by: Casey

So, have you ever smoked pot?

I know, I’ve already made you nervous, haven’t I? But bear with me, there’s a point to be made here. Hopefully, the fact that you’re frightened by a simple question would make you curious as to why that might be, and give you the courage to continue.

Oh, and, it’s okay, your kids/parents/superiors and/or the cops aren’t listening — in fact, you don’t have to say a word out loud, just admit it to yourself: Did you “take a little puff” once? Did you “inhale” back when you were in school? Did a certain guy/girl get you to have a toke or two to enhance the mood? Did you maybe even do it more than once or twice? Did you like it? Would it scare you to admit it if you did?.

It’s clearly unpopular to admit to ever smoking dope. Oh, you can take sleeping pills, and anti-depressants, and anti-anxiety meds, and any number of truly dangerous drugs to which someone owns a patent. And of course, you can drink a pot of coffee every day, and a bottle of wine every night without much public scorn. You can abuse your body with deep-fried Styrofoam dipped in artificial everything without society batting an eye, but never, never can you smoke cannabis.

Isn’t that strange? I mean, whether you smoke weed or not, you must find it odd that the government tells you that you can’t. Think about it: if you plant a seed, you could go to prison. Is that what the founders of our country (many of whom grew cannabis) had in mind? Though many rational people see that this is just not right, it’s the way it is, and few are willing to risk the social stigma of doing anything about it. Very curious…

Even the individual states of the republic can’t override the federal government on this issue. Several states have voted to legalize marijuana, and each time, the feds have come out to say that they will aggressively prosecute anyone they catch growing or possessing the devil weed. Even sovereign countries are afraid to legalize pot. Torture your populace? Allow slavery? Promote corruption and fascism? Those things are just fine, but don’t legalize marijuana, or the US will cut off trade…Very strange indeed.

Well, when reason fails and common sense hits a roadblock, we turn to the almighty dollar as the lowest common denominator in all motivations for public corruption. So, let’s follow the money:

• Marijuana (hemp) was not only legal before the invention of nylon fiber, but its cultivation encouraged and in times of war required. There is much evidence that DuPont (with its interest in completely replacing hemp rope with its patented product) had a big hand in the legislature that led to the Marijuana Tax Act stamps (which were required and then never issued), which resulted in the criminalization of marijuana.

• One of the biggest current and historic lobbyists against hemp has been the forest industry, as hemp is a more sustainable and cost-effective alternative to wood-pulp paper. It’s said it can be recycled far more than can wood pulp, and can be used to produce linen-like paper of very high quality, as well as textiles. William Randolph Hearst was heavily involved in both the paper industry and the Marijuana Tax Act.

• The prescription pharmaceuticals, for which marijuana is a superior alternative in many cases, are among the most common and profitable for drug manufacturers: sleep aids, muscle relaxants, pain killers, anti-anxiety treatments, etc. It’s no coincidence that these legal pharmaceuticals are also the most habit-forming of drugs. Despite their public denials, the producers of these drugs make enormous profits on addiction, and an un-patentable and non-addictive alternative ain’t allowed in their ‘hood.

• Federal and state taxes of alcohol (neither a food nor a drug, according to the feds) amount to hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Alcohol is big business, far bigger than tobacco, and though it contributes to the death of hundreds of thousands of people each year, very little is done to stifle our consumption. Oh, the local governments say we shouldn’t drink and drive, but rarely that we shouldn’t drink at all.

• NORML and other pro-hemp groups have very little money, and therefore very little lobbying power. Thus, they have an extremely hard time competing with the giant petroleum, chemical, timber, drug and liquor industries which oppose them on the federal level. Plus, there’s the whole stinky-hippie thing.

So, let’s say, for the sake of argument, that keeping marijuana illegal is now, and has historically been, about money. Not money for the common taxpayer, but money for a few big corporations. That in itself is pretty anti-democratic. However, there’s even more subterfuge here. It’s called the “War on Drugs.”

Through our military and police, we’ve been “at war” with our own citizenry for nearly 25 years, far longer than the Civil War lasted. The War on Drugs is costing tens of billions of dollars a year. Wait, that staggering number deserves its own line:

TENS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS A YEAR!

It has helped create criminals where before there were contributing members of society, and it has caused more bloodshed, and cost more American lives, than Viet Nam, Korea, and both Gulf Wars combined. To what end? What has been accomplished? According to the government’s own accounting, very little.

Well, perhaps it’s about control. Many say that the first local marijuana laws were used to keep Mexican immigrants quiet. If the “Spics” complained about unfair treatment, they could always be arrested for pot. In the 30’s, 40’s and early 50’s, pot was associated with “Coloreds” and their jazz music. Then came the Beatniks, and in the late sixties and early seventies, where it was the young and progressive who toked weed (while the old and conservative had three-martini lunches), pot was an easy bust which could be made on the so-called subversive elements of society. Recently, there have been many who look at the gang wars, and the prisons full of brown skin, and say the war on drugs is simply a tool used by the establishment to suppress all those – from street kids to college students, and blue collar workers to doctors, lawyers and professors – who would oppose the status quo. In the case of marijuana laws especially, there’s nothing to contradict this. There is absolutely no reliable medical or social evidence of a public health threat caused by cannabis.

As to the importance of having smoked weed in the past: Well, if everyone who has smoked pot came out and admitted it, we might see a quick shift in the political winds. Imagine Grandmas, Judges, Senators and Generals admitting they’d had a toke back in the day. What if Presidents could say they’d had a little hash once or twice, and Doctors could point out that they’d prefer their patients smoke pot than drink hard liquor. What if Cops could admit that they’d have a lot easier job if people were high instead of drunk. Imagine how quickly we’d see the futility of continuing this expensive, destructive and deadly crusade.

So, let me ask you again: Have you ever smoked pot?

No, me either…