Legalize Marijuana?

April 20, 2009 · Posted in Policy

The unknown origin of 4/20 aside, it has become a tradition for hippies across the planet to celebrate the smoking of this plant on April 20th. Since I hate the smell, I’ll try to stay in.

This said, I shake my head at our outdated prohibition laws on a plant that grows in the ground when there are so many more harmful drugs around that are killing our kids.

Lumping together marijuana and other drugs is a serious disservice to parents and children.

But wait, isn’t marijuana a gateway drug?

Sure it is.

Little Billy tried smoking marijuana and decides it’s not so bad. Since he has already broken the law, the law treats them as equally bad, and his dealer has access to a myriad of other drugs, why not go off and get hooked on crystal meth?

But is this the fault of the plant, or the fault of the law?

I would strongly argue the latter. It’s precisely because of the total lack of education, the misinformation, and the illegality of the plant. The plant itself is not nearly as harmful as other drugs, nor as harmful as the propaganda makes it out to be. Kids are smart; they know bullshit when they hear it. So they presume all the information about all the other drugs is also false. Unfortunately, much of the information about the other drugs is true, but it’s too late for little Billy.

Furthermore, the social consequences of marijuana tend to be far less than alcohol abuse, or that of most other drugs (for those who don’t pass through the gateway).

However, because it is illegal, marijuana is sold by criminals. And criminals trade in all sorts of illegal things – like guns, harder drugs, and prostitution – precisely the sorts of things we should be cracking down on.

The Liberal Party of Canada’s answer a few years back was decriminalization. This is the stupidest policy ever – telling children it’s OK to go and consort with criminals. Whoever thought that up certainly wasn’t a parent!

Full legalization is the only solution, and, frankly, the inevitable one. Anyone who thinks otherwise in 2009 has their head a mile deep in the sand.

I don’t smoke this plant, nor do intend to. But should anybody be thrown in jail for smoking it? Come on.

Unfortunately Canada cannot legalize marijuana. First, the United States must. We have too much at stake to do this unilaterally and not destroy our economy in the process. I wonder if it’ll take a serious incident along the Mexican border before America finally gets it?

In the meantime, we continue to spend billions in our fight against a plant that was around long before we were. This strikes me as incredibly stupid.

Tags: 420, marijuana

Comments

Sunflower Pipes

There are many persuasive arguments on why America should legalize marijuana, and the reasons are sound, but despite the fact that many millions of Americans have used pot has not translated into real political pressure on the people who can change the laws. One of the problems inhibiting legalization is that people that smoke a glass pipe are not considered serious or mature. It is This stigma that scares many pot users into hiding that they smoke pot. Therefore the Reality of who smokes pot and how much the smoke is very different than it seems. The last three presidents were admitted pot users and by my Understanding the same is probably true of the first three presidents as well. Marijuana Legislation is very serious and has everything with how we define what it means to be American. What credence do we as Americans give the rights of the individual to the pursuit of happiness as well as a right to privacy? In the end it is up to us to be public about our choices and to Voice our opinions to the ones that ultimately decide what the rules are. Every hand written Letter that makes it to a representative is considered to be the voice of a thousand people who did not take the time to write. Send an email, send a letter make a phone call and get counted.
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NeilD

BTW, I've never smoked marijuana either.
NeilD
NeilD

When the Liberals talked about decriminalizing marijuana a few years back they got a quick visit from the US drug czar who threatened to virtually shut down our borders. They quickly backed off.
I'm disappointed in the stance our Conservative government has taken but I also believe that they had to take that stance because of the unwillingness of Bush to do the right thing.
I can only hope that Obama will lighten the American laws up a little so that we here in Canada can follow suit and allow for police time to be better spent elsewhere.
I know of many adults nearing retirement age who have smoked for years but are currently having problems finding a supplier. It's enough to drive them to drink.
NeilD
Powell Lucas

As an inhaler of smoke from many a big, fat torpedo over a long span of years I can only agree with your sentiments. A Jamaican bartender with the street name of Jukie-Ju once told me: "if it grows from the soil and doesn't get altered by chemicals, it can't be bad."
I do, however, have some serious qualms about making the herb legal. My level of consumption is dependent on the price of the product. (So much for its addictive properties, but as a pensioner I have to watch the dollars and cents.) Once it is legal and the government gets their greedy paws into the game you can rest assured that the cost of enjoying a toke will rise well beyond the range where I can afford to indulge.