Recently, I have been talking about the sanctity of human life and how this ethic must cover quality of human life, not just the hot-button issues of abortion, the death penalty, and war. Quality of human life includes the right to work. One way to secure employment for all Americans is to legalize marijuana, allow USA farmers to grow and sell Hemp, and regulate it as opposed to banning it like we do today.
If we legalize Marijuana, that will mean new industries will spring up to meet the legal demand for the product. New industries will mean more jobs and therefore, more money for the government to put into jobs, the economy, education, health care, and the environment.
The government, in their current documents on marijuana, claims that marijuana will impair judgement, serve as a gateway drug to other drugs, cause cancer, and become an addictive drug. But the problem is, these things are all true about alcohol, which is an entirely legal drug. Therefore, legalization will not create any new societal problems beyond what are already there.
But on the other hand, if we legalize marijuana, we will get people out of jail so we can free up prison space for people who deserve jail, such as rapists, murderers, terrorists, and Enron execs. And less people in jail means less taxpayer money that is needed to regulate them, which means more money for jobs, education, health care, and the environment.
Furthermore, we need to rethink the way we think about hard drugs and the way we deal with them. The hard drugs, like crack, cocaine, and meth, cause people to become violent to themselves and others. Therefore, they should remain illegal. But what should change is the way we deal with people who are addicted to them.
If people use a little in the privacy of their own homes, why should we care? It is when they make themselves a threat to society that we should deal with it. The way to deal with it is to arrest them and give them the keys to their freedom. In other words, we should sentence them to jail indefinitely until they agree to get professional help for their problems. But if they agree to get professional help, then they should be set free on completion of their treatment and be trained in skills they need to get and maintain a job.
By focusing on treatment instead of punishment, we will free up even more space for violent criminals who deserve the long jail sentences that normally fall on the non-violent drug offenders.
Furthermore, if we legalize marjuana, we will not only create jobs for a new marijuana industry, we will be able to create a new Hemp industry as well. Hemp can be used for the following things:
Paper, textiles, building materials, food, medicine, paint, detergent, varnish, oil, ink, and fuel.
Hemp can be used for healthy food.
Hemp can be used for clothing.
There is legislation to legalize industrial hemp. Five Congressmen, Ron Paul, Pete Stark, Jim McDermott, Sam Farr, and Raul Grijalva, have sponsored HR 3037, which would remove barriers to American farmers growing industrial hemp.
Marijuana is not for everybody. It has different effects on different people. On the one hand, there are people I know who are not affected in their day-to-day lives when using the drug. My roomates would fit in that category; they smoke the stuff in the privacy of their rooms and are not affected by it. On the other hand, I know someone who tried to take it to cope with depression and had extreme difficulty functioning. She could not remember simple appointments and had to keep looking at her time sheet so she could remember when she had to work next.
But the same can be said for alcohol. I do not drink alcohol because I have observed the effects of addiction on my grandfather and my father.
The Ninth Amendment establishes the principle that all the rights belong to the people as opposed to belonging to the King. Therefore, as long as a person does something that does not harm or affect other people, then why should the government care or intervene to stop them? Freedom means the freedom to screw up and make bad decisions. Otherwise, there will be no freedom at all.
It should be up to friends and families to intervene in any situation in which a person is screwing up their life. But that is true if they are addicted to alcohol or crack or anything in between. There was even a student one time who died after starving themselves to death after being on the computer for days on end at a computer cafe. It is a fact of life that you cannot legislate against everything that can possibly kill a person.
There is one concern that should be mentioned in any discussion of Marijuana — the gateway effect. Many of Marijuana’s opponents fear that legalizing it will lead to a gateway effect and lead to addition to hard drugs. But there is no scientific evidence that this is the case. However, part of the problem might be that some forms of marijuana are laced with hard drugs. Therefore, I do not have a problem with regulating marijuana and hemp foods under FDA regulations requiring the listing of ingredients for all products. And we should encourage the formation of watchdog groups who will call attention to companies which cannot be trusted to make safe and effective products so that we can prosecute them.
Just gotta say that was a great diary and you laid it out very well. I am in total agreement with you…
Frequently Unasked Questions (FUQs)
If marijuana has no medical value, why would someone with a serious medical problem decline to use legal medicines that would be covered by their insurance and insist on something that could subject them to arrest?
