Hightower Lowdown

Excuse me for a moment while I vent about the mind-boggling stupidity of the autocratic, bureaucratic, right-wing, Neanderthal numbskulls who keep pushing an insane, inane, and inhumane holy war against marijuana -- which is, after all, only a weed.

The most embarrassing thing for these holy warriors is that the weed is winning! They've been at this war since 1937, spending billions and billions of our tax dollars, militarizing our borders, and stomping on our Bill of Rights. They've used phone taps, garbage searches, jackbooted raids, and draconian prison terms to... well, to do what? To nab peaceful, mellow tokers who aren't bothering anyone, that's what.

Despite 60 years of spending our money, they've failed: 85% of Americans say marijuana is easy to obtain today, a third of our population says they've tried it, nearly 15 million people partake of it at least monthly.

Meanwhile, the holy warriors have become more fanatical and thuggish than ever. A marijuana arrest is made every 41 seconds in America -- nine out of ten are for mere possession. In 2004, 772,000 Americans were arrested on marijuana charges -- more than for all violent crimes combined. And 40,000 Americans are in prison today for this victimless crime -- more than the total combined prison population of eight European countries.

Even sicker, the sanctimonious weed warriors have made it a crime for thousands of seriously sick people to get the medical benefits of using small amounts of doctor-prescribed marijuana. Weirdly, our doctors can prescribe cocaine for patients, but not pot. Worse, drug thugs from the DEA and FBI bust down the doors of these patients, seize their dosages...and haul them to jail. For information and action to stop this absurd war, call the Marijuana Policy Project: 202-462-5747.