You might go out one night and you might meet this really nice girl, but that isn’t the Mary Jane we are talking about. No sir, we are talking about that evil drug (I know that we all hate). But let us think for a moment. Is Mary Jane evil? How can a plant be evil? Especially when you consider this plant seems to have a lot less negative side effects than other legal drugs.

Now I am not suggesting that everyone needs to go right now and smoke enough Mary Jane that they forget that they read this article. What I am saying is that Minnesota and our country at-large needs to hold a serious discussion about changes towards our policy on Mary Jane.

Besides the accumulating evidence that says Mary Jane is not as bad as alcohol or other hard drugs there are many reasons for the needed change.

One of the biggest problems is the hypocrisy of criminal charges associated with Mary Jane. According to a report in Washington Post, African Americans are arrested more often comapared to white Americans at a 3-to-1 ratio, despite the fact the fact that white Americans account for more of illegal use of Mary Jane. In a few words, it is racist. African Americans also may face longer or more serious convictions than white Americans, even if it is for the same charge.

Besides being used for recreational use, Mary Jane is being researched to help treat many different illnesses and their progress so far seems promising.

As a country we need to have a serious discussion about the future of Mary Jane. What place it has in medical, recreational, criminal justice parts of our society. How can we as a society continue to be blind to all of the serious problems caused by the prohibition of Mary Jane. As a society we need to  be able to move forward.