A letter to Governor McGreevey

[RedImperator]

I sent this as an e-mail to the governor of N.J., James E. McGreevey (D). See what I do with my friday nights?

Dear Governor McGreevey,

I am writing to you tonight to express my deep concern over the issue of marijuana prohibition in the state of New Jersey. For seventy years, the government of the United States has attempted to eradicate marijuana use through strict prohibition, including jail time for casual users. Indeed, under New Jersey state law, possession of a mere 50 grams of marijuana is punishable by six months in jail and a $1000 fine.

Unfortunately, while the effort to discourage drug use is admirable, the methods used are at the very best questionable, and at worst a waste of the state's time and resources (not to mention a violation of the civil rights of its citizens). After 70 years of failure despite shrill rhetoric and increasingly draconian punishment, perhaps it's time we as citizens of the State of New Jersey and the United States of America rethink prohibition as an anti-drug strategy.

Currently, there is no valid scientific evidence that marijuana is as addictive or dangerous as alcohol and tobacco, and in fact there is an overwhelming amount of evidence to support the idea that marijuana is considerably less dangerous than those two legal drugs. Contrary to popular rhetoric, marijuana is not a gateway drug. In fact, of every 104 people who have ever used marijuana, only 1 is a regular user of cocaine and less than one is a regular heroin user. Obviously, some people work their way to harder drugs through marijuana, but we should ask ourself if marijuana itself leads them to hard drugs, or is it the underground drug culture marijuana users are forced to enter by prohibition? Certainly nobody is arguing alcohol is a gateway drug, yet it is more addictive and just as intoxicating as marijuana--the only difference is, for responsible adults over the age of 21, it is legal.

Studies claiming marijuana users cost the nation tens of billions of dollars in lost productivity are deeply flawed, and would not pass muster in an accredited academic journal (indeed, the three studies that form the basis of this claim were never subjected to peer review).

And while we're on the subject of tens of billions of dollars, the Federal anti-drug budget alone is twenty billion dollars, and that doesn't even begin to account for the cost to the states, lost tax revenue on legal marijuana sales, prison costs for nonviolent drug offenders, thousands of hours wasted every year by local cops and courts, the waste of law enforcement talent on all levels of government on anti-marijuana efforts, the soldiers and law enforcement officers who die every year to prevent responsible adults from consuming a drug less dangerous than alcohol, the criminals and lowlifes made millionaires on the black market, law abiding farmers denied a viable cash crop, and the hundreds of thousands of responible marijuana users whose lives and carreers are ruined in the name of prohibition.

Governor McGreevey, as the highest elected official in the state, there is a great deal you can do to help end this tragic waste of our state and our nation's resources, and infringement upon the rights of the citizens thereof. I ask that you take the time to consider this issue, and help put a stop to the madness in our great state.

I'm going to download a few more porn movies, and then I think I'll modify the letter so I can send it to my senators and congressman. Hell, maybe I'll fire off a copy to Shrub, even though there's about as much chance of Bush relaxing marijuana laws as there is of my asshole relaxing if you pumped Kojikun full of angel dust and locked him in a room with me for twelve hours. If I get the time, I'll print out copies and send them snail-mail as well.

[Xenophobe3691]

Good idea, mind if I modify it a little and fire it off to my senators and governor here in Florida?

[RedImperator]

Good idea, mind if I modify it a little and fire it off to my senators and governor here in Florida?

Go for it. I deliberately designed it so that you could modify it a little to fit any state.

[RedImperator]

Oh, and be careful to make sure the bit about the marijuana laws in your state is accurate for Florida. I looked them up on NORML's web site. They've also got a handy-dandy lookup form for every public official imaginable, from city council all the way up to Shrub, that uses your zip code to find out who represents you where.

[Xenophobe3691]

ROFL, sent it to Jeb Bush, let's see how this asstard handles it...

[Xenophobe3691]

Yeah, I caught that, I just removed the reference to the jail times, and added a bit on Alcohol Prohibition and the similarities of the Beer Barons to today's Drug Dealers.

[Howedar]

Hell, maybe I'll fire off a copy to Shrub, even though there's about as much chance of Bush relaxing marijuana laws as there is of my asshole relaxing if you pumped Kojikun full of angel dust and locked him in a room with me for twelve hours.

Thats sigworthy.

[LordShaithis]

ROFL, sent it to Jeb Bush, let's see how this asstard handles it...

DOOD HE'LL BE ALL LIKE ''WTF?!!! WEED?!?!?! OH NO!'' HAHA YEAH!!

Or it'll sit in an inbox for six months before being deleted by an intern. Either one is possible, I suppose...

[Xenophobe3691]

ROFL, sent it to Jeb Bush, let's see how this asstard handles it...

DOOD HE'LL BE ALL LIKE ''WTF?!!! WEED?!?!?! OH NO!'' HAHA YEAH!!

Or it'll sit in an inbox for six months before being deleted by an intern. Either one is possible, I suppose...

You don't understand. Not a lot of people send letters to the governor, most people don't care or don't know they can or don't know how. I figure maybe I'll be read...

[RedImperator]

Paper letters are better because nearly every politician has staff members for reading them, and everyone who sends a letter gets a reply, even if it's a form letter. E-mail really isn't the best way to write to politicians, because they're easier to ignore and politicians get so many of them it's difficult to get noticed. But I didn't have time last night to write and send a paper letter.

[Phil Skayhan]

Paper letters are better because nearly every politician has staff members for reading them, and everyone who sends a letter gets a reply, even if it's a form letter. E-mail really isn't the best way to write to politicians, because they're easier to ignore and politicians get so many of them it's difficult to get noticed. But I didn't have time last night to write and send a paper letter.

What about printing out the e-mail (obviously reformatting it beforehand)? You could use the public library's printer if you don't have one.

BTW, which congressional district are you in?

[RedImperator]

Paper letters are better because nearly every politician has staff members for reading them, and everyone who sends a letter gets a reply, even if it's a form letter. E-mail really isn't the best way to write to politicians, because they're easier to ignore and politicians get so many of them it's difficult to get noticed. But I didn't have time last night to write and send a paper letter.

What about printing out the e-mail (obviously reformatting it beforehand)? You could use the public library's printer if you don't have one.

BTW, which congressional district are you in?

I'm going to paste it into a decent word processor and eventually do that. I can edit it real quick so I can send it to just about anyone (I'm thinking Congressman Andrews, for starters).

And I'm in the 1st District, represented by Rob Andrews (D).

[Xenophobe3691]

Paper letters are better because nearly every politician has staff members for reading them, and everyone who sends a letter gets a reply, even if it's a form letter. E-mail really isn't the best way to write to politicians, because they're easier to ignore and politicians get so many of them it's difficult to get noticed. But I didn't have time last night to write and send a paper letter.

What about printing out the e-mail (obviously reformatting it beforehand)? You could use the public library's printer if you don't have one.

BTW, which congressional district are you in?

My card says 5106, I have no clue if that's the right one or not...

[RedImperator]

Paper letters are better because nearly every politician has staff members for reading them, and everyone who sends a letter gets a reply, even if it's a form letter. E-mail really isn't the best way to write to politicians, because they're easier to ignore and politicians get so many of them it's difficult to get noticed. But I didn't have time last night to write and send a paper letter.

What about printing out the e-mail (obviously reformatting it beforehand)? You could use the public library's printer if you don't have one.

BTW, which congressional district are you in?

My card says 5106, I have no clue if that's the right one or not...

Can't be, unless Florida uses a different numbering system from the rest of the country. Go to http://capwiz.com/norml2/home and enter your zip code in the Congressional district box.