So I wanted a good one for my 100th post (which this is). I couldn’t figure out what to write about until I came across a nice article about California’s Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger (via Okfuture.net, via Boing Boing). When asked about his obvious use of marijuana in the documentary “Pumping Iron”, he replied saying that marijuana is not a drug, but rather a leaf. Now say what you will about Arnold, but I have to agree with him on this one. Anyone who knows me knows that I am very much in favor of 100% legalization of marijuana. Many scientific studies have shown that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and tobacco (which, by Arnold’s reasoning is also “just a leaf”). Marijuana does not cause a chemical dependency like alcohol and nicotine, found in tobacco products. It has been proven to have many medical benefits, the reason why medical marijuana is legal in several states (including, thanks to our General Assembly that had to override out governor’s veto, my home of Rhode Island).
I might be shooting myself in the foot for admitting to this on a public blog, but I truly believe in personal privacy rights. The propaganda that the anti-drug people give is nonsense. I have heard of several reasons for the prohibition of marijuana, among them that William Randolph Hearst was going to lose money because hemp is stronger and easier to grow than cotton to be used in paper or that it was racially motivated in a bigoted move against Mexican migrant workers. Whatever the reason truly was, it has no basis on scientific fact. The reason cigarettes are still legal, while doing more bodily harm, is because of the big money the tobacco companies give to political campaigns and the strong lobbyists they have in Washington. I ultimately support the legalization of marijuana because, for the same reason that alcohol is regulated and taxed by the government, it, too, can be regulated and taxed. I don’t see anything different about someone smoking pot as opposed to getting drunk. It’s all about personal responsibility. If you are high, you don’t get behind the wheel, same thing as if you were drinking (of course, I also don’t agree with the use of BAC as a determination factor to your driving ability, as devices exist that can test your fine motor skills related to driving rather than infringing on your privacy).
Perhaps this will be a step in the right direction. I don’t see marijuana being legalized outright in this country right away, but the more states that decriminalize possession for personal use, the more likely we are to move in the right direction. Marijuana alone has never killed anyone. You cannot overdose on pot like you can on legal prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Contact your senators and representatives in congress. Support NORML. End the stupid criminalization of people who are not harming anyone else. Prohibition didn’t work with alcohol and it’s not working with pot. The so-called “war on drugs” started by Nancy Reagan is a losing battle.