After reading Christopher Sabanty’s column (“Why Can’t Weed Be Friends,” April 12), I have subconsciously developed some skeptical conspiracy theory about the intentionally manipulative government-suggested status of social stimulants. I think Sabanty illustrated a very good point about the relative dangers of marijuana compared with other “conventional” types of social stimulants.

Marijuana is illegal, but I think it is only illegal because it is difficult to regulate, especially when compared to social stimulants like alcohol, Coca-Cola and tobacco. Alcohol, which can only be sold competitively in larger, more federally observable settings, is more favorable to a free market economy. This is vastly different from marijuana, because anyone could be self-sufficient in potentially growing his or her own plant.

For some reason, I think the government believes if everyone would just start using more marijuana it would generate stronger feelings toward this collective hippie “conciousness” about environmental exploitation, globalization and all these bad things it seems some friendly hippies I know are in a continuous struggle with. These things that the hippies have been fighting for years are bad things, but people make a ton of money off of them. People are deceived, causing the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer sometimes.

Coca-Cola practices capitalistically advantageous globalization. Hippies hate globalization. Coincidence?

If people were to grow their own social stimulant, the government would plausibly be faced with people becoming more self-sufficient for social stimulation, and which would decrease productivity.

It reminds me of Aldous Huxley’s A Brave New World, in which the government discourages self-sufficiency and promotes everyone belonging to each other. The thought honestly came to me that the government fears an increased consciousness of injustice. I don’t know whether to be embarrassed or confused about these thoughts.

The underlying reason for my skepticism toward government is I just don’t understand how alcohol – a drug consistently observed as a catalyst for lethal car accidents, vandalism, physical altercations and increased disregard for one’s own well being – is treated as something that can be put to legal use more safely than marijuana.

Marijuana is relatively harmless. Is the government just tactically denying us a personal freedom in this instance? The sense of the law becomes blurred as the facts pile on.

Marijuana, just as other socially-accepted stimulants – alcohol, caffeine and nicotine – should be acknowledged as humanly acceptable. All of these stimulants are different spices for different people. “To each his own,” as they say.

Life is like a continuous saut