Legalize, you on board?

Graduation from high school 1993 – my aunt told me she had a special present for me. She handed me a wrapped box of brownies. I looked at her like jeez, thanks. Am I 5? She looked back at me and said they are not what you think. Be careful, share the first one with a friend. Good luck at Syracuse – here are you first pot brownies. I looked up with a huge smile ( this is the same aunt that taught me how to drive a car at 15, shhh).

Fast forward 21 years. It is happening. Slowly, but it is . The legalization of marijuana. Although Colorado and Washington are the only two states that have legalized pot for medical and recreational purposes, Medical marijuana is legal in 20 states (still not Jersey, Chris Christie can suck it!). It is believed that California, Oregon, Alaska, Maine and Massachusetts are the five states most likely to move forward with legal weed. Here is a pretty map I found:

Where am I going with this? This is a heavy topic. We could debate this for months and I think I am right and you think you are right. Whatever, doesn’t matter. The facts are these:

• According to Gallup, in addition to the 85% of Americans who support legalizing medical marijuana, 73% support decriminalizing weed, and 58% support full legalization — a nearly 50% increase from 40 years ago.
• Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) recently announced that he expects the combined sales from legal medical and recreational marijuana in the state of Colorado to reach nearly $1 billion in the next fiscal year. About $600 million of that is projected to come from just recreational sales. The state stands to collect at least $134 million in taxes and fees. (I mean, can we discuss how many more people in Colorado have real jobs? Also what about the real tax revenue that is being created?) 1 BILLION DOLLARS!!!
• The United States has the world’s largest prison population by far — largely fed by the war on drugs — at 500 per 100,000 people.
• The University of Colorado system reports a 30 percent increase in applications this year. Can you comprehend what a 30% increase in applications to ONE college means? UNHEARD OF!
• “Every 0.01 hours someone in the United States is arrested for having marijuana; Black people are 3.73 times more likely to be arrested than white people. The United States spent $3,610,000,000 enforcing marijuana laws in 2010.”
• Although marijuana is illegal, it is also VERY mainstream. According to the Gallup poll in 2013, 38% of Americans have smoked pot.

Okay, enough with the numbers.  Obviously I am pro