Opinion > November 29, 2007

By Hannah Werthan | Old Gold & Black columnist

When I go to the movie theater in Winston-Salem, I usually notice two things: underage cigarette smoking and the presence of police officers.

I have no idea why the police like to hang out around the movie theater, and apparently, they don’t either, because they are always standing around looking bored. At first, I thought that maybe they were just too lazy to scold the kids for smoking, but then I realized that it would be in their best interest not to discourage this behavior. I don’t blame them. Whoever bought these kids cigarettes paid a massive tax on them, benefiting the state, the federal government, and indirectly the police force. Now, if these same kids had been smoking pot, I know there would be consequences. Obviously, marijuana is illegal to everyone, so the government does not benefit at all from this drug use.

I think the kids should be punished equally for smoking, whether they are smoking cigarettes or marijuana. They are underage and have no business making decisions concerning the state of their lungs before they have the mental capacity to do so. However, when it comes to adults, I don’t see a logical reason as to why smoking marijuana is illegal while smoking cigarettes is not. Even the Partnership for a Drug-Free America can’t seem to come up with a legitimate reason. Their anti-marijuana commercials focus around individuals who smoke weed to be “cool.” Their crime is that, as a result, they sit around and do nothing for really long periods of time. Well, plenty of college students are accused of doing that on their own. In fact, the commercials are practically enticing to some less-motivated students as if to say, “This is a good way to chill out and forget your responsibilities.” The whole campaign is a waste of money.

Of course, there are health risks associated with smoking marijuana, but there are health risks associated with smoking cigarettes as well. Yet that doesn’t seem to factor into the issue of whether they should be legal or not. What it all comes down to is that each person needs to be responsible for his own health. We can’t tell people how to take care of their bodies. Our government does not have the time or money to focus on individual health. The warnings on cigarette packs are fine (although I must question the people who are not already aware of the dangers of smoking in this day and age), but for the government to regulate when American citizens can and cannot do to their own bodies is unconstitutional.

If people think that keeping marijuana illegal is going to prevent people from using it, they are greatly mistaken. The media has commercialized the drug to the point where it almost seems legal anyway. There is a popular TV show called Weeds and I’m sure most college-aged students have seen the movie Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle one or two times. I’m not going to go along with the argument that people will be turned off by marijuana if it is legal and acceptable, but I will say that it doesn’t really matter if it is or it isn’t – either way it is highly accessible across the United States.

From a monetary standpoint, the legalization of marijuana would aid the economy. It makes good business sense to allow the buying and selling of marijuana in a similar fashion to cigarettes and alcohol. Put the warnings out there, and then let the consumers decide.

As for whether the police in Winston-Salem and across the nation start cracking down on kids for smoking, I hope they do. Unlike the ban on marijuana, the law that people must be 18 to smoke is actually a justified one.

Hannah Werthan is a freshman from Nashville, Tenn.