Get outta here, Dewey!

Moving to Colorado has many advantages. Living in a community on the Arkansas River headwaters with its fly fishing and rafting. Ski resorts just a 20 minute drive. Fourteen thousand foot peaks to look at and hike. And more Medicinal Marajuana Dispensories than Starbucks.

A little background. I had my first puff at the age of 14. I liked it. That was 1974, a very busy year. I also had my first beer, my first cigarette and I lost something in '74 (not a very interesting story).

I could never understand the stigma attached to marijuana. It is a plant that grows naturally in Gods great outdoors. It is not in any way altered by man. Was it not put here to be consumed by man?

I came out as a pot smoker some ten years ago (a total shock to some of you I know){parathesis means sarcasm, right?} and began "preaching the gospel of marajuana law reform". I would go to the state capitol every April 20th (4 20-get it) and lobby our state law makers to recognize marajuana for what it is.

1. Medicinal use. A natural pain reliever that aids patients dealing with cancer/radiation, migraines, siezures, etc.

2. Industrial hemp is exported to this country by the ship load from abroad for use in rope, canvas, clothing and a multitude of other uses but we won't let our farmers grow a better fiber plant than cotton. Why?

3. Decriminalization. I'm 50 damn years old. I've paid my taxes, I've raised good kids, I've kept a job, I've not robbed any banks. You like to come home after work and drink a Budweiser, or a martini, but I belong in prison because I like to smoke a joint after another day surviving the world? I say NO.

Which brings me to the present. I now live in a state where the voters think as I do (To date, 14 states—Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington—have legalized the dispensing and use of marijuana for medicinal purposes) No, I do not belong in prison. I belong with the rest of the world that values personal responsibility.

The first time I stepped into the despensary a tear came to my eye. I'm not kidding, I got choked up. After all this time, I'm not a criminal. I don't have to deal with people I normally wouldn't. I'm legal.

Dan R