Before the incident happened, Hamilton Place was like a home away from home. Every day, morning, noon, or night, one could find him lurking in or around the mall. He was friends with or at least knew someone that worked in any store located inside the mall. There was nothing else to do, in his opinion. It was life as he knew it, and he did not know anything else. But as some wise men may say, all good things have to come to an end. January of last year, the only thing he knew had come to an abrupt halt. His world was about to be completely flipped upside down.

Bobby started working in the Hamilton Place Mall food court when he turned sixteen. Where else do sixteen year olds find jobs? That’s where I worked when I was sixteen. He received a job through his slightly strange older brother, Steve at Steak Escape. Steak escape is a Philly Cheese steak eatery located in between Sborro Pizza and Sarku Japan. It was very new to him and very exciting, his first job! Bobby worked at Steak Escape for two or three years, so by this time Bobby had made many friends throughout the entire mall. Bobby could always get “the hookup” from about every store in the mall.

For Bobby, it was easy working at the mall and probably the most fun and freedom that he ever had. However, as we all get older, we learn freedom comes with a price. Bobby paid this price due to Hamilton Place Mall security. The rent-a-cops at Hamilton Place seem to be much worse than other rent-a-cops. Just like they have something shoved way up their pig butts.

The “rent-a-cops” never really liked him due to the way he acted and dressed. At first he never really did anything to make them upset. Most of the time when he was not preoccupied with work, he was just being loud and jumping off of things, just like any other teenage boy. At this time, he had an 8 inch platinum blonde Mohawk that was multicolored on special occasions and snakebite’s in his lip. Snakebite’s are two lip piercings on either side of the bottom lip.

Apparently individuals with a higher authority than him do not like this type of appearance. As time went on, he started noticing the rent-a-cops eyeballing him and just kind of watching him more closely, waiting for this punk to cause some sort of trouble and give them something productive to do, as rent-a-cops.

Sborro’s pizza offered him more money to work for them and so he quit Steak Escape. He had to take the offer that he could not refuse and left Steak Escape and moved on to bigger and better things next door. At Sborro’s, he met some people when he started working there that smoked pot occasionally. Bobby wasn’t really into this and had only heard storied of his friends smoking this “pot.” This job was very laid back and relatively easy. The job basically entailed making pizza, selling pizza, eating pizza, talking to his friends, and apparently smoking pot for some. This would have been the perfect job for Bobby (minus the pot,) if it paid more.

Bobby was off of work the day that the incident happened. He had just gotten to the mall and was heading to Steak Escape to see who was working before he went to check out Sborro’s. Bobby’s friend Robbie was at Steak Escape just hanging out and drinking a large jack and coke. Obviously, the managers at both of these restaurants didn’t really care what went on in their store.

Robbie was getting ready to go over to Wall-Mart just down the street to pick up some things, and he asked if Bobby wanted to ride along. They got to his car where Robbie insisted that Bobby pack a bowl in Robbie’s glass pipe with Robbie’s bud and they’d smoke it on the way to Wal-Mart. Well, Bobby was talked into it, and they got about one-hundred yards out of the parking lot and immediately got pulled over. Robbie looked at Bobby and said, “Dude, I am going to jail.” Little did Bobby know, Robbie was driving with no license and there was marijuana in the car.

The officer immediately approached Bobby’s side of the vehicle, opened his door, and simply said, “Give me the pot or you are both going to jail.” He said that they had the two of them on one of the parking lot cameras smoking pot. Looking back on the event, Bobby feels like he should have denied it because the video would have never stood in court. The surveillance cameras would have been in black and white and you wouldn’t have been able to tell pot from tobacco.

But, Bobby was scared to death, he had never been in trouble before and it wasn’t even his pot. But Bobby didn’t really lose his cool until a little rent-a-cop walked from the mall to where they got pulled over just to cuss him out! That fired him up, and he filed a report against him. Because of all of this, they went to jail, got fined five-hundred bucks, and got banned for two years from all CBL property, which is basically all of Gunbarell road.

Hamilton Place let him keep his job, but he could not be a Mall Rat anymore. This tore Bobby apart, this was his livelihood. Most of the time he would just stay in the back of Sborro’s or Steak Escape, and, if anyone asked, he was working. It was hard, but he dealt with it. Whenever this angry 16 year old got a chance, he would yell at the jerk rent-a-cops.

At this time, Bobby started living with his friend John because they worked together and John didn’t have a car anymore. Bobby was his only ride to work every day. Bobby went to pick John up one night when he got off from work. When Bobby got there John, of legal age, wanted to drink a quick beer at Fiesta Grill, so Bobby sat down with him because he had to wait on him to drink his 32 ounce Miller Light. While they were sitting there, not bothering anybody, Bobby was approached by what looked like a new rent-a-cop. He called Bobby over to him to talk to him for a minute. The rent-a-cop called for backup, and then Bobby felt like the “shit hit the fan.”

