Living now, in a time with much government involvement in our daily lives, it seems our liberty is being threatened more than ever. Justin Sugg’s Oct. 12 column, “Why stop at medical marijuana?” really rang true for me. Just the title alone points to the main issue at hand here: How free are we really?

I’m not a marijuana user, although I have used before. I do not have a medical condition, and I would not be someone seeking the use of marijuana as a medicine. Just so you know where I’m coming from.

From my experience, I would say that the illegal status of marijuana does just about as much to stop people from smoking as making the drinking age 21 keeps underage people from drinking: not at all.

In fact, in Iowa City, it’s much easier to find marijuana (if one so desires) than it is to find alcohol if you’re under 21. Ask a college student if you don’t believe me.

I have seen people make many more costly mistakes and put themselves in much more serious situations when they are belligerent and drunk than when they are stoned. People don’t get in trouble for being high and doing something wrong; they just get in trouble for being high.

I believe that hard drugs that have a high chance of overdose should be illegal. But seriously, if people want smoke a joint, why is it society’s responsibility to watch over them and make sure that they don’t do it? Why can’t people who like to smoke marijuana sit in the comfort of their own homes — not being disruptive, not driving — and smoke marijuana?

It’s time we start letting people be accountable for themselves. Even if people are doing something that you perceive to be wrong, it is still their choice, after all.

One other argument I have heard is that legalizing marijuana would make it more available and more widely used than it is now. I would have to argue with both of those points. As I said before, it’s very easy to find marijuana — more so than alcohol for someone who is not 21. Possibly even for some over 21, depending on whom they know. Marijuana users would continue to use, and those who have made the choice not to would most likely continue to abstain. Most people who abstain from marijuana use are doing it for reasons other than the legality.

I hope we open our eyes soon and see that the pharmaceutical companies and tobacco companies don’t want marijuana to be legal. That’s what it comes down to. If there were marijuana lobbyists with billions of dollars, then marijuana would have been legal decades ago.

Think about all the drugs the government has approved and were put out on the market that have had to be pulled. Unfortunately, what it took to even bring the argument for legalization (of a plant that we should be able to grow in our garden if we so please) to the table was a horrible economic recession and a desperate need for government revenue.

So again I ask you: How free are we really?

Travis Rudd is an Iowa City resident.