For the longest time I convinced myself that legalizing marijuana was somehow beneficial to society. Pot smokers being the peaceful people they are, I was confident legalization would have benign effects on society at large. Having just returned from a drug and alcohol workshop that treats addiction as a disease, and the legalization of marijuana as a potential social quagmire, I can’t say I completely agree with the pro-pot camp any longer.
It is important to note right away that there is plenty of scientific data to support the argument against the legalization of marijuana. It seems legalization proponents base their case solely on the physical and emotional benefits of the drug, such as we see in self-diagnosed pain management cases.
Even more important to me is the social cost of legalization, especially when our children are exposed to the legislative drama. There is no denying legalization would only encourage our youth to explore their options. Much like turning 21 is a rite of passage in the drinking world, smoking your first legally obtained joint would only initiate a downward spiral. And as it turns out, marijuana is not as safe as we once thought. According to the National Institute on Drug Addiction, “in 2004, more than 298,317 people entering drug treatment programs reported marijuana as their primary drug of abuse, showing they needed help to stop using.” Also, “about 6,000 people a day in 2007 used marijuana for the first time — 2.1 million Americans. Of these, 62.2 percent were under age 18.” The numbers certainly do not lie.
Perhaps the most problematic notion is that pain begets the use of medicinal marijuana. A pain patient can obtain proper medicinal marijuana documentation with very little proof they are actually in pain. Anybody who works in medicine understands the difficulty in attempting to diagnose pain correctly, for how is a physician to know how much pain a patient is experiencing? We would be culturally naïve to think nobody will abuse this concept. Habitual weed smokers can simply create or exacerbate a pain issue to obtain their legal justification.
And just how effective will regulations on medicinal marijuana be? The recent law enforcement sweep of 14 San Diego County pot dispensaries produced 31 arrests, leading the public to rightfully believe these operations are far from legit.
Plenty of nonsensical arguments exist in favor of legalization. For starters, the tax argument contains no logical rationale. How will taxing marijuana be any more effective than taxing cigarettes or alcohol? There is really no hard data to support the notion that taxing legal marijuana would dump gross sums of money into California state coffers.
Another legalization argument I hear often is that ever since the Dutch normalized marijuana, there have been fewer public heath issues since the drug is so widely available. According to a report released by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, marijuana “consumption nearly tripled among 18- to 20-year-old Dutch youth” after marijuana became normalized. Evidently, there is an issue.
This isn’t to suggest marijuana smokers should spend the rest of their adult lives tangled in the criminal justice system. Based on my experience, I prefer someone stoned out of their mind over someone drunk beyond recognition. The penalties are perhaps too stiff for the “criminal” caught with a joint or a small bag. Couple this with the fact our prisons and county jails are brimming with repeated small-time users, and it’s clear we should redefine our marijuana penalties.
The Obama administration recently initiated more relaxed medical marijuana guidelines. Under the new policy, the federal government will not pursue medical marijuana patients and their suppliers as long as they abide by state laws. In short, the convoluted legalization battle wages on. Whatever becomes of this, we need to consider our children first and foremost. Let’s set a good example.
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In your third paragraph you pretend that a legal joint would be more a right of passage than an illegal joint. Under our current approach we let children to sell marijuana at our public schools because the government refuses to regulate the sale to adults only. You also say the numbers do not lie in regards to the number of people in treatment, but most people in treatment for marijuana are there not because they “needed help to stop using.” But this is very common lie marijuana is not addictive, but if the choice is phony treatment versus going to jail and having a criminal record for life someone would have to be pretty stupid to not pretend they need treatment! Certainly if we truly want to end drug use by minors the way to do it is to allow adults easy, safe, affordable access and make the penalty unbearable for anyone providing it to a minor.
In your fourth paragraph you digress to medical marijuana although your title is about legalization. What you fail to take in to account is that most marijuana use is actually medicinal. What how could I say that? Some active components in marijuana relive pain and nausea, others relieve stress, open bronchial passages increasing lung function, reduce tumor size, reduce the ocular pressure of glaucoma, inhibit the growth of blood vessels needed for tumor growth, the list goes on and on. Many of these are preventive.