If marijuana has no medical value, what is the appropriate jail term for a sick, dying or disabled person who uses it?
If marijuana has no medical value, what is the appropriate jail term for a doctor who prescribes it when he finds that no legal medication works as well?
If marijuana has no medical value, why is it used in cancer and spinal cord injury wards through out the country?
If marijuana has no medical value, why is the government providing it for free to eight people?
If marijuana has no medical value, why is its principle active ingredient, THC, legally available by prescription?
If marijuana has no medical value, why was it called “One of the safest therapeutically active substances known….” by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s own Administrative Law Judge, Francis Young, in 1988.
If marijuana is so dangerous, where are the actuarial statistics about its victims? Where are the bodies?
How do you pronounce FUQs?
I don’t know the answer to any of these questions.
REPRINTED COURTESY OF Richard Cowan , Marijuananews.com
I believe you are right. I have never met anyone who got stupid on pot as some people get stupid on alcohol, they just get mello. Luckily I live in Europe. I’ve been able to get off the alcohol to sleep through the night. I used to have to get drunk just to sleep to chase away the nightmares of the PTSD. I can now have a bowl before bed and I sleep just fine, it also helps me cope with the pain in my back from a military parachute accident. Additionally, as I am working on my dissertation, I haven’t had any bad effects regarding my work. I think the priorities are wrong when we legalize alcohol but send people to jail for 20 years for possession (Michigan state law).
However, like everything else, corrections are being industrialized. Therefore, you must put more people in jail so that they become overcrowded and therefore we need contrators to build more prisons and make more money. It’s disgusting really.
…free up prison space for people who deserve jail, such as rapists, murderers, terrorists, and Enron execs.
Make room for real criminals like Enron and WorldCon execs? Perish the thought! (Bernie Ebbers remains a curse word in this household.)
That, along with privatized prisons, is why it will remain illegal.
is the main problem, more companys make money by keeping it illegal, than not ; )
Sad to say, but that ol’ evil bugger called greed now controls our society, world wide….
Think I’ll have a hit or two,,,,and dream about the day when it won’t matter if you do, or don’t….; )
peace
Did you bring enough for the entire class?
:<)
(red-eyed grin ; ) of course….
Hemp can be used for the following things:
Paper, textiles, building materials, food, medicine, paint, detergent, varnish, oil, ink, and fuel.
Does that mean these products would use less chemicals and perhaps make the products safer (e.g. paint)? Chemical industry would go ape shit.
Hemp can be used to fuel cars, freeing us from our dependence on oil and eliminating the need for wars over oil.
This crowd doesn’t want oil independence. They’re making too much money at it, and they’re having too much fun controlling just who gets oil.
So many beneficial uses…fewer people in jail…
Of course we’ll keep it illegal.
The more they go apes–t over this, the better we like it. Then, we can portray them as spoiled brats while we are sitting here solving our country’s problems like adults.
Eternal Hope – have I ever told you how beautifully appropriate your name is? You are SO ahead of your time, dear.
Why do people speaking for marijuana legalization always bring up the hemp thing? Hemp and marijuana are separate issues. All this does is to play into the hands of those who oppose both and they gleefully point and say things like “Hemp is just a stalking horse for the legalization of marijuana.”
They are begging the question. They are starting with the assumption that pot is bad when that is the topic under discussion.
I disagree with this part:
I don’t buy this argument. Look at all the violence and death that is a by product of having these drugs illegal. Not to mention all of the people imprisoned for committing crimes related to the drug game.
Just legalize all of it. It will save so many lives, not to mention that it will help clean up our poor urban areas across the country.
I agree, ejmw. As I get older I get more liberal about this. I’ve never been pro-drug war even though both my parents were addicts. It was clear to me early on that the drug war was having very little effect in helping the issues of middle class addicts — particularly white middle class addicts — and rather was predominantly a war on poverty and minorities than on drugs.
But I did used to favor decriminalization as a middle option between the current context and full legalization. The more I think it out, though, the more I think we’d be better off with legalization and some kind of limitation; more specifically, I’m thinking of some combination of the way we currently regulate alcohol sales through liquor store licensures and the way we regulate pharmaceuticals through all the various channels we use for that.
