I few months ago someone suggested “smoking weed”. Sure as being told this will help it did. My eye pain is all day and half the night. If the goverment tells me its illegal to use this pain med. I have a few very strong words for them in regards to using marijuana for pain.

1. I don’t want to hurt,kill or maim anyone while using it.
2. It should be legel to purchase via a goverment sorce.
3. I’ll take whatever i want to ease my pain and yes that means pot.
4. I have worked my entire life till now,forced to medicaly re-tire.Apone saying this I have never been to jail of anything. Fear of being busted for buying weed even though its for pain.
5. Walk in my shoes for a day with the pain driving you nuts to the piont of not wanting to live anymore
6. You can tax marijuana and make billions of dollars a year.{How else can you afford all those nices things congress folks have and joe tax payer doesn’t}
7. Cigerettes are legal {They kill millions of americans a year}
8.Living in the bible belt.This would surely cause a breakdown of the good ole boy system.

I am passionate about drug policy reform. I have been around people and have close friends from all social and economic backgrounds. My experiences on church trips, playing college football, AAU basketball throughout high school, and the wide-range of smart people from an array of backgrounds that I have become close to. One of my primary influences was a civil rights icon I had the pleasure to learn from in his History of the Civil Rights course that I took at the University of South Carolina. His name is Cleveland Sellers; he sparked my fire for fighting for issues of social, economic, and racial justice. I was at a point in my life where sports injuries were taking their toll on me, and while I did get back on the field this past fall and play football for Florida State before re-injuring my lower back I saw that my life as entering a new phase. That phase is to take up Cleveland Sellers’ challenge to us to fight for justice as a way of life and now I am able to fully devote my time to being active and making my voice heard as football is now in my rearview mirror.
I see the drug war, especially the inclusion of marijuana as a component of that war, as a disgrace to science, a civil rights issue, and an issue that parallels the universally failed alcohol prohibition of the 1920’s. The main point I like to make to drug warriors is that alcohol is every bit the gateway drug that marijuana is. It is unbelievable that in what is supposed to be the land of the free, a responsible law-abiding adult has to fear its government regarding marijuana use and possession, whereas the legal protection of Americans right to booze it up is defended and is part of the mainstream culture in this country. Along with deleterious products such as tobacco we can all see that public health is not the true reason behind our nations’ marijuana prohibition. The key issue in all of this is the goal of reducing crime! We all share that goal; I am a firm believer that by cutting out marijuana from the black market, and henceforth regulating its sale to those 21 and up we would be able to focus on the true criminals. The ONDCP loves to say that marijuana dealers are violent, but what they fail to mention is that 98% of purely marijuana dealers are peaceful; it is the group of dealers who will sell anything for a buck that they include in their lies and half-truths about the dangers of marijuana and the people who either sell or consume it. We have to free our nation from these draconian laws and put a dent in the massive for profit, prison-industrial complex that along with drug enforcement fights everyday to maintain the status-quo in society. We thirsting for reform must stand up to entrenched bureaucracy and demand change that will reduce crime, save lives, help distinguish marijuana’s harm relative to other horrific like drugs such as crack cocaine and heroin? If you were to believe our school’s drug education one would think that all drugs are equally as bad therefore young people are not taught any boundaries. I am not an advocate for young people using marijuana in any way shape or form. 21 and over and tax it heavily, no one needs an explanation now for why we need all the funds possible now with our current economic crisis. Underage offenders should be treated no differently than underage drinkers. There should be treatment, community service, etc, or whatever is deemed appropriate for a given individual by a social worker, drug/alcohol counselor, or a Judge. I am passionate and hopeful that in the 21st century we can become a better nation by purging our archaic cannabis laws and re-thinking how we operate in drug wars at large both domestically and internationally. If anyone feels as I do and would like to get active on this issue please contact me by cell at (904) 210-5779, or by email at ngw08@fsu.edu.

Sincerely, Nathaniel Wallace

I’m struggling on student aid, work study and food stamps to get through school. (3 more semesters, and on track to graduate in 4 years) All of which could be gone with a simple marijuana possession charge.

These laws are discriminative.

I’m struggling on student aid, work study and food stamps to get through school. (3 more semesters, and on track to graduate in 4 years) All of which could be gone with a “drug” charge like simple marijuana possession.

These laws are discriminative, lets end it.