Marijuana Prohibition is a Violation of First Amendment Rights

"Let me ask you something… if you had a choice, what would it be: Marijuana or Martinis?" This question appeared in the New York Times on Tuesday, May 12th, 1998. Due to the "Marijuana Tax Act" of 1937 the only legal choice that you and the 18 million other adults who used marijuana last year can make is the martini ("Against Drug Prohibition" ix). The legal acceptance of alcohol, however, does not exclude it from the category of a "drug," even in the eyes of the Food and Drug Administration. The prohibition of marijuana is historically counteractive and a direct defiance of First Amendment rights. This prohibition has denied thousands of critically ill patients a drug that would effectively treat their illness and relieve their pain. The basis upon which marijuana is prohibited has been proven by the very government which has banned the drug to be false.
Since 1914, our nation has outwardly protested against the use of any "drug," contrary to our past acceptance of the market. Bef...