FREE POT!! (as in liberation)

So what with my aspirations of becoming a successful CPA, I decided it was time for me to work harder at educating myself in financial matters. School’s great and all, but if I insist on knowledge being thrust upon me in a classroom, I’ll only go so far. I’ve come to realize that one must actively seek out knowledge every day, at every opportunity, to avoid slipping into ignorance and obsolescence of thought.

So, I’ve started reading the Journal of Accountancy and other “smart-guy” periodicals while I’m on the toilet. I figure that ought to do the trick.

I bring this up because of an article I read recently, which suggested a bold new approach to the war on drugs: stop it. Just legalize everything.

Now, every few years, a few people somewhere try to suggest the legalization of marijuana. California almost brought it to a popular vote at the election last November. And now, even mainstream political figures in California are beginning to talk seriously about the notion of legalizing marijuana and selling it like liquor or nicotine. And now, the cover of the March issue of The Economist is suggesting we just stop making drugs illegal.

Now, I like to think I’ve done more research than most about marijuana. I know, for example, that approximately four to seven percent of users (variations attributable depending largely on age and gender) will meet the clinical qualifications for a substance dependency after a few months of regular use. If they try to quit, the symptoms include cravings, mild irritability, headaches, and in some cases shakes; it’s about on par with coffee in this regard. Marijuana does kill brain cells, just as does drinking and many other daily activities. It will cause short-term memory impairment, but a few weeks of discontinued use will see most of this impairment disappear. In terms of physical damage to the body, the most significant issue arises from the fact that it is smoked- this damages the lungs more severely than cigarettes, and can cause a lot of the same types of cancer and circulatory damage. Inconclusive reports have suggested a possibility that it can cause kidney damage, but other than that, no long-term physical damages have been blamed on marijuana abuse; this statement should be taken with a grain of salt, however, because it is a black market substance and therefore proper long-term study is woefully insufficient. Basically, although it probably won’t kill you and won’t necessarily ruin your life, the stuff’s not good for you. When you hear people say that it’s really no worse than alcohol, well, that’s true, but it should be considered more of a comment on the dangers of alcohol than the safeness of marijuana.

However, there have been medical applications for it. As a painkiller, its side effects and addictive properties are often seen as less dangerous than morphine and other substitutes. Psychologists often prescribe it as an antidepressant, muscle relaxant, and mood stabilizer. It has been used with great success in some cases to counteract post-traumatic stress disorder, and considering that in the next few years we’re going to be bringing home a lot of war veterans, we are going to need some affordable treatments for that!). Also, in California alone, it is an estimated $1.4 billion dollar industry. Legalizing it is not terribly likely to decrease its revenues, which means that a marijuana industry will create huge amounts of jobs and tax revenues for a state facing record unemployment rates and cash shortages; it would also save a fortune in money and manhours that the DEA and other overburdened law enforcement agencies spend pursuing, arresting, holding, processing, defending, trying, judging, and imprisoning non-violent criminals. Also, through legalization, we would be taking that $1.4 billion out of the hands of drug cartels and back-alley dealers, and placing it in the hands of “legitimate” business men. The drugs that currently fund gangs, cartels, and terrorist organizations will now cease to aid those organizations and will, through taxes and regulation, begin to finance state institutions like schools, hospitals. Although this may be a blindingly optimistic speculation on how our government would spend this money, I am willing to bet that even a Republican president would spend it in a way that got fewer people killed per than the gangs and the cartels we’d be putting out of business.

So what I’m saying is, I’m genuinely on the fence about whether I’d vote for legalization of not, if it was up to me. The thought of legalization everything, as the Economist suggests, is rather gut-wrenching. However, I have to admit they make a very good argument, and one so simply even I can understand it: the drug war is failing. There is no evidence to suggest that drug sale or use has decreased, and there is some to suggest that it has increased. It’s a boondoggle that swallows countless time and resources that could be better spent elsewhere, and it gets a lot of good men and women killed every year. Studies have shown no relation between the severity of anti-drug laws and the willingness of the population to violate them. Making drugs illegal is simply not working, and while making them legal is going to cost a lot, it is the “least bad” solution.

I haven’t quite come around to their way of thinking, but I really won’t be surprised if America legalizes everything before my death. It’s bizarre, really; I see a major progressive play being made in the future by the liberals in our country, and I find myself disagreeing with it in spite of all the evidence that would support the decision. Furthermore, I find myself somewhat afraid of the fact that it will probably happen with or without my approval. I think… I think this is what it must have felt like to have been a Republican during the last election. I don’t think I like it- no wonder they’re all so grumpy all the time!

Jokes aside, though, what does everyone think? Has prohibition failed? Is it time to pack it in, and just make sure that we're making the money instead of the criminals? Or should we stick to our guns, even though in all likelihood we're more likely to shoot ourselves in the foot than whoever it is we're supposed to be shooting at?

ps:  bonus points if you can remember who I stole the title joke from.