The Why

Hello, and welcome to my blog concerning the promotion of the federal legalization of marijuana. I realize that an informational piece such as this post might be better suited for the "About Me" section on my account, but I want to make it more apparent for any newcomers to see. Here, in other words, I want to explain the "why": Why should a quiet, sober teenager in a quiet, (mostly) sober suburb care about the prevalence of pot in the nationwide community?

The fact is that no wide-eyed little baby is born with political convictions--we get those from learning, from experiencing. If I had grown up in different surroundings and with different educational influences, etc., it is not at all unlikely that I would have developed different opinions. Therefore, I believe in sharing some of my background in order to give some inkling of the origins of the ideas that will be expressed in this blog. The Greeks called this ethos. Today, we merely call it credibility. 

I am a young, sixteen-year-old, Caucasian female living in northern Chicagoland. I was raised by a largely Catholic family, and though I personally no longer follow the faith, some of my early education in the religion's dogma has shaped my moral compass in the world. I was not a part of the violence for which my city is infamous, for which it has been renowned for so long. I was the neighbor to the horrors that occur so frequently in some select areas of Chicago. But I was that neighbor living several doors down, the one with the backyard enclosed by a fence that was too tall to see over. 

As aforementioned, I do not use weed. I never have used any drug for recreational purposes, illegal or not. I have seen enough destruction in my family due to the legal ones alone, from tobacco-related deaths spanning three generations to alcoholism. (And if you believe President Obama's controversial remark about booze being more threatening than pot, you may recognize a certain double standard that I have begun to see.) 

So why do I care about legalizing marijuana for reasons beyond the medical? Not for myself, certainly. I have no use for the drug. 

I care because the Cook County Jail is currently around 1,000 people over capacity, stuffed to the brim with nonviolent offenders who, many of whom sell and use marijuana as a deadly lifeline. I care because they wallow in prisons and are starved of proper rehabilitation in the meanwhile. I care because the overcrowded conditions result in an estimated 5% of inmates who have been awaiting trial for two years. I care because the lack of proper regulation contributes to the ongoing reign of the gangs and contributes to the reason why Chicago remains the most racially and economically segregated city in the US. 

And this is only one city. 

If you have another opinion--if your experience and your reason tells you to disagree--by all means, please discuss it with me. However, I would appreciate it if you would bring sufficient evidence to your argument so that a legitimate and productive discussion may be had. I will remain civil to you, and I hope that you will respect me by doing the same.