They took Bobby to the security office and took his picture once again and banned him from CBL property for one more year. That makes three years all together that Bobby couldn’t go to CBL property, just for packing a bowl of his buddies pot in his buddies pipe, a pretty harmless offense I think. The real kicker of that deal was that they made him lose his job this time. Bobby’s manager was completely pissed off at the mall and his friend John for talking Barrett into staying at the mall with him.

This impacted Bobby’s life at the time greatly. He ate, slept, and breathed the mall for about three years. When all that came to a screeching halt, it was like he entered a new universe of what was to come: life without Hamilton Place. After all this had taken place, he seemed to have lost any and all respect for, so called, authority figures that judge individuals without even talking to them. If marijuana were legal, many of Bobby’s problems would go away.

Since the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 imposed government control over marijuana, the issue of its legalization has become a growing controversy in America. There are many names for marijuana that may or may not be included in this paper, such as: reefer, pot, mary jane, grass, bud, herb, and weed. (erowid) As support for its medical use increases, the controversy questions whether marijuana should be legalized for recreational purposes as well, or remain illegal with ridiculous consequences for its possession or use. This issue is especially important as studies show that marijuana is illegally used in the United States more than any other drug. While people on both sides of this issue offer reasons for their beliefs, it is extremely important to recognize that everyone wants what is best for the country, society, and individuals.

People who oppose legalization often suggest the idea that marijuana is a mind-altering drug that is dangerous. In a sense, this is true. The active ingredient in marijuana is THC, which activates the cannabinoid receptors in the brain. THC is tetrahydrocannabinol and can be defined by webster’s dictionary as “either of two physiologically active isomers C21H30O2 from hemp plant resin; especially : one that is the chief intoxicant in marijuana.” (Webster)

These brain receptors are normally stimulated by natural brain processes and like THC, aid in motor-control, co-ordination, sexual behavior, controlling appetite, memory, learning, emotion, fear, and sensory information. When THC enters the brain, the receptors are stimulated more than they would be naturally, therefore creating the “high” commonly associated with smoking weed. There is concern that vehicle accidents will increase due to drivers being under the influence of marijuana, which makes it dangerous.

However, why should it be illegal to use marijuana when other substances such as alcohol and caffeine are mind-altering yet legal? The effects of alcohol are much more dangerous than the effects of smoking marijuana. Behaviors commonly associated with alcohol use such as extreme anger, aggression, violence, and reckless sexual behavior are rarely, if ever, associated with marijuana use. In Nadelmann’s essay, he suggests that besides just using marijuana for fun, people find marijuana use beneficial in the same way that people drink alcohol or take drugs from pharmacies. He states that marijuana use is, “akin to the beer, glass of wine, or cocktail at the end of the workday, or the prescribed drug to alleviate depression or anxiety, or the sleeping pill, or the aid to sexual function and pleasure” (5). This idea causes people who support legalization to question the government’s inconsistency between alcohol and weed and often causes younger people to ignore the dangers of drug use (Issues and Controversies 2).

Many people against legalization believe that smoking marijuana causes people to become lazy and unproductive. They also argue that marijuana can be addictive. In his essay, Califano presents the idea that this addiction is a “form of enslavement” (4). He also states that by keeping marijuana illegal, “the state can take action just to free addicts from chains of chemical dependency that take away the freedom to be all that God meant them to be, but to prevent those bonds from shackling them” (4).

While it is valid to say that some people who smoke marijuana are lazy and do not pursue goals, one should take into consideration that there are many people who do not use marijuana that are also lazy and unproductive. It is also true that marijuana can in fact be mentally addictive for some people, but unlike other harder drugs, marijuana is not at all physically addictive and most people who smoke marijuana never become physically dependent on the drug.

Furthermore, one must also take into consideration that there are many people who smoke marijuana on a daily basis that are extremely productive. THC receptors are located on the right side of the brain, which is the side of the brain involved with creativity, while the left side of the brain is associated with logic. If used on a regular basis, the use of marijuana can actually help unlock the “creative” (right) side of the brain. People including, but not limited to, musicians, artists, and writers often use this creative insight to their advantage. For example, marijuana use was very popular among jazz musicians and artists of the 1930’s.

Bob Marley, along with countless other musicians and artists, claimed that smoking pot raises the users of visuals and sounds. Other famous and productive marijuana users include musicians Bob Dylan and John Lennon, authors Arthur Conan Doyle and Lewis Carroll, poet John Keats, and artists Salvador Dali and Caroline Coon.

