unastronaut*

Today I heard someone spouting the “marijuana is a gateway drug” argument and something hit me. Besides the obvious fact that alcohol and nicotine are always the first drug anyone tries, everyone who actually perpetuates this hollow argument has either a) never even tried marijuana or b) tried marijuana and stopped. The base hypocrisy in this is hard to ignore.  

Reformed junkies don’t come back and say it was the fault of marijuana as their gateway. Parents of junkies might say that, but they probably have a well-stocked liquor cabinet at home. I know this whole argument has been played-out on both sides, but truly, one side is glaringly ignorant in the whole affair. It doesn’t affect stoners, it affects cancer patients receiving the best possible treatment for their nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite. It actually affects everyone, when you consider the loss of potential tax revenue and incredibly high costs of a failing war on drugs.

The War on Health: 35 states have legally recognized marijuana’s medicinal value.