High Hopes

There was an event this past week, a holiday of sorts, being celebrated across the country. No, I’m not talking about Earth day, but there is definitely some green involved. On April 20, people joined together in cities all over the world to smoke marijuana. 420 has been associated with getting high for decades now and despite the illegal status of the drug, people still smoke or ingest the substance and strive for the legalization of pot. The people that support this type of legislation may be laughed at and are accused of being stoners or hippies by the media and politicians for not conforming to the status quo. This country has taken steps in the right direction as far as leniency towards the drug, from states allowing medicinal marijuana and decriminalizing the substance in some cases, to Attorney General Eric Holder announcing that he would no longer have the DEA interfere in state medical marijuana issues. Despite all of this, pot is continuously demonized and remains illegal.

I’m no pothead, in fact, I’ve never gotten high, but I have, for quite some time now, supported the federal regulation and taxation of the drug. There are so many reasons to pass legislation that would do this. Good legislation would include, but is not limited to, setting up licenses that would be required for people involved in all aspects of the business (growing, selling, transporting, and even individual licenses for people that want to use the product, limiting the amount they could carry on their person). Instead of throwing everybody in prison, we could set up a tiered fine system for violators of these new laws and only after they fail to pay their fines can they be arrested. Expunge instances of arrest and imprisonment for pot possession for those currently imprisoned or on probation, giving them a second chance to become a functioning member of society, where before they may have been rejected.

The economy would greatly benefit with this type of regulation, not only would there be an increase in job availability, new business opportunities, and brand new markets and fields for marijuana and hemp, the taxes collected on the substance would be able to go towards multiple programs such as helping with healthcare and education. Also, hundreds of millions of dollars would be saved by getting rid of that section of funding for the war on drugs, prosecution, court costs, and many others. Laws and programs could of course be corrected to adjust any new possible threats. For instance, people worry about driving and operating heavy machinery under the influence of this drug, there is a fairly simple solution to this problem, by equipping officers and employers with drug specific swabs that can detect how high the content is in their system to determine a time frame and then handle the situation as needed.

The United States needs to move past the negative propaganda of yesteryear and previous generations. People should not fear marijuana, but embrace the possibilities it can provide us. There is no “Reefer Madness”, just the madness of certain individuals who cannot grasp the positive potential of the regulation and taxation of marijuana. SRF