Most of you who know me, know that I have fairly liberal views on drugs, specifically marijuana and THC. And this has nothing to do with me wanting to personally use it or not. It has everything to do with fairness, honesty, medical advancement, and MONEY. You would FREAK OUT if you knew how much money we spend as a nation busting pot heads (not to mention the cost of ruining people lives). If you have a chance, rent the movie "Grass" (which is very nicely narrated by Woody Harleson). It will open your eyes to the racism that was at the root of the demonization of Marijuana. That demonization is still very prevalent today. You will also see that the money we are spending on "the war on drugs" is a complete black hole. We should redirect all this money on education and inner city rehabilitiation.
What boggles my mind is that the people (specifically here in America) have spoken many times on this issue but our Federal Government (currently run by Republicans who are supposed to be the champions of States Rights) continue to deny our public will. At least 10 states have legalized medical marijuana. Many more cities have also legalized Marijuana for medical use. Here in Michigan, Ferndale, Detroit and Ann Arbor have all legalized medical marijuana. Ann Arbor still has one of the most liberal decrimilization laws on the books ($25 civil citation for possession of one oz. or less - but be certain to be on CITY property and not U of M property where state law applies).
Just recently, Denver, Colorado, legalized RECREATIONAL Marijuana . The people of the great city of Denver have decided, very democratically, that they see no benefit in busting citizens that happen to choose to smoke their beer in stead of drink it.
So, all is well and good in Scooby Doo land, right? Not so fast!! Here come the Feds. When "states rights" fit the GOP agenda (like getting rid of Row v. Wade) then, by all means, lets let the states decide (that is what the GOP says). But when it comes to the EVIL WEED that will GATEWAY our children straight to Extacy, cocaine, crack, meth and ultimatley Heroine, the Feds must step in and save ourselves from our own "ignorance".
But why are we ignorant at all? One reason is that, the federal government STILL classifies Marijuana as a Class 1 narcotic. A Class 1 narcotic is defined as a drug that has NO MEDICINAL VALUE and thus can not be researched in any way. Do you think it could help a cancer paient with their vomiting? Or a glacoma patient with ther head pain? TOO BAD, we can not even test to see if this drug is helpful because it is classified as it is. So, why don't we just change this classification? Becuase that would lead to massive research and we would be able to PROVE the medicinal benefits and debunk many of the myths associated with THC. But I believe the biggest reason for not making pot legal is because you can grow it in your back yard far to easily and the drug Co's would not be able to cash in on our pain. Yes, this last part is a bit of wild eyed opinion but that is what this place is for, right?
Now, all is not dour in freedomland as there are some signs of progress. I already noted Denver but there are other positive signs, at least in other parts of the world.
Dutch politicians back plan to regulate marijuana farms
I have heard some things about changes in Amsterdam, that they have rolled back some of their liberal marijuana policies, but alas, these are simply vicious rumors. This article seems to point toward a possible positive step toward total normalization and real regulation. This could end up being a standard for other countries to follow but America, of course, will reject this as Euro liberal/socialism and will continue the unfounded rhetoric against Europe and anything foreign. God forbid that the US of A were to learn anything from some other country!
What we need is rational people in congress. Republican or Democrat, Green or Independent, I dont care. Just pragmatic, honest, intelligent, rational minded people that can cut through the stupid bull shit that we waste our time on (i.e. the war on drugs, the war on gay marrage, the war on christmas, the war on abortion) and get to work on fixing the real problems that we face (the de-industrialization of america, national healthcare, REAL public education - K-16, inner city redevelopment, Pension/retirement/social security).
Imagine what we could do with the HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS that we spent on the "War on drugs" , the "War in Iraq" , etc., etc.... -
Hey, we are still allowed to dream, right? Happy Christmas John (Lennon) War is over (soon)!
Peace out!
No comments:
Post a Comment