Marijuana is really something that conservatives are deeply scared of. They are scared of it just like they are scared of blacks, gays, the uninsured, the educated, the poor and those who have dead kids because of the senseless war being waged in Iraq. Marijuana has less negative side effects than legal drugs like cigarettes and alcohol, yet some don't even support it for it's medical benefits.
Many of the medical organizations in the United States, including the American Medical Association, have endorsed medical marijuana use. These groups represent doctors that are seeing people suffering. They are the one's that are denied from giving their patients relief. Still George W Bush's Justice Department continues to raid sick patients - by going after patient run dispensaries and grow places.
The heartlessness of these "war on crime" conservatives perhaps shows something deeper. Alfred Adler was a great psychologist - perhaps even better than Freud. He believed those that believed in a collective society had the best mental health. These were people that cared about people and were empathetic to others' suffering. The idea that someone would be so careless and let lives be ruined because of these fear mongering laws. Young men and woman are loosing financial aid for simply being caught with a joint - a law signed by Bill Clinton.
Could this hatred of marijuana be because it helps people relax and get away from the society of fear that runs the right? Conservatives run and are elected with banners of fear and ignorances flying high. Be it fear of high taxes, war, civil rights, or immigrants - they depend on us worrying about every little thing.
It looks like things are starting to change in regards to this issue. Obama is the first major political figure - with a chance at winning the White House - that has called for marijuana to be decriminalized. Could this be the change that we start to think with our senses and not on fear in regards to marijuana? I hope Obama will be a man of his word and one of understanding - he admits to smoking a lot of weed in college.
I believe Obama will be the man who can bring change in regards to weed. It is about time someone ran on hope and not fear - understanding and not on ignorance.