President-Elect Obama has repeatedly stated, since his election, that "the old ways of thinking and doing things in Washington just won't do", to fix our economic woes. He has said repeatedly that we need new ideas and a new way of thinking to solve our nations problems. Well Mr. President-Elect, I have a new idea that will help solve quite a few areas of our nations troubles.
LEGALIZE AND TAX MARIJUANA.
Now before you dismiss it, listen. Legalizing marijuana would literally cover at least three to four issues facing our nation today. It would eliminate our problem with thousands and thousands of one-time, possession offenders overcrowding our prisons, leaving room for the real criminals. It would give our failing economy a much needed boost in income. It would provide a cheaper medication to people with diseases and viruses such as AIDS and HIV, cancer and glaucoma and marijuana can be used as a safer alternative to extremeley addictive painkillers like morphine and oxycodone. It would also eliminate the entire blackmarket for marijuana. Drug dealers would not be able to compete with the government-grown and lower prices that legalization would enact. It would reduce crime and the number of non-violent drug offenders behind bars.
To realize and understand why marijuana prohibition should end, one must first know the history of how and why marijuana was illegalized in the first place. That said, I'll start with a brief history of marijuana prohibition. Cannabis, otherwise known as marijuana, was legal throughout the 1800s for a variety of uses from using the hemp fibers to make rope and clothing to medical use in tinctures and tonics. However, after the Mexican Revolution of 1910, a wave of mexican immigrants came to the U.S. and introduce recreational usage. Up until the creation of the Federal Bureau Of Narcotics was formed in 1930 the U.S. had seen numerous instances of criminalization of marijuana throughout the states. It wasn't until Harry J. Anslinger, head of the Treasury Dept.'s Federal Bureau of Narcotics, did marijuana, along with numerous other then-legal drugs came under intense scrutiny. Anslinger was a far-right conservative who believed marijuana use was a devastating threat to America and its youth. He and the Narcotics Bureau ran a propaganda machine that consisted of many, now considered racist, ad campaigns against though to prejudice Mexicans and African-Americans. The basic message was that America's youth would become lazy (ie. Mexican stereotype) and violent (ie. Black stereotype). They struck fear in parents across the nation by telling tales of black men becoming extremely violent and raping young white girls. The entire basis for making marijuana illegal was made on racist stereotypes and misled facts and misinformation.
Now that I've covered its prohibition, I'll move on to why that should be repealed. Any number of scientists and doctors will attest to the safety and medical usefulness of moderated marijuana use. In fact, a fair number of states have already decriminalized marijuana and furthermore, legalized medical marijuana usage. That is prescribed marijuana or some form of THC-containing medication. My point being, it has a known and accepted medical usage. As far as I'm concerned that is reason enough to reschedule the drug from Schedule I (Extremely Dangerous Drugs) to a lower scheduling such as Schedule IV or Schedule V (Safe or Prescribed Drugs). Aside from medical usage, I believe it should be legalized even further, that is, completely legal in the manner that alcohol and tobacco, two much more dangerous and addictive substances, are legal. I believe marijuana should be taxed like alcohol, and sold somewhere similar to a liquor store for marijuana or existing liquor stores. There should be an age limit and an appropriate tax. This is where the boost to the economy comes in. Marijuana is America's number one cash crop. A little bit hard to believe, but not really if you think about it. The Federal Government could lease land either to independent farmers to grow and harvest the marijuana that would be sold throughout the country and, as I said earlier, taxed. Since marijuana is actually safer than alcohol, there should be no problem selling it in stores. Therefore, all the millions of people in our population who smoke marijuana will be spending loads and loads of money, helping to strengthen our economy in the process.
The only people getting rich off the war on drugs are a) drug dealers and b) prisons. Legalizing marijuana would eliminate both of these problems. Prisons are overpacked for basically one reason. One is there are mandates for certain non-violent crimes, including drug possession, which sets minimum prison sentences, even for first time offenders, when in reality these crimes should be civil offenses that warrant fines or programs at most. It is one big mishandling of the War on Crime (Drugs). They set all these mandatory minimum sentence (MMS) laws to try and get criminals off our nations streets when in reality, all that happened was our prison system was flooded with non-violent drug offenders, many in for first-time possession charges. People who get high are not going to stop getting high. The same reasons for legalizing maijuana are some of the same reasons alcohol was legalized. To stop making drug dealers (speakeasies and gangsters like Al Capone) rich and our citizens criminals. I believe that one of the main reasons we haven't been able to legalize it yet is because of the Pharmaceutical industry. They have lobbied millions and millions of dollars against marijuana legalization inititiatives in numerous states. They know the pharmaceutical value of marijuana and fear losing money from the sometimes dangerous, unhealthy and addictive medication that they peddle. That leads me to my next point.
Marijuana is a much safer alternative to a plethora of addictive, dangerous and deadly medications that are in circulation today. Drugs such as opiates and anti-depressants are addictive and personality-changing. Marijuana is can have an excellent painkilling effect and also has plenty of anxiolitic effects as well. Too many people are getting addicted to hard opiates like fentanyl, morphine and oxycodone. I've seen it in my own town. An unthinkable number of fellow classmates and youths in my town are addicted to opiates like oyxcodone and its the same all across the country. They are so readily available that its a wonder there aren't more addicted. Its not just young people either. I've seen plenty of adults leading normal lives, aside from being hooked on the pain meds that they used for that back problem or the bad hip. A lot of the time it leads to people turning to a cheaper and more powerful opiate, heroin. Heroin is also readily available in most suburbs and cities across the nation. That ties right into the War On Terror in Afghanistan where 70% of the worlds opium is produced. But thats another note at another time. Marijuana legalization would also help to stop crime in this way by giving painkiller-addicted people a less addictive alternative to the dangerous and criminal lifestyle of opiate addiction. Anyway, anti-depressants are also a big problem as far as I'm concerned in our country as well. So many people are taking Prozac and Valium and Xanax and other dangerous drugs for depression and other disorders like that. Marijuana is a much safer alternative to becoming addicted to benzodiazepines or having your brain rewired and screwed up from Prozac's harmful effects. The drug companies will never tell you these things because they would lose money. The same way they'd lose money if marijuana were legalized. There are plenty of other ailments and illnesses that marijuana can be applied to. Including cancers like lymphoma and leukemia, HIV/AIDS, hepatitus, glaucoma, arthritis, depression and asthma. There are already numerous THC-containing medications and substances being precribed today but I do not believe they are as beneficial as the natural plant source because they do not contain the huge number of components that give marijauna its qualities and effects, only THC and CBD.
For President-Elect Obama to enact some sort of plan to legalize marijuana would be both groundbreaking and also long overdue. The pros clearly outweigh the cons when it comes to this wonderful herb. Especially in a time of economic crisis not unlike the situation we are in now. Not to mention all the beneficial medical treatments and crime reduction that would ensue. Crime is the big one. We can't afford to allow our prisons to fill up with good, hardworking citizens who just want to get high when they come home from work and relax. We can't allow crime to run rampant out in our cities' and suburbs' streets when we can do something to stop it. And most of all we can't let the misinformation of the 1930s and the failed War on Drugs of Nixon and Reagan to run our current policy on marijuana's status. There is new information out there and all of it points to legalization.