Voters in
Massachusetts will soon have the opportunity to approve legislation legalizing the use, possession, cultivation and limited distribution of marijuana with
some restrictions and, of course, taxation. Many of us have trouble understanding why the issue of
legalization is at all contentious. It is, in fact, patently bizarre, that with
all the freedoms we now enjoy in this nation, that a flower with the ability to
promote health and joy should remain criminal. Citizens can exercise their
Second Amendment right to purchase automated firearms that did not exist when
James Madison drafted the Bill of Rights; two consenting adults of the same
gender can now be wedded just as their heterosexual counterparts have done
throughout the history of civilization; individuals can engage in fornication
or perform other sexual acts for money, provided there is a third-party and a
camera, and we refer to this form of prostitution as pornography; a large
demographic of American taxpayers have a portion of their earnings forcibly
confiscated and distributed to organizations promoting a medical procedure that
they sincerely believe to be an act against human life….and yet, the flower
remains illegal, and provides a continued excuse to marginalize African
Americans, ethnic minorities and the economically disadvantaged.
This plant
has been criminalized in America for less than a century; not too long before
that, there were no restrictions whatsoever upon this crop that George
Washington, like so many colonists and early citizens of the Union, grew for
its industrial and, later, medicinal uses. Now I’m not a total libertarian, not
in general nor, specifically, when it comes to drug regulation. The continued
opioid epidemic should teach us the dangers of powerfully concentrated
substances. In hindsight, perhaps heroin was not the miraculous cure for the
pernicious scourge of morphine addiction that it was initially touted to be.
LSD-25, despite its purported psychological and spiritual benefits (which I
believe the academic disciplines are finally getting back around to
investigating, after those wacky decades of foolishness and ensuing hysteria)
is just too powerful to rest in the hands of common mortals. And in fact,
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh does raise a valid concern over the danger of
concentrated cannabis “edibles” and particularly their availability and appeal
to minors if the proposed law does go into effect. I once, stupidly enough, had
a large helping of the prescription drug Marinol, pure synthetic THC, and it
was, literally, a nightmare. The ancient Greeks were wise enough to lay down
the maxim “Nothing overmuch” two and a half millennia ago. And yet, even at
these concentrations there is no risk of death from overdose. I think the only
real danger from a stoned populace (aside from potential reduction in
productivity and efficiency) is the effect it could have on motorists and other
operators of machinery and vehicles. The fact is, however, that we already have
a stoned populace, and that not only alcohol but many prescription and
over-the-counter medications can impair driving as well, not to mention all the
digital distractions creating unsafe traffic environments. Legislation has
limited if any ability to control these factors, sadly, and we must look to
other channels to ensure we are all mutually vested in promoting safety and
awareness. I sincerely believe that transforming the stoner demographic into
participant adult citizens, rather than branding them as an irresponsible and
immature counterculture of arbitrary dissidence and lethargic apathy, would
contribute to this dialogue; and in fact, if we all took a toke now and then,
new and innovative ideas would be brought to the table as marijuana, capable of
impairing rational thought, can also inspire novel and unconventional
perspectives and suggest solutions to what the sober-minded have conceived as
an impasse.
The true
reason for marijuana being criminalized rests in industrial lobbyists,
specifically the rope industry, as hemp presented a threat to their
monopolistic business practices. Other propaganda was used to threaten
respectable Americans with the idea of wild, dangerous Mexicans and
African-Americans bent on violence and (crime of crimes) lusting after decent
white women. The real reason its legalization is still being resisted with such
vehemence today is the combined interest of Big Pharma, who would rather the
taxpayer continue to fund their R&D divisions so they can continue to buy
up property in our neighborhoods and sell us toxic chemicals to manipulate the
natural functioning of our brains, rather than use a safe, healthy and organic
substance to mediate stress, depression, and chronic pain and inflammation; and
the corporate prison system, which steals fathers from their families and
installs them as cheap labor contracted out to unethical and greedy corporate
giants like Whole Foods.
Legalizing
marijuana in the Commonwealth would help to support the local (and national)
economy, siphoning US dollars out of current illicit channels, defund the
prison pipeline, and empower policy-makers to cooperate with the community in
focusing on the opioid epidemic. I hope to see you at the polls on November 8th.
In the immortal words of reggae legend and international freedom fighter Peter
Tosh,
“Legalize
it!”
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