ACLU, Travel Guru Team on Marijuana

The American Civil Liberties Union and travel writer Rick Steves, an admitted dope-smoker, have joined together in a public information campaign to make existing marijuana laws equivalent to the prohibition on alcohol in the 1920s.

As a tactic they intend to make it a racial issue, asserting that blacks, proportionally, are cited more often for possession than whites.

The ACLU's claim regarding race has been called "statistically insignificant" because conclusions are drawn from a small sample. Also,

Throughout most of the country, the popularity of decriminalizing marijuana use has waned, said Tom Riley, spokesman for the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

The potency of the drug has tripled in the last 10 years and its use is not "a harmless pastime," he said, "but a much bigger part of substance abuse and a much bigger part of mental-health issues."

Personally, I think marijuana can't be considered harmless since it's a gateway drug to more dangerous substances like tobacco. Hey, it's logical. First a joint, then a cigarette. If we want to protect our kids from tobacco, we have to keep them away from marijuana.