Legalize Marijuana?
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This said, I shake my head at our outdated prohibition laws on a plant that grows in the ground when there are so many more harmful drugs around that are killing our kids.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.
Tax cannabis, save the economy!
I was in the bank the other day when I ran into a nice fellow who ran for mayor of Victoria a few years back on a “legalize marijuana” platform. Not exactly sure what that has to do with municipal politics, but that’s neither here nor there.
I joked with him that it must bother him that he is so mainstream now. Like any true believer, he wasn’t phased by it. His harm reduction club was thriving, and he was delighted to be helping so many people. And he was standing in the business line-up at the bank with a smile on his face, so I suspect he’s doing OK, too.
The cover story of The Economist this week is called “How to stop the drug wars“.
In my opinion, this article is bang on. It is high time for the world to deal with drug use as a health issue, not a criminal issue.
Marijuana should be regulated, sold in liquor stores and taxed like hell.
But hard drugs should also be legalized. A reasonably-priced, non-contaminated supply prescribed to patients will be far healthier not only for the drug user, but for society as a whole (no reason to steal, no junkies dying in your driveway, no innocent bystanders being shot up by gangs, and a drug user in this scenario would be far more employable than now).
I was told my opinion on this would change when I had children; on the contrary, I am more confident than ever that this is the best solution for our society, and we are on the cusp of an important international meeting where this change is possible.
And forget about those half-hearted Liberal-style decriminalization policies. I have argued in the past, and continue to believe, that decriminalization is a recipe for disaster – it only encourages youth (and others) to consort with criminals – and criminals do not limit themselves to marijuana – they push harder drugs, they trade in guns, prostitution, murder and so forth.
With the economy in the dumps, thousands dying and imprisoned, and billions spent trying to rid the world of drugs, perhaps it is time to try something else.
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