Let me preface that I'm biased: I don't smoke cannabis. I did back in junior and senior high school, when there was little else to do with my life. My friends from my pre-prison, but post-high school days found it amusing that while I would drink beer, take LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, drink absinthe, and smoke opium, I wouldn't willingly smoke cannabis.

In fact, every 4/20, I had to resist the peer pressure of my friends demanding that I show some solidarity with them, and partake. 50% give in ratio. I always regretted it - cannabis was not friendly to my system.

That does not mean I'm opposed to the use of cannabis - I believe that what you do with your body is your business, not mine. I do, however, object to the culture that has spawned a yearly celebration of breaking the law.

It's not because I think the law is right. It's not because I think celebrating any chemical is not necessarily worthwhile. It's because while people are celebrating today, there are 500,000 of their co-smokers, co-dealers (since a customer is part of the deal, I don't try to discriminate against the people making up the supply chain, they exist solely as a function of demand), co-cannabis enthusiasts locked up in prisons and county jails across this country.

How does it look, this annual celebration? Juvenile. Like our opponents to sensible drug policy have more sense than us. They celebrate their victories in real terms with a frame that makes it look like they're actually accomplishing something (when in fact, prohibition has failed by all measures). Their markers lead to more funding, more acceptance in political circles, more acceptance as an appropriate way to handle drugs in our society.

The 4/20 celebrations, on the other hand, look imbecilic. Despite the miserable failure to radically alter the drug policy landscape, despite the hundreds of thousands of ruined lives from cannabis prohibition, these celebrations make those who appreciate or need cannabis look like people who are just happy to party.

Don't misread me: should policy change, and we as a country return to our senses and end prohibition, I'm in full support of having an annual celebration, and I don't want to be seen as someone who loves to ruin a party. However...

Until those 500,000 cannabis "offenders" walk out of the prisons and jails, 4/20 partying can go to hell. We need 4/20 protesting the senseless policy of cannabis prohibition-- demanding amnesty, clemency and/or pardon to all cannabis "offenders." Once we achieve something like that, then celebrate.