I must have signed a petition, one of the many I'm called upon to sign, to send a letter, to add my name to the cause of salmon, anti-torture, and this one, legal weed, because I received an email from Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon today, with this response:
Dear Mr. Denton:
Thank you for contacting me to express your support for legalization of marijuana. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.
During my service in Congress, Oregonians have sometimes asked me, “why can’t Americans use drugs in private, in their own homes?” This idea of private, legalized drug use is typically founded on claims that personal use harms doesn't harm anyone and that legalization would create enormous revenue for the federal government. I do not believe either claim to be true. The serious effects that illegal drugs have on healthy families and communities cannot be ignored. Decades of scientific research shows that repeated use of illegal substances greatly increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and other fatal health conditions. Even so-called “soft drugs,” like marijuana, adversely affect memory and attention span. They can also serve as a "gateway" drugs that lead to more serious drug use. I have therefore consistently voted to strengthen drug enforcement, education, and prevention measures.
Again, thank you for keeping me apprised of issues that are important to you. While we may not agree on this issue, I hope and trust there are many other issues where we do agree. If I may be of further assistance in the future, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Ron Wyden
United States Senator
Dear Senator,
I respect your position on marijuana. Much of what you say about its effects is valid. I used it in the past, but no longer, because I abused it.
I've gone back and forth on legalization. I've been in that subculture. Abuse of pot does cause memory and motivational loss. But from what I've seen most users do not abuse it and are functional.
So what I believe is this: as William Blake commented, "The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom." Meaning, people learn from experience, not top-down authority. In my own case, no law, no punishment, no treatment stopped me from using. I stopped when I was ready.
It should be legalized and commercially produced, while privately grown crops should be allowed within limits, just as the Oregon Medical Marijuana card does (which I've been approved for, but have chosen not to obtain.)
Having said that, irresponsible marijuana use such as driving or operating machinery under the influence should be strictly punished. It should be forbidden to minors. Businesses should be given the option to forbid its use, but mental status exams should replace urine tests, which register positive long after the effects have worn off.
One fact is indeniable: we will never stop the Crop. The plan to control it is a fantasy. The Mexican supply means little to a country where anyone can grow it anywhere, indoors or out. Laws can't beat marijuana but its legalization, taxation, and funded regulation can reduce the outlaw culture the misguided War on Drugs has only increased.
blah blah, me
Here is something I didn't say, which is that Senator Wyden selectively calls weed a gateway drug. Personally I think the human brain is the gateway drug. Every culture has plants. If you lived in Bolivia you could legally chaw coca leaves, as millions do there. If weed was legal we'd be growing it in our yards and the market for thunderfuck bud would lessen. Humboldt County CA's demand for mass volumes would shrink dramatically.
When I grew it I never bought it. Sure, I could have gotten all esoteric about it and produced potent stuff, but like most people where I lived on a remote island I didn't. For one thing we had to make a living, so the analogy to the Bolivian peasant taking only a few leaves while working fit my situation. My situation being, I designed and built a sailboat that I launched and sailed and lived on. Had my brain rotted? Apparently not. Maybe the job took a little longer but I lived a wholistic life. Lots of communing with nature mostly. My wife didn't seem to mind what it did to me.
But that paradigm doesn't exist anymore and so I'm saving to emigrate to coca land. Just the leaves, in a tea. Maybe some weed now and then while hiking in a more tolerant atmosphere, Ecuador and Peru.
Senator Wyden also parses good and evil into legal and illegal. Marijuana goes into his Bad basket with all the other drugs. Alcohol isn't mentioned. He doesn't even break drugs down into schedules. He's simplistic, and in this boilerplate letter he insults our intelligence.
So I thought that I'd share this exchange I had with a senator. Factor it in.