The Whole Country’s Going to Pot

Before I get going, let me make something perfectly clear. I don’t do drugs. I have never purchased illegal drugs. I have never used them. The closest I’ve ever gotten to smoking a joint is walking through an apartment or dorm hallway late on a Saturday night — which would probably have made me test positive for pot. I rarely use painkillers more potent than Ibuprofen. I’ve never even bought a pack of cigarettes — my friends and I tried when we were 5 but were thwarted by the clerk at the White Hen Pantry (I got in trouble for crossing the street, too). If it weren’t for the fact that I do like booze, I’d be straight edge. 

Even so, I support the decriminalization, legalization, and regulation of marijuana. 

I was very dissapointed to hear the President make light of the millions of people in this country who agree with me, and with well educated people like former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper. 

Now, keep in mind, I am not saying “oh just repeal all the drug laws and let us have all the hard stuff we want!” I am saying that marijuana can and should be legal, subject to variations of laws already on the books pertaining to cigarettes and alcohol: minimum age to purchase; clearly labeled THC content; the Surgeon General’s warning against smoking; limitation on what sorts of fillers or additives can be used; regular inspections of the farms, preparation facilities, and suppliers; licenses (and license applications!) for the retail sellers; subject it to taxes; jailtime for people who circumvent the rules, provide it to kids, drive while high, or cause injury to someone while high.

Here are some of the things I think would happen if this were done, from source to end user:

Farmers would have additional, legal crops they could grow. Not only could they grow pot legally, they could grow industrial hemp. Hemp is an old crop, friendly to the environment, with lots of uses. Hemp can be used to make stuff like rope and fabric and paper. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew it. Both would make great crops for farmers transitioning out of things like tobacco here, or opium in Afghanistan.

It would take production out of our neighborhoods and forests. The ability to grow the stuff in a legit farm takes the profit motive out of turning private homes into illegal farms in our neighborhoods, using lots of electricity and bringing criminal elements into residential communities. Likewise, there is little reason to start a pot farm in a national forest when you have competition from legit farms, you can’t sell to legit suppliers, and the market for illegal supplies has dried up.

It would provide legit jobs for farm hands and workers at processing facilities. We could use some job creation, right?

It would take money out of the underground economy, and put it into the regular economy. Not only would it reduce the number of ways illegal enterprises have to make money, our states and communities would benefit from more tax dollars. Since it seems like just about every community and state has a budget shortfall these days, that seems like a good thing too.

It would keep drugs out of the hands of kids! Instead of being available from that shady guy on the corner, it’s behind the counter at the mini-mart with the cigs, or it’s behind the counter at the liquor store. The nice lady at the White Hen Pantry doesn’t want to lose her job or cost her boss’s pot resale license, so she won’t sell it to the group of kindergartners that wandered in from the apartment complex across the street. 

It will reduce the number of people — of all ages — using harder stuff. Let’s face it, the shady guy on the corner who sells pot would really rather sell you higher margin products that ensure more repeat business through addiction. Stuff that is substantially worse for you than marijuana. 

It will have a positive influence on the War On Drugs. There will be fewer fronts on which to fight. It will save thousands of millions of dollars each and every year. It will help slow the rapid filling of our prisons with largely non-violent offenders (who after prison find themselves unable to get college financial aid, and in some cases unable to get a Real Job that would permanently keep them out of prison). 

It will reduce the influence of criminal organizations both here and in other nations. Legalization chops off their product and their customer base. This will inevitably reduce the flow of money to Mexico’s drug lords, and help their government regain full control of the country. How did America destroy the mob’s influence? It repealed prohibition.

It will bring thousands if not millions of people into compliance with the law. “Just Say No” never worked for anything, and that includes smoking pot. Legalization will change the fact that all those people are breaking the law, and turn them into people who are paying taxes on products.

It is the compassionate thing to do for people who really need it. Nobody disputes that pot is a great pain reliever, nor that it stimulates the appetite and reduces nausea. Some claim that there are legal drugs that do the job just as well, but others dispute that. It is worth noting that the Obama Administration has already decided against prosecuting medical marijuana cases. It’s hard to listen to some of the anecdotal stories of how medical marijuana made someone able to survive, or simply allowed them to die without pain and still think it’s bad.

That’s one person’s opinion. Take it or leave it. 

In Closing: advice for people who don’t like gay marriage; a tale of two depressions; double standards; one in five pre-schoolers is not just overweight, they’re obese!; homelessness is up all over; 10 cars that could have saved Detroit 10 years ago (if Forbes were honest with themselves); Ezra Klein on how we cleverly hide our health care waiting lines; and finally, if you haven’t already spoken out on the “conscience” rules for health care “providers” about to go into effect, do it today. I wrote about it here, and it’s not dead yet.