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Re: [at-l] drugs...

Why, oh why do we have to go through this twice a year?

You all may notice that the proportion of drug users in the outdoors is
maybe a little higher (pun intended) than your everyday location. The
moral implications of drug use can and are debated relentlessly all the
time. I can't count the times I've had people tell me that using drugs is
inhetrently wrong only to see the same person addicted to the morning
coffee, the afternoon soda, the cigarettes and having no qualms about
taking a drink of alcohol. It's a moot point, everyone has an opinion.
It's much like abortion, people argue about it so much that it's a
stagnant issue. 

Now, how about some facts (actually my opinions):

When was the last time you ran into a law enf. officer in a shelter?
When was the last time you saw a pot smoker get violent or disruptive
(other than violently trying to open that bag of potato chips)?
When was the last time you asked someone smoking pot to go somewhere else
because the smell annoyed you? When was the last time they didn't happily
comply?

Three things people:
1. This country was built on tolerance for other people's beliefs and
freedoms, not on prohibition. How can someone smoking pot in the woods
possibly pose a threat to your personal safety or freedom?

2. If you oppose pot smoking, that is your perogative, but do yourself the
favor of researching the historical background of marijuana, the health
effects of marijuana as compared to alcohol/tobacco/other drugs, and the
history of the prohibition of marijuana (had alot to do with big business
and ethnic discrimination). I recommend "THE EMPEROR WEARS NO CLOTHES" as
a book to read. It is a historical account of marijuana and hemp(very
well researched).

3. The president did it, most cutting edge muscians did it (from '20's
Jazz to '60's psychedlic to '70's country), Susan Molinari did it, George
Washington and Thomas Jefferson even grew it (look it up, it's true). I
did it. It falls into dealing with responsibility, if you are responsible
it shouldn't be a problem, kinda like everything else in life. For the
record, I smoked alot of pot in undergraduate school, am graduating from
Ga Tech with a degree in Civil Engineering with a 3.1 GPA. I made dean's
list several times (5 or 6) and was president of my fraternity, all the
while working and paying my way through school. 

Have a little tolerance and compassion people, it will only reap you
dividends in the end.....

Will Strickland
Internet: gt0556d@prism.gatech.edu
 
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