In your fifth paragraph you state that because arrests were made crimes were committed. I would agree with you I would just disagree with who committed them and of what type are they. I believe they are war crimes committed by the authorities against the good people of San Diego County and the State of California.
Do you really believe that alcohol and tobacco do not bring in a huge amount of taxes to the state treasury? Taxing marijuana would be a windfall to the state and nation as far as both income and out go for law enforcement, court and confinement costs. It would also allow many capable and productive people to once again become productive members of our society, both those in jail/convicted drug crimes and those that do not apply for or lose jobs, not because of performance issues, but because of drug testing.
I can find no evidence to backup your statement about the Dutch. This was some of the better info I found. “The lifetime prevalence of cannabis use in the Netherlands for 10- to 18-year-olds is 4.2 per cent,” Science (sub. required) reported, “compared with the U.S. High School Survey figure of approximately 30 per cent.”
From http://www.wellsphere.com/drug-addiction-article/harm-reduction-the-dutch-experience/225653
Yes I see an issue! Children, those under 18, are more than 6 times more likely to use marijuana in the U.S. then they are in Holland; do you see something wrong here?
The only part of your article that I agree with is you last two sentences. Let us set a good example to our children and stop telling them that the “most therapeutic substance on the planet” is more dangerous than heroin, PCP, and pharmaceuticals. Do your research. It is less dangerous than caffeine. Stop lying to our children.
A) ...62.2 percent were under 18
I knew a few kids who were sent to rehab for marijuana. They didn't need rehab, they were sent there in a panic by their parent/guardians. They used it recreationally (thought illegally) and when they were caught, they had half of their high school life wasted in a rehab for teen center up in Palomar or Colorado. I've read about the same drama played out in other stories from journalism sources on the internet. However, just like anything else- sex, food, gambling, collecting and thrill seeking- things can get out of hand. I've also known the sort of person who just wants to hang out and smoke weed all day. It's sad, but it's not widespread amongst pot users.
B) ...smoking your first legally obtained joint would only initiate a downward spiral
This is akin to saying that when Prohibition was repealed, most young adults succumbed to crippling alcoholism after having their first legal whiskey in years. Or that using Vicodin pain medication would initiate one to eventually be strung out constantly on pain killers, spending every last dollar on Percocets.
C)...how is a physician to know how much pain a patient is experiencing?
This is problematic in the medical industry, as it's impossible to truly gauge someone else's pain. Abusing a doctor's willingness to ease pain is rampant with pill prescriptions. However, these tend to be more destructive sorts of medications which cause actual addictions. True marijuana addiction comes from the user, not the drug itself. On the other hand, I think I'd rather addictive personality people abusing weed rather than Vicodin and Oxycontin.
D) ...marijuana “consumption nearly tripled among 18- to 20-year-old Dutch youth [according to ] the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
This statistic makes me wary due to the fact it's our government's department gauging another country's drug usage problem. Also the fact that is tripled isn't an indicator of a problem. It's an indicator of a use. You're using a large leap in assumption. It could be that with the legal restrictions down, those who were afraid of incarceration partook in the drug. Also possible is that with the legal ramifications gone, those who took the survey answered more truthfully. It could be those numbers always existed, but were covered up by those too afraid to tell the truth.
E) The Taxes.
I agree with you on this point partially. Those assuming hundreds millions of dollars are to be made in taxes are a little too out there for me. However, there is hard data on taxing cigarettes and alcohol. Why does the cigarette tax keep going up? Because the government desperately needs every cent it can get out of vice taxes. To say that marijuana taxation won't help anything is fallacy.
I do agree that children need to be protected. Smoking weed can cause problems. But so can cigarettes, child abuse, STDs, alcohol and internet exploitation. All of those are far more dangerous than smoking weed (unless your child has an addictive personality). However, two things on those dangers I listed are legal for the rest of us. As long as something is fun (or perceived as fun) people will want to do it. And if someone truly wants to do something, they're going to find a way to do it, no matter what the restrictions are.
Keeping weed illegal will only clog up the prison systems, and lose out on money (however large or small an amount) that we could use for other desperately underfunded departments or government programs.
Just think critically about it, and don't assume you have a new-found, Cassandra-like vision of the future just because you went to one seminar, which probably has investment in convincing people that drugs are bad.