"Don't be a hypocrite," the man wearing a hemp shirt shouted over his bullhorn. "Drunk driving," "AA," "one more drink and she'll be good to go," were the phrases I heard him say. "Open your eyes to what is right and what is might," he stated over and over again. Hypocrisy, right, might, good to go, what seemed obscure language at the time would eventually open up my eyes, mind and heart to a portion of society that I had labeled to be criminal for a better part of my life. Hypocrite, I for one am not, never have been, never will be. So I took the man up on his offer in an attempt to find out what is truly right and what is the governing will of might. If alcohol is legal, then marijuana should be as well. The conclusion I came too disturbed me; he was right, I am a hypocrite and either I should quit drinking or marijuana should be legalized.

Marijuana is relatively harmless health wise to the individual who uses it and there is no chemical dependency to THC (tetrahydrocannibinol), the chemical that alters your mind. Marijuana related death or injury is insignificant in a society of millions. No widespread sexual implications in regards to marijuana use h

ave ever been reported. These reasons convince me that the people I had labeled criminals were far from that.

Death, bodily injury, and verbal abuse are not tolerated in our society. Alcohol produces staggering numbers of both casualties and deaths. According to www.statistics.com, there were 15,936 alcohol-related deaths in 2001. That approximates to 44 deaths per day (facts). How can we then even begin to compare any minor criminal activity associated with marijuana to legislative grief created by the 21st amendment. Never has there been any deaths reported in regards to using marijuana. There have been no reports of physical or mental abuse in regards to marijuana. No fathers getting high and beating their children compared to parental abuse while intoxicated under the influence of alcohol. In 2001 there were 480,000 children

humans, being creatures of habit. However, habits have two aspects physical and chemical. The physical habits of one individual cannot be judged against the physical habits of another individual, therefore no definition of right can be produced. Since no definition of right can be produced we turn to chemical addiction as the definition of wrong. According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, alcohol is a legal drug that creates chemical addiction. Marijuana is an illegal substance, which does not create chemical addiction. Therefore marijuana should be legalized and judged against all other physical addiction with no definition of right or wrong. It should be up to the individuals to infer what is relatively right for themselves, by themselves. Legislation has been implemented to govern and take precedence over what is truly right.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1493
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)