Dealing With the Marijuana Question (article) by Jack Daley on AuthorsDen

This article traces the attitudes towards marijuana for the past five decades, and gives some pros and cons on legalization. Dealing With the Marijuana Question. Lately there has been a lot of talk in the news about marijuana. In California there is a bill in the legislature to legalize and tax marijuana in order to help solve the money problems in the state. The Obama administration has decided to stop prosecuting dispensaries where the law allows their existence. There has been a long history of differing attitudes toward marijuana. There is no question that we need to discontinue the imprisonment of citizens who are caught with a small amount of the drug. But, there is still some question as to the benefits and danger of legalization. A California Assembly Bill would �legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana for adults over 21.� Advocates for the bill claim that it would, create jobs, contribute 1.38 billion dollars in new direct tax revenue, reduce crime, reduce prison overcrowding, cut profit for illegal drug dealers, protect public lands, and allow farmers to grow industrial hemp. It seems that this bill would raise money for the financially impaired state and move toward eliminating many problems that the state has in dealing with the marijuana question. The Obama Administration has decided to take a more sensible attitude to the prosecution of dispensaries. In states where marijuana dispensaries are legal they will be left alone as long as they are not being used as a cover for the illegal sale of the drug. This is a big step forward from the Bush Administration�s interference with state�s rights to press its war on drugs. Public attitudes toward marijuana have varied greatly over the past five or six decades. In the fifties when I was still in high school, we were taught that marijuana was a dangerous and evil drug. I remember films in our health class that showed us that one marijuana cigarette would turn you into a raving monster who would go out and commit rape and murder. Many high school students believed the absurd lessons that we were taught at least until they entered college and found out that there was no truth to what our teachers were telling us. Not only did this promote the use of drugs by some students, but it also made them doubt the wisdom of their elders. Remember, �Don� trust anyone over thirty.� In the sixties there was a more liberal attitude toward marijuana. In cities like New York, and San Francisco, hippies were smoking openly in the streets. And, the police generally ignored its use as long as the smokers were otherwise behaving themselves. A college friend of mine told me that whenever he went to a day on the green concert, before he put his blanket down he checked out the people around him. If they had ice chests full of beer, or if they were drinking hard liquor, he would move on. This is where the fighting would break out. If they were smoking pot, he would settle there. �Not only were the pot smokers more mellow, they also were very sharing,� he told me. In the late seventies the attitude toward marijuana shifted back more to the attitude of the fifties. Smokers were arrested and given long prison sentences for the possession of a single joint. Boats were confiscated and the owners arrested when drug enforcement agents found several marijuana seeds. The war on drugs was waged with zero tolerance. And it seems that the more aggressively the war was waged the more prevalent the use of the drug became. And, the prices were raised to pay the dealers for the risks they were taking. The attitude towards the marijuana question changed through the eighties, nineties, and two thousands according to who was in office. Many states have legalized the use of marijuana for medical use in the past several decades and only a few of the most conservative federal administrations have interfered in the state regulation of these dispensaries. There is no question about one fact. Marijuana affects everyone differently. Many adults can use a limited amount of marijuana for relaxation and meditation and not turn to harder drugs or lose their jobs. Polls show that nearly twenty-five percent of the adult population smokes marijuana on a regular basis. There are some adults who do grow violent and commit crimes after smoking this drug. Some are susceptible to violence even without drugs. Others use other drugs, especially alcohol, in addition to the weed. And, I am sure that some are driven to violent acts just by the unwise us of the drug in question. In my experience as a teacher, I have witnessed several children between the ages of fourteen and sixteen using marijuana. In every case the drug has had a detrimental effect on their behavior. They were disrespectful, violent, and out of control. These were children who under normal conditions may have had an attitude, but were respectful and in control of themselves when not using the drug. The children that I experienced had used alcohol and other drugs along with the marijuana. However, I think their behavior would have been just as bad if they had used this drug alone. It seems that a certain level of maturity must be reached before marijuana ceases to have a bad effect. A person must have some control over his attitudes and behavior in order to avoid the bad effects. In the Fourth Way, the school of psychology that I am studying, it is maintained that one can never reach a higher level of consciousness through the use of drugs. Some drugs may bring you to a state that simulates higher consciousness by shutting down lower centers, but when you awaken from these experiences nothing remains. To reach a higher state of consciousness you must work on lower centers and improve their reception of outer and inner experiences. There are no short cuts to higher consciousness. Krishnamurt says that using drugs before meditation is like breaking your fingers before playing the piano. Even a casual use of marijuana can be dangerous. It is very easy to become use to the relaxed easy state that the drug brings and develop a psychological dependence. Also, when you use marijuana you may think that you can do things that you wish to do better than you actually can. This may inhibit the development of skills and creativity. I remember a conversation I over heard between a couple friends back in the seventies. �Yea, well, I read somewhere that pot causes permanent damage to brain cells. That it�s irreversible,� from Tony. �It depends on the study. Most people who smoke dope don�t know how to use it. One thing we know for sure is that dope loses its effect after you ingest a certain amount of it. If you smoke more than a certain amount, and this differs with individuals, you don�t get high anymore. You have to lay off for a week or more for it to begin working again. Now, most pot smokers when they stop getting off will increase the amount they smoke. You know, some will smoke three or four joints a day, day in and day out. This gives you a kind of dead feeling. And it�s these smokers who are killing their brain cells. To get a really good spiritual high, you should limit your smoking to about once every six months. �Still, it�s not good for you. The bad thing about dope is it makes you think you can do things that you�re not ready to do. Then, you get dependent on that good feeling that it gives,� Alex reasoned. One argument against the legalization of marijuana is that it will increase the over all use. People who do not use it now because they don�t want to be lawbreakers will begin to use marijuana if it is legal to do so. This may be true. However, people who don�t use it because marijuana is illegal will probably be very moderate in their use. These people will not be adversely affected. Another argument against legalization is that it will make it more available to minors. From what I�ve heard high school students say, it is much easier to score weed than it is to buy drink. The laws that would make marijuana legal would still make it a criminal offense to sell or provide it to those under twenty-one. Some of the extra revenue the states would bring in could be used for realistic drug prevention programs that might keep younger people from getting into drugs. And, there would be more money available for treatment programs to help those who do try the drug and get hooked. A third argument against legalization is that drug dealers would not give up their lucrative trade when marijuana became legal. However marijuana is very inexpensive to grow. Government agencies could grow, dispense, and tax marijuana and still keep the price so low that drug dealers would not be able to compete. Look what happened to bootleggers after prohibition. Maybe legalization might force some low life drug dealers to go out and find honest work. There are many drugs that are much more harmful than marijuana, alcohol, methamphetamines, and some prescription drugs. There has to be some control over all drugs, and the best control is self-discipline. However, those who are not capable of self-discipline need help. We can be much more effective in controlling the use of drugs through education than through a war on drugs. Whither we should legalize marijuana or not is still open to discussion. But, the fact that we are now dealing with the marijuana question in open debate is a giant step forward. ��
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