I completely agree with everything you said.
As Tupac said in ‘Changes’ (same song my sig is from):
I would set a much higher threshold for arrest than what is currently the case in this country. If someone is using it recreationally, then that should not be grounds for arrest, or it should be a petty misdemeanor. It is when someone is addicted to it and commits violent crimes as a result of their addiction that my requirement for treatment would kick in.
My main question about your position is, does crack and meth cause people to become violent absent any laws against it? If such is the case, then an approach like I suggested in the diary would still be justified.
Does alcohol? That seems to be one of your major reasonings for legalizing pot (that we already allow alcohol). Truth be told, I think that historical reflections aside, your position regarding pot vs. alcohol argues more heavily for the criminalization of alcohol rather than the legalization of pot.
to totally agree. Seven in one family ranging in age from one to 18. Both meth-user parents abandon them, then he’s busted for making it (and consider the chemicals in that!). Another three live with their meth maker/dealer family, people coming and going 24/7, starved for attention they become destructive. Then there’s the one 16-year-old who’s mostly supporting herself by working at McDonald’s so she can finish high school. (There’s a success story for you!)
I understand the violence caused by illegality but, for me, these kids override that. My understanding is that the kid problem is also associated with crack and cocaine. Regardless, if we spent the prison money on rehab and then adult education, we’d have infinitely better results!
I understand your argument, but let’s look at the facts.
If people want to get their hands on drugs, they’re going to. That’s my point with items 1 and 2. We are in a better position as a society to help them if it is legal and regulated. That’s my point with 3 and 4.
My point is that if used responsibly, alcohol does not pose a threat to society. Pot is in the same category. Crack, on the other hand, is so addictive that it poses a threat to society by making people violent when they get withdrawal symptoms.
I agree with the focus on treatment. Therefore, if someone turns themselves in for treatment, they should not be arrested and charged.
And what would you do with the family that the other user mentioned?
not everybody uses alcohol responsibly. Similary, not everybody uses crack responsibly.
Granted, it is more difficult to use crack responsibly.
But it is a matter of degree. Both crack and alcohol are addictive. Where do you draw the line? You’ve chosen (reasonably enough) to draw it at alcohol, because it is the ‘worst of the best’, or the worst of what our society allows.
I guess one issue here is : are we having a philosophical discussion, or a practical one? Because I know that crack/cocaine/meth/etc. are not going to be legal anytime soon. Pot at least has an infinitesimal chance. But ideally, I think they would all be legal and regulated. And as you say the focus would be on treatment and not punishment.
As for the family that the other user mentioned, they wouldn’t be in that situation because the father would not be making meth in his basement, and would not have all the questionable characters around the house buying it from him.
Let me first say that I agree with you call for legalization 100%. I’m high right now. I also think it’s one of the more convincing arguments I’ve heard on the subject. So, purely in the interest of helping you hone your arguments, I had a few thoughts and questions you might get asked, even from the progressive Left, specifically regarding the idea of Hemp as Feul:
Anyhow, just a couple thoughts. I definitely think that a much larger hemp economy would be beneficial the aforementioned many ways. I just wonder about the means and ecological requirements of domestic production. Perhaps, in a post-legalization world, we just need to liberalize import restrictions of industrial hemp to encourage it’s farming elsewhere where it’s diffuse cultivation as a fuel for American consumer product and energy needs, etc. might not have such an immediate negative effect on the environs. We also would need to encourage consumption here, but eventually high energy and petroleum product prices will create a natural demand.
Now, the domestic greenbud is a different story:
‘It’s the Healing of the Nation.’
That is actually one of the main arguments in favor of hemp legalization; proponents point out that it helps reverse the processes that you mention.
I’d never heard of “monoculture” in connection with agricuture, so I Googled briefly. If I understand correctly, it has to do with growing the same crops in the same soil every season and the consequences of all that. If that’s correct, I understand.
