New Blog: Marijuana Debate Goes from the Sublime to the Ridiculous

For as far back as I can remember, the debate over legalizing marijuana has been raging.

The first I’d heard of marijuana (a.k.a. pot, weed, canja and wacky tobacky) was in 1943, when headlines in the paper read: “Gene Krupa, Jazz Drummer and Big Band Leader Arrested for Possession of Marijuana Cigarettes.”

Us kids, however, only knew about the kind of cigarettes we’d smoke walking to and from school, or outside the school in between classes, with a lookout posted to warn us of any teachers (or “teacher’s pets”) coming our way.

And much later, I remember reading with bemusement a newspaper article about how it was the drug of choice with American soldiers in the Vietnam War, which was largely ignored by army officials. (Heroin was the runner-up.)

Now, while it may have been readily available behind the frontlines-where I had the misfortune of spending most of the time in the Korean War-the only pot I knew of wasn’t for smoking but for the one we used to heat the stew and spaghetti in our c-rations and to wash our feet in. 

In doing a little research regarding its history and use, I gleaned the following information to be more than of passing interest:

• Cannabis seeds, from which it’s grown, were found next to a 2500 to 2800 BC mummified shaman in northwest China.

• Clay pipes dug up in Shakespeare’s garden contained traces of it. (If he did smoke it, that could account in some measure of being on a “high” when writing.)

• Marijuana became illegal in most parts of the world in the early 20th century. But it has proved to be as ineffective and unenforceable as was the 1919 Volstead Act in outlawing alcoholic products.

• It’s used as a psychoactive (affecting the mind) or for medical purposes.

• While the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) hasn’t approved smoking it for any condition or disease, 14 states have.

• The percentage of Americans who favor legalizing marijuana has jumped from 46% last year to 50% in 2011.

• There’s 453 grams in a pound of marijuana that would make 4,000 joints, when smoked with 1.5 grams.

• In Los Angeles, a pound costs $350 to $450 (for low and high-grade Mexican marijuana); in San Francisco its $375 to $500 (high-grade costing $3,000 to $4,500); and in Baltimore its $1,000 to $1,550 (high-grade at $2,500 to $4,000). (No wonder the drug cartels are richer than King Midas ever was.)  

• Smoking pot regularly or recreationally poses no real health hazards, other than such common side effects as trouble in remembering things, sleepiness, anxiety and altered time perception.(Hell, at the tender age of 80, I’ve accepted living with those minor problems daily.)

• According to a study by the U.S. Department of Justice, of the 2.2 million Americans that are currently incarcerated, 21.2 percent of them are for non-violent drug offenses. And for most of them, the only crime they ever committed in their lives has been for drug possession, with one in eight for “pot” convictions.

• A major factor for that burgeoning rise of drug offenders in the total  prison population, is due in large part to judges no longer permitted to hand down indeterminate sentences. But who, instead, must adhere to the sentencing  guidelines established by the U.S. Sentencing Commission (created by the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984), which sets forth the mandatory minimums for specific crimes.

• There is a general agreement, however, among law enforcement agencies, prison officials and judges, that by giving these non-violent drug offenders shorter, mandatory sentences in a rehab facility would not only save state governments billions of dollars a year in housing them, but also greatly reduce the rate of recidivism, which is now about 50 percent. (California is a prime example of where the costs of incarcerating more criminals have skyrocketed, with it having built 22 prisons since 1980.)

Now, what I find perplexing, if not unconscionable, is the White House remaining adamantly opposed to legalizing marijuana even for medical purposes, regardless of the well documented cases of its benefits in easing the pain of those with a terminal illness.

So much for it attempting to roll back the mounting tide of public opinion and its inevitable legalization. 

Quote of the week: “The big danger in spitting in the face of reality is that it can blow back in once’s face.” 

Yours truly.