Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio

The Paisano

Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio

The Paisano

Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio

The Paisano

Yo, UTSA I heard you like to smoke

It is not unusual to see marijuana at parties around UTSA. I know what you are thinking; which parties? Where?

I have no problem with those who embrace the tender comforts of pot. It is my firm belief that the government should allow any young adult to smoke marijuana if he/she wishes to; it is a matter of not limiting people’s sovereign right to decide.

Whether it is permitted or not, college students still smoke a lot of pot. Marijuana is consumed thoroughly and practically without any social recrimination around the college environment.

The freedom to exercise my liberties ends when it begins impeding others’ liberties. People in favor of the legalization of marijuana say that folks have the right to choose. I say the same thing. However, let us not forget that pot doesn’t come from nowhere. Chances are that whether your marijuana was brought from Hawaii or from Colombia, it was handled by the same people. I am referring to the Mexican drug cartels.

In a wild and untamed land called Mexico, the government has been fighting an unprecedented violence forged by well-organized mafias that seem to have uninterrupted funding. The main interest of these organizations is to export drugs to the United States—not forgetting their side businesses like kidnapping, extortion and human trafficking.

In the past four years, 34,000 people have been killed in Mexico alone due to the War on Drugs. The cartels are funded by the biggest consumer of drugs in the world: the United States.

The mindless violence engulfing several countries in Latin America is funded by consumers here in your local dorms. If somebody holds pot as a gateway for freedom, think again it might be for you, but not for the thousands of broken families in neighboring countries. Next time you contact your local dealer, look beyond; you might be endorsing one of the worst social problems of the decade.

Don’t hold your breath waiting for an alternative. Locally grown marijuana is already down the block; those who already buy marijuana may even know where to get it. I am speaking about Chris—you know, that guy. I don’t see him chopping heads off and trafficking little girls into the United States. He is just a communication undergraduate who wants to live the dream. So does everyone my friend; so does everyone.

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