Attention potheads: Put down the Xbox controller and step away from the Doritos.

America needs your help -- pay attention.

In the ever-present and ever-hypocritical quagmire known as the War on Drugs, "Mary Jane" is once again on the frontlines.

From the hilariously absurd anti-drug campaign to the not-so-hilarious mandatory minimum sentencing requirements, the government has fought hard to sway the minds of Americans against marijuana with "facts" that some leading medical institutions have refuted with concrete evidence. And what does the government have to show for it? That about 100 million Americans have smoked pot in their lifetime.

Nice try, but not everyone's buying it.

Historically, marijuana has been outlawed for various reasons, but its "potential for danger," a convenient facade, was not always the primary one.

In the 1970s, President Richard Nixon's prejudices, evidenced in declassified White House tapes, revealed his association of "dope" with "homos" and "Jews" (visit www.csdp.org to view the transcripts). Such calculations have led officials to relegate marijuana as a Schedule I substance, or the most dangerous under the Controlled Substances Act. In comparison, substances such as cocaine and LSD are Schedule II drugs.

Politicians follow this line of thinking for fear of being labeled "soft on crime" or a "hippie." Thanks, Dick.

Enter the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is currently hearing the case of Angel Raich, who uses medical marijuana to ease pain caused by scoliosis, a brain tumor and chronic nausea, according to a March 27 Associated Press report. Her doctor admits that without marijuana, she'd be dead.

Hundreds of patients, suffering from a variety of ailments, from cancer to anorexia, share in Raich's pain and seek their basic right to life. If marijuana can prevent death, who is the government to interfere?

Mark Quinlivan, the opposing counsel in the case, argues that, "There is no fundamental right to distribute, cultivate or possess marijuana." No duh. That's because it's illegal, not because it's unnatural. If a plant that has grown wild on the earth for thousands of years is not natural, then I don't know what is.

Ignore the propaganda. It's time to hear the facts.

For one, former U.S. Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders has admitted its benefits: "The evidence is overwhelming ... marijuana is less toxic than many drugs that physicians prescribe."

Indeed, a mere bottle of Advil could prove fatal. What is the lethal dose of marijuana? Over 1,200 pounds consumed in one sitting. Not even Bob Marley could do that.

Even Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Judge Francis Young has agreed: "In its natural form marijuana is one of the safest, therapeutically active substances known to man."

But the numbers speak for themselves. According to a Jan. 19, 2005 Journal of the American Medical Association article, in 2000, tobacco caused over 435,000 deaths; poor diet caused 365,000 deaths; alcohol caused 85,000 deaths. And how many deaths did marijuana cause? Zero.

According to www.webmd.com, three out of four doctors and nine out of 10 nurses support the decriminalization of marijuana. And still, as billions of tax dollars go up in smoke, more than 700,000 Americans are jailed each year for pot offenses. This begs the question: From what is the government "protecting" us? Compared to drunken frat boys throwing dryers off balconies, pot smokers quietly enjoying Phish are harmless.

And more importantly, if scientists are for it, then who's against it?

The answer: those who are in positions that benefit from its prohibition, a.k.a. the "drug czar" of the DEA, John Walters, who argues vaguely about its dangers.

Where is Walters during Mothers Against Drunk Driving meetings or Truth demonstrations, where stories of fatalities from alcohol and cigarettes, both legal drugs, are lamented?

Now we have entered a new stage -- the battle between federal and state governments. The feds say it is illegal, but 13 states have passed legislation decriminalizing pot and legalizing it for medical use. Even if court rules in favor of Raich, the feds can still prosecute.

The hypocrisy must end. Marijuana prohibition must end. Vote, petition, protest, fight and stand up for our rights. If we don't, American drug policy will soon make Cuba look like Amsterdam.

And the Constitution won't be worth the hemp on which it is written.