Duuuuuuuuude.
There are some bong-ripping writers and opinion-givers out there who believe that Eric Perez -- the 18-year-old who died at a West Palm Beach juvie lockup last month -- died because of the prohibition of marijuana.
Perez was already on probation for a robbery when he was younger and was sent to juvie after he was caught with some weed while riding his bike one night.
While investigators are still looking into exactly what happened that led to Perez's untimely death, cannabis fans are ablaze with anger over the situation.
"An incredible tragedy, not only caused by the incompetence of the
detention center staff, but also caused by our ridiculous cannabis laws,
which put this teenager in his tomb because he had some weed on him,
violating his probation," The 420 Times says.
"Without cannabis prohibition, there is a pretty good chance Eric would still be alive."
That sentiment seems to be echoed on the NORML Stash blog:
"In order to save Eric from a weed that could never have killed him,
police placed him in custody and ignored him while he died. Marijuana
doesn't kill, but prohibition sure does."
Freedom is Green, Cannabis Culture, and The Weed Blog -- among others -- seem to agree.
Fair enough, dudes.
In that line of thinking, that means it's possible Perez wouldn't have been locked up for his weed arrest in one of 14 other states that have varying levels of marijuana decriminalization.
As former President Jimmy Carter once said, "Penalties against drug use should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself. Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against the possession of marijuana in private for personal use."
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