The water problem, I certainly understand, which makes hydroponic growing a problem. It also uses electricity, I think. We use water in dams to make electricity, so many some genius could work that out! (OK. I’ve got a nice little buzz on, too 😉 But the Hopi have a great method of drip irrigation they use in growing corn. “Pipe dreams,” maybe, but who knows?
decriminalization argument was based on simple economics, as outlined in books like Eric Schlosser’s Reefer Madness:
We spend a gagillion dollars on law enforcment relating to possession and distribution of a plant. Government at all levels lacks for money. Let’s spend it elsewhere.
But I was pleasantly surprised to see Denver’s decriminalization initiative pass easily using a completely different tack: that pot is safer than alcohol, and adults should be given the choice of something less damaging. They gave ground immediately on the idea that this would encourage use–that’s what they wanted. And it worked. Sadly, it means nothing in practice since nearly all cases were and are prosecuted under the state law, but it’s a clear signal of voters’ intent.
the city of Ann Arbor passed a ballot proposal to legalize medical marijuana. Of course, state and federal laws still apply, so it doesn’t really do anything.
I am pretty sure that a ballot proposal leaving the word ‘medical’ off of it would pass by at least as large of a margin here as well…
We keep passing it out here in AZ and you know the conservatives keep right on fighting it. Hypocritical bastards. They’re the first ones to scream about “taking the issue to the voters” when “the issue” is marriage equality for gays and they think bigotry will win for them, but when the voters keep passing ballot initiatives approving of medical marijuana, then suddenly they switch gears and decide that only the R-dominated state legislature should be making policy.
It’s just like the whole stupid states’ rights argument — they only believe in states’ rights insofar as they agree with the position the state has taken, but they’re sure as hell willing to use the feds as a blunt instrument when they control DC and decide that “some liberal state has gotten out of hand”. They have no integrity.
possession under an ounce is de facto decriminalized.
As backup, pot smokers are often told to fill out the state paperwork for a medical marijuana exemption (the law that passed overwhelmingly statewide several years ago which AG Ken Salazar worked so hard to subvert afterward), but not turn it in and claim your doctor advised you not to send it in because it’s well-known the list is simply given to the DEA and state authorities.
From a social harm reduction standpoint, I completely agree. The drug war costs more in lost productivity and increased taxes for jails than the social cost of legalization. But the notion that Marijuana is completely safe is being widely debunked by recent scientific studies. There is a clear link between Marijuana use and mental illness formation such as schizophrenia and psychosis later in life. Disturbing the cannabinoid receptor system within the brain may have much more serious negative effects than previously thought. Please note:
“Imaging Shows Similarities in Brains of Marijuana Smokers, Schizophrenics”:
http://www.rsna.org/rsna/media/pr2005/Marijauna.cfm
“Psychotic symptoms more likely with cannabis”:
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/being-human/drugs-alcohol/dn6745
I do not say this out of a hatred for Marijuana. And I certainly think banning low THC hemp for industrial use is outright crazy. But be aware that regular long-term use of marijuana may be far more damaging to the brain than popular conventional wisdom holds. –M
While I’m big believer in caution and moderation, I would also be careful to draw too much inference from such a small sample population, which is a factor in the first study you link, and with chicken-and-egg type assumptions, which is a factor in the second study you link.
From your first link, emphasis mine:
Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe and disabling brain disorder that affects about one percent of the entire population.
From your second link:
That said, I don’t think marijuana is completely harmless. But then again, very few things are.
Point taken. I’ve seen better reports on these studies, but those two links were the easiest to find. Brain research is proceeding at a very rapid pace right now. Chemical dependence appears to be more a disturbance in a variety of brain signaling mechanisms, rather than a psychological disorder. I’m just arguing that one should be careful with this drug as it appears as though recent studies are showing real dangers. JMO. –M
Well then we’re in agreement. I think one should be careful with any drug, including aspirin, which is believed to have induced Reye’s Syndrome in a childhood friend of mine, killing her before she was 20.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t that study also associate dangers of marijuana use with adolescents? In other words, the danger seems to be linked with smoking pot before your brain is fully developed. I don’t recall that it said much of anything about adult marijuana use.
But then, my short-term memory’s shot to hell…
I’d answer you but my hands are coated with Cheetoh dust, which makes too much typing cumbersome. 😉
I smoked pot a decent bit in my youth, but quit when I was 17. I haven’t suffered an…what was that? Did you guys hear that?