, distributed around the world, and priced many times (sometimes hundreds of times) more than it cost to produce?

Now for the answers to the questions I posed before. The important difference between all drugs is whether they affect the mind and how. And yes, some drugs can kill. Alcohol is the most deadly drug we have in our society. Yet it’s perfectly acceptable! Marijuana on the other hand has no lethal dose. That means you can ingest all you possibly can with absolutely no risk of death! There has NEVER, EVER been a death attributed to overconsumption of marijuana.

Are All drugs good or evil? Of course this is a rhetorical question. Yet, you seem to believe all drugs are bad. Your anti-drug programming is so strong, you can’t distinguish between drugs. In more tolerant countries like Holland and Switzerland they have two categories of drugs. Soft drugs and hard drugs. They distinguish between these because the users are either recreational (soft) or addicted (hard). Soft drug use (marijuana, hashish) is tolerated, with no ill effects to users or the society. Hard drug (heroin, cocaine, speed) use makes people addicted and that means they have a problem with drugs. If they have a problem, the governments of both Holland and Switzerland want to help these people, not persecute them! They put their money into medical and social programs to help these people overcome their addictions or at least prevent them from being a burden on society by committing crimes to support their habit. This means that they even give these addicts their drugs!

I however, do not advocate the breaking of any laws! However we do insist that people know the facts! Marijuana is not a harmful drug. On the contrary, until it’s prohibition in the 1930s, marijuana extract was produced and distributed by 16 major drug companies in the U.S. to cure a wide range of maladies. It was a very popular product then, as it is now. Millions of Americans have smoked it and do so every day. They are all considered criminals and under the threat of imprisonment at any moment. Each year over 600,000 people are arrested for cannabis offenses. Many go to jail and have their house, cars, boats confiscated and never returned, even if they are found innocent! Once productive members of society thus become an expensive burden to society, requiring new jails to be constructed at an alarming rate. Did you know that the U.S. incarcerates a larger percentage of it's population than any other country? About three times the percentage of the next country!

Recreationally accepted drugs (legal) in the U.S. are alcohol and tobacco. Attempts at prohibition have never succeeded. Likewise the $18 billion to be spent this year on the WAR ON AMERICANS, is not likely to do anything but put more innocent people in jail. Again, alcohol and tobacco have been PROVEN to cause hundreds of thousands of DEATHS each year. Why aren’t these drugs illegal? Why aren’t the users sent to jail? Why do we prosecute people who use far less dangerous drugs like marijuana? These are the questions you need to ask yourself, your teachers, your parents, your friends, your congressmen, and your President.

I hope this answers your question baby. Now might I suggest you mellow out with me and smoke a dube in the forest with me one day, and we can both mellow out to the sweet sounds of mother nature. mrgreen