When I was a teenager, the country was a very different place.
This was back in the 1980s when the War on Drugs was kicking into gear, and long before a legal cannabis dispensary would ever be considered.
My pals and I all liked to drink beer and get high after football practice. Beer was insanely easy to get our hands on, even though none of us were of legal age to purchase alcohol. It seemed that no one cared about high school kids getting drunk, that was considered normal teenage behavior. Cannabis, on the other hand, was considered a dangerous drug and was very hard to find. I firmly believe that anyone who condemns marijuana has obviously never tried it. No one who ever smoked cannabis would dare to tell the lie that it is a dangerous and harmful drug. The most harm cannabis can do is giving me the munchies and blowing my diet plan for the week! I am very pleased that marijuana legalization has reached so many communities in this country, but we still have a long way to go. It is exciting to have legal cannabis available for law-abiding citizens to enjoy, but we need to think about the millions of people who went to jail because of it. Anyone incarcerated because of cannabis needs to be set free immediately with no exceptions. The laws punishing cannabis use have always been inordinately heavy, especially when compared to sentences for drunk drivers. We need to strike down this injustice, and make America a better place to live!