While Califano believes that the government has the right to regulate what substances or drugs people take, many supporters of legalization strongly believe that the state does not have the right to become involved in the private life of a drug user. After all, why should the government even have a say in what a person does to his/her own body? Califano states that, “freedom does not extend to the right of individuals to enslave themselves or to decide that they will give up their liberty” (4). While this may apply to harder drugs such as methamphetamine or heroin, it seems absurd to try to decrease heroin addiction by preventing the use of marijuana. If marijuana was legalized, the government would be able to shift their focus to the more problematic “hard” drugs that are extremely addictive and dangerous not just for the user, but everyone involved in the user’s life.

The government spends billions of dollars on anti-drug commercials and advertisements to inform people that marijuana is hazardous. This information has lead opponents of legalization to come to the conclusion that marijuana, “is a gateway drug, and addictive in its own right, and dramatically more potent than it used to be, and responsible for all sorts of physical and social diseases as well as international terrorism” (Nadelmann 2). Marijuana can be considered a gateway drug because it is true that most people try marijuana before other drugs. Nevertheless, Nadelmann questions this idea when he states that a large amount of people who have smoked weed have not gone on to experiment with other illegal drugs, let alone get in trouble with them (2).

People opposed to legalization often become brainwashed by these negative aspects and do not take into consideration that legalizing marijuana could be very beneficial. According to the 2003 Zogby poll, two out of five Americans believe “the government should treat marijuana more or less the same way it treats alcohol: It should regulate it, control it, tax it, and only make it illegal for children” (1). If this happened, the government would be able to make money from the taxes on marijuana which would immensely aid to the economic growth of the United States.

The government would also benefit from this new market, because legalization of marijuana would open jobs in the marijuana business. Farmers would have a new cash crop to harvest and legalization would promote the sale of marijuana accessories such as rolling papers, blunt wraps, glass, wooden, and metal pipes, grinders, and lighters. Nadelmann makes a few important points when he states that police arrest around 700,000 people a year for marijuana offenses, 87 percent of marijuana arrests are simply for possession of small amounts, and enforcing marijuana laws costs $10-15 billion a year (1). This is significant because of marijuana was legalized; police would have a hell of a lot more time and money to focus on other, more important, dangerous issues such as gang crimes, harder drug users, etc. Legalization would also greatly reduce the number of people in prison for marijuana offenses, which is crucial when considering how extremely overcrowded prisons in the United States are already.

Opponents also argue that there are too many health risks involved in legalization. Marijuana use has been connected to lung damage and short-term memory loss. While this is true, is it right for the government to allow unhealthy things such as cigarettes, alcohol, caffeine and tobacco to be sold legally and at the same time discourage the use of marijuana? I think not.

It can also be argued that marijuana is safer and healthier that other substances. First of all, it is absolutely impossible to overdose on marijuana. Compare this to the large amount of deaths caused by alcohol and cigarettes every year. I mean, who hasn’t seen the commercials?

Marijuana is also a lot healthier to smoke that tobacco. This is due to the fact that nicotine in tobacco constricts blood vessels making it harder to remove particles, while marijuana dilates blood vessels allowing smoke to clear the lungs faster. Tobacco is also more harmful because it contains radioactive substances due to its fertilization process. Marijuana is healthier because it only causes lung damage as opposed to lung cancer, and it has been found that smoking pot out of a vaporizer actually causes little to no damage to the lungs.

One also has to recognize all the medical benefits of marijuana. For example, marijuana can be used to aid or control nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, muscle spasms, and other types of symptoms associated with chronic diseases such as AIDS, cancer, and multiple sclerosis (Issues and Controversies 10). It is also stated that marijuana has prevented epileptic seizures and glaucoma in some cases (10). Neurologist Ethan Russo stated that marijuana, “is a very effective medication for people who have failed to get good results from standard medications, and that is why so many people are devoted to risking their lives and career to get this drug” (11).

The illegal status of marijuana is very different among other criminal laws in America. There is no other law that is enforced so much with harsh punishments that is seen so unnecessary in the eyes of such a great portion of the population. However, there are some solutions to this dilemma. Even if marijuana is legalized, people still have the option to not use it if they do not agree with it. Everyone would still have a personal choice to smoke or not, and that decision should be respected, not criticized by others.

Another solution involves legalizing marijuana fully for medical use, and if this system proves to be successful, wouldn’t it be possible to expand its use to people who use it recreationally? Finally, instead of legalizing marijuana, government officials could reduce punishment for those caught with marijuana from jail time to a simple fine.

For Bobby, the legalization of marijuana would allow him to be able to go back to CBL properties before the age of twenty two, and take the charges off of his record. I think that there are many valid reasons to legalize marijuana, not just for Bobby, but for all of us.