A new website, Marijuana Majority, makes an impression by listing famous people who think America’s laws against marijuana are crazy, unjust, or at least not very wise.
The site is elegant; it presents a long list. And by offering statements from each celebrity, we get a few ideas beyond the “marijuana should be legalized [to some degree]” message. Lawrence O’Donnell makes something close to an actual argument:
Since Gallup starting asking Americans if marijuana should be legal back in 1969, most have always said no — until now. In a Gallup poll released yesterday, 50 percent said pot use should be legalized.… A minority of 46 percent continue to say marijuana should not be legalized.… In a democracy we should expect such a dramatic shift in public opinion to be reflected in our public officials.
Evangelist Pat Robertson offers the practical point, often iterated:
I really believe we should treat marijuana the way we treat beverage alcohol. I’ve never used marijuana and I don’t intend to, but it’s just one of those things that I think: this war on drugs just hasn’t succeeded.
A lot of folks, including British entrepreneur Richard Branson, enthuse about the taxing possibilities:
[I]t’s currently estimated that the annual revenue that would be raised in California if it taxed and regulated the sale of marijuana would be $1,400,000,000!
But this is not primarily a propaganda-by-the-word site, it’s a propaganda-by-the-celebrity site. Alas, the bulk of celebrities hail from the entertainment industry … not the most convincing bunch on the whole.
Still, the barrage of support and ideas is impressive, showing you don’t have to be a stoner to want to liberalize marijuana laws.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
8 replies on “Celebrities, Cannabis, Change”
The idea marijuana might be “legalized” aught appall everyone who ever contemplates it.
Given that every serious “drug problem” and absolutely every “drug crime” descends from the one actual such crime: PROHIBITION; why not repeal that one and let the chips, as they say, then fall where they may.
Charitable Volunteers and We as a Civilized People will help the few who need help to quit their drug habits and for the rest we’ll simply police the laws regarding acceptable standards of conduct and vehicular operation.
Or is the real problem that such a dichotomy exists between those on both sides of the drug industry that it’s sometimes hard for us ordinary folk to tell the drug criminals on the one hand from the drug criminals on the other hand.
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” In a democracy we should expect such a dramatic shift in public opinion to be reflected in our public officials.”
This country was founded as a republic, not a democracy. In a republic no one should be able to determine what is legal for someone else to ingest or smoke, so long as it harms no one else. In a republic the will of the majority cannot do harm to a minority. Depriving others of marijuana which has been shown to have medical benefits, does harm to others.
Interesting to see what might happen, if Mary Jane is legalized. For one, what do we do with all the hardened criminals and murderers (drug cartels elements, gang bangers, etc) who have been making so much money off of the marijuana trade? Do we now welcome them as model businessmen, so long as they pay their taxes and don’t trade in other, still illegal substances? I mean, it worked for the Kennedy family, and many others out of the Prohibition period. Such model citizens they suddenly became! There’s a puzzle for discussion.
Then, there is the issue of all the marijuana smoking liberals who are such adamant opponents of tobacco smoking in anyplace besides one’s private bedroom closet. Can’t wait to see how they are going to handle the fascist anti-smoking prohibitions in public places when it comes to their own brand of firesticks!
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Regular pot use in teens increases the risk of schizaphrenia six times. Who pays the cost? Earlier age of use is directly related to earlier episodes of psychosis. In a car accident, if the driver tests positive for pot, are they automatically DUI and liable? There are ramifications.
I appreciated your comment on thisiscommonsense about the unseen ramifications of legalizing pot.
Where I live, the state is already involved in lotteries, hard alcohol, and benefits greatly from casinos. When we recently voted to get Wa out of the liquor business, we heard that police forces would be cut, and there would not be enough money for the fire dep’ts either. We just don’t need states in the business of peddling any of this. And of course, talk about unseen consequences:
1. Any drug that is legalized also then requires us to pay more money for curricula for health classes at school (down to kind.) to teach about its safe and legal use.
2. Any drug that is legalized also requires taxpayers to pony up for programs to help people addicted to or experiencing problems from its use.
Thanks Drrik.
I thought I was commenting on Drrik’s website! You can remove my comment, I did not wish to argue with ya. (:
States with medical marijuana have 9% less traffic fatalities:
http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011 – 11-30/strategy/30457944_1_medical-marijuana-laws-traffic-fatalities-gateway-drug
CU-Denver study finds states with medical marijuana have 5% less suicides: http://www.americanindependent.com/212738/study-suicide-rates-fall-when-states-legalize-medical-marijuana
These are 2 of the 3 biggest killers of young men. The 3rd is homicide, which decreased for 11 years in a row when alcohol prohibition was repealed. http://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/thinking-about-drug-legalization
If you get these dramatic improvements just from MEDICAL marijuana ‚imagine what full legalization would do!
The anti-cancer properties of marijuana have been known since at least 1975:
http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/references/journal/1975_munson_nci_1/1975_munson_nci_1_text.shtml