Long ago, in the faraway Midwest Galaxy, on the Planet Indiana, I was not a political sort. By 1980 I knew that Reagan meant a resurgence of old people values that I was in the process of shedding. I viewed both political parties as useless and didn;t really know one from the other.
As I began reading up on marijuana literature and history a pattern did emerge and it stays clear as a bell to me to this day.
Now... everybody has a pet theory of 'why' marijuana is illegal today. I don't concer myself with thjat so much because it doesn't have anything to do with today. The real question is why is marijuana STILL illegal?
The best one-word answer is "Republicans".
As I read up on the topic of marijuana a pattern emerged.
It started with Nixon and the Shafer Commission. Nixon didn't want marijuana relegalized for a variety of crappy reasons, but most famously so "the hippies" wouldn't get a 'victory'.
The Shafer Commission, of course, recommended decriminalization, which was NOT what Nixon wanted to hear, so the Commission report was trashed and Nixon started the war on drugs to keep marijuana illegal. He created the DEA to viciously enforce the laws. This made it fundamentally a part of the Republican Party political ideology.
There was some amelioration of Nixon's hatefullness through the mid to late 70's and just before 1980, about 1/4 of the US had, despite Nixon's war on drugs, instituted decriminalization policies.
In 1980, Reagan was elected and a new Dark Age came over America. We saw the redoubling of the war on drugs. We saw the increased demonization of marijuana, and we saw the heinous "just say no" propaganda program.
This went on for 12 long years.
Clinton was elected and hope rose, only to wither on the vine as Clinton appointed the horrible Barry McCaffery to be Drug Czar. Even a Democratic President had to choose a republican Drug Czar.
Then back to the Dark Ages under G. W. Bush, the worst president to ever happen to America. Bush chose another horrible Drug Czar, so horrible I am not going into detail - let us just be glad he is gone.
Obama's Drug Czar doesn't seem to be a republican but he's no friend of drug law reform despite his sometimes fancy talk. They have said some thing to get the DEA to back off SOME medical marijuana programs, but the DEA owes its existence to marijuana suppression - they continue to raid places where they think they can get away with it. They are fighting for their budgetary lives. I hope they fail and join the sustbin of history.
I would have been pleased to cite more Democrats as foamy-at-the-mouth, knuckle-dragging reefer mad embeciles, but outside Tip O'Neill - who's long gone - there are no similar personailites or dogmas in the Democratic Party.
The Dem's curse, of course, is that they give the Republicans anything they want on the war on drugs. Dems aren't into it ideologically other than they are driven to capitulate to Republicans even when there is no need. More about this late.
Now I want to move from the front ranks of foam-at-the-mouth republican leadership and focus on the foam-at-the-mouth lowlife day-to-day republican individual, the persons we often term "Wingnuts".
Let's look at a freelance wingnut and his 'anti-marijuana efforts': Brace yourselves
Liberals...Lay Off the Marijuana Policies Hippie Liberal Tree Huggers End the World
I am bound to believe as an American that the new Liberal Party is led by a hippie generation of Liberal baby-boomers from the rebellious World War II generation of children who wanted to do exactly the opposite of what their parents did. Even if that means abandoning the very foundation of why their Fathers fought in the Great War.
This generation of Liberals is quickly trying to turn us into a version of a continent in which we have surpassed as a civilization since the times of the great depression because of our Protestant values, the belief in capitalism and free market, and the freedom in which these beliefs can thrive.
Now American Democrats are trying to become like one of the these European countries and this all derives from a generation of rebellious body of baby-boomers that have drifted so far left that they cannot even fathom the ability to look right and contribute to this country in the manner in which their ancestors and parents did.
Modern Social-Liberals live in a dream world which can only be induced by a physcadelic trip on LSD or some dosages of marijuana.
Honestly, unsure where to begin on this guy. Go to the link and see his other gifted writings, replete with misspellings and typical wingnut paranoia.
Let us look at some Liberal ideas logically (this is when you put down the 'medicinal marijuana')
-Universal Health Care: This is priority number one for the Liberal-Democrat-Nazi-Socialist party and it is flawed to say the least. Liberals believe in this little thing called global harmony --obviously you get this vision when nothing bad has ever happened to you and all you see is nothing but good in all of the people or at least the ones you can control with over-dominant socialist policies --it is further believed that you must be an ex or current stoner to have ever had this vision.
You get the picture.
Decades of republican hate speech about marijuana has resulted in this: thats the first thing to assert. America has been choked on anti-marijuana propaganda and still the movement to fix it, to get marijuana to be regulated and to get police to stop killing people over it, to stop ruining lives with the law has progressed.
It has also resulted in this sort of freelance hate speech where friggin' dummies feel empowered to treat us to sample of just how stupid they really are. That somebody as clueless as this goose-stepping dork feels OK with broadcasting his paucity of knowledge on something that isn't that hard to understand.
And it's not like I haven't heard a similar ignorant noise on lefty blogs as some lefties still think their government will lie to them about anything EXCEPT marijuana. Some of them will likely show up in the comments, howling for people to stop threatening America with the certain ruination that relegalizaing marijuana is going to do.
So, in the end analysis, Marijuana remains illegal PRIMARILY because Republicans have made keeping it illegal part of their ideology and power. Following that, Democratic INACTION would be the second main reason.
And Democrats should be all over the reform issue as a matter of trying to demolish some of the GOP's power. An opposition party would be doing this.
And therefore I proclaim cannabis reform is inherently a liberal value/agenda. Cannabis reform will HELP America.
Please, Dear Democrats, do not let yourselves sound like the numbnut above when you find yourself needing to make a comment about cannabis reform. Tell people it is long past time that we discuss reform.
That's all you have to say right now.