Marijuana Legalization6/20/2009 9:16:00 AM Legalization of marijuana has been in the news a lot lately, but even if it wasn't, my first online magazine issue would include this article. I am a conservative on just about every topic except for drug legalization; so it seems a good place to start.
First of all, drug abuse is a public health issue; it should not be a criminal one. Most drugs are extremely harmful. I don't want a crackhead on every corner. I want them to be able to get help if they want, but if they don't, that is their business. As long as they are not infringing on the rights of others, drug addicts should be free to abuse themselves all they want. The government has no place in the private lives of individuals.
But does putting a drug addict in prison help anyone? They don't get the medical attention they need, and most learn new forms of crime they can use to support their habit. They make new connections with dangerous people, just so they can score their dope. 700,000 people a year are sent to jail for non-violent marijuana offenses, thrown in with violent criminals they can mix and mingle with. Or maybe get shanked by.
But Joe, I thought you were going to talk about weed? Herein lies the problem: Weed has no place in the same sentence with harder drugs, but the government put it there. They run silly anti-marijuana commercials while morons build homemade meth labs and kids OD on X. "Marijuana is a gateway drug." pardon my french, but that's horse hockey. When they do those surveys they are asking hardcore drug users if they ever smoked pot. Of course they have. So ergo, weed leads to what they are doing now. Bull, I've smoked weed for almost 12 years and have never "gatewayed" to something else. Most weed smokers are like me. But the Government doesn't care.
So everything I say about drug legalization of course applies to marijuana, which as a substance is less harmful than legal drugs like nicotine, caffeine, and alcohol. But prohibition does not work, no matter how dangerous the prohibited. Crack being illegal does not make less crack users. As a matter of fact, it can be argued that the laws create more users, by exposing potheads to drug-infested jails. But just like with gun laws, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
So why the drug war? Part of it is "good intentions" and the government wanting to "help you," but in the case of marijuana, it goes deeper than that. Fabric companies spend millions every year lobbying against hemp. Pharmacutical companies know that legal weed would replace most of the side-effect riddled garbage they force down the public's throat. And these people have money, more than NORML can ever hope to match unless they get into the cartel business.
But take heart, things are changing. States with huge budget shortfalls are looking to marijuana for new tax revenue. Separating marijuana from other drugs in the minds of the people is a big and necessary first step to legalizing a plant that helps millions of sick people that have no where else to turn. People who have taken all the crap Merck tells them will help, but who are so sick that they need actual help, not words and fine print on a TV commercial. These are real people with real pain. These are the people I will fight for, against Bush, Obama, whoever, until the day I die. Help is on the way. Yes, we can.