Social Commentary

I read an article in the paper yesterday that got me thinking about the state of our society. The article concerned the fact that the FBI was having to relax their standards on new perspective employees use of Marijuana. It seems to me that there must really be a problem in this country if a government agency such as the FBI can not find enough applicants that have not had marijuana use in their past. This tells me that the use of this illegal substance must be much greater in this country than the government statistics purport them to be. This war on marijuana seems remarkably like the prohibition on alcohol in the nineteen twenties. It is virtually impossible to keep a population from engaging in an activity that they want to be engaged in. Particularly when it is a substance that is a weed and can be grown almost everywhere. Now personally, the only experience that I have with this substance is my interaction with people at the bars and restaurants that I have owned who openly admit to its' use. These people range from college students and business owners to educators, doctors, lawyers, and police. Pretty accurate microcosm of our society,huh? Only a very few members of this cross-section of people that I have met are the stereotypical Cheech and Chong type of stoners. Most of these people that I have met go to work everyday and are productive members of society. If they did not confess to you that they engaged in the use of left handed cigarettes, the average person would never know. I have met a few irresponsible pot smokers who should under no circumstances use the product but I have met and known many dozens of people over the years that should not be allowed to consume alcohol either, because they can not manage their addiction to ethanol. People with an addictive nature will find something to become addicted to whether it is coffee, Coca Cola, Dr. Pepper, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, or marijuana. All but the last example in the previous sentence are legal at least in certain quantities and to certain age groups.

According to the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, www.cjcj.org/pubs/poor/pp.html after doing some math, almost 8.39 BILLION dollars were spent by Americans in the year 2000 for the incareration of marijuana violators. This figure does not include cost for arrests and prosecution of these crimes. If this substance is truly as dangerous as the government suggests, maybe they should spend a few billion of these dollars to develop a pharmaceutical that could be administered at childbirth to render the individual with a chemical repugnancy to the drug. This would be similar to the drug Anabuse with alcoholics, but on a much more permanent basis. In this way, marijuana usage would end in this country within a generation or so. It would also take a large bite out of organized crime, comprised of people that make more money yearly than I can imagine for the production and distribution of this substance.

We need to look at the root of the law against marijuana. It came about very reluctantly by the federal government in 1937 at the insistance of the bordering States of Mexico as a way to try and stem illegal aliens from coming into the United States during the depression. The law was also supported by Louisiana in an effort to control the black population. At that time, all of the hype about its' harmful effects seem to be almost complete inventions by those people who wanted to make the substance illegal for racial reasons and they apparently duped our federal government into going along with them. Also, as soon as the possession and use of marijuana became a federal crime, federal dollars began suporting its enforcement and no longer funded by the individual states. So it looks like it was both racially and financially motivated.

While on the subject of finances, the government likes nothing more than a new source of tax revenue. Perhaps they could legalize it and tax it, impose the same or even stricter penalties for overindulgence in the product similar to the alcohol laws. Just like now, with alcohol, no one under 21 would be legally allowed to use the substance without facing legal penalties. True, a small amount would still be home grown I suppose, however just as it is legal to make your own wine and beer, very few people do it. I believe the same would hold true with legal marijuana. If a person could actually legally purchase a product of known strength, why would they go to the trouble and time to grow therir own. Most people would not, they would go to the corner store and purchase it.

I am sure there are as many horror stories in existence concerning marijuana as there are about alcohol but this is not the issue. Swapping stories will not solve the problem. If the leading legal entity in our country cannot hire people that do not use or have not used this substance then maybe the reason for it being illegal should be revisited. I mean coldly and scientifically without the prejudice of holier than thou do-gooders. There is aparentently a great deal of information on the medicinal uses of the drug, but old prejudices seem to continually win out in court. Modern day temperance do-gooders are terribly afraid of what they do not understand and because of their preconceptions and ignorance of the topic continually call for it to remain illegal. As far as I can see, not making marijuana legal for terminally ill patients suffering from cancer, advanced AIDS/HIV, or other diseases could be considered a fair case of federally sponsored cruel and unusual punishment. How is making a person comfortable in the last stages of their life a danger to anyone? We are able to prescribe morphine (an opiate legal for public trade) and other powerful addictive and mentally damaging drugs which will render these terminally ill patients as nothing more than addicted zombies, while they could be administered marijuana which would lessen their nausea and discomfort without leaving them hopelessly addicted to a powerful opiate. How is making average law abiding citizens at the end of their lives or their doctors and relatives that are caring for them feel like criminals or actually be engaged in criminal activity a civilized practice. What ever happened to the concept of "Quality of Life?" Penicillin, with the help of Dr. Fleming, sprang from moldy bread, and before that I am sure no one thought there was a use for this ruination of a food product. If it is no worse than alcohol and tobacco, then legalize it. If it is worse, then spend the money to find a way to take it out of use in our society and I don't mean by silly commercials on TV showing eggs frying. That is silly entertainment, not education. I know personally, that if marijuana was made legal tomorrow, I would not use it. If I had a family member dying in pain, that might be another issue and one that I pray I that I never have to face. The drug holds no interest to me other than as a social issue and a cause for our government to expend billions of our tax dollars to control it. I myself do not know the solution to this social problem and would appreciate your feedback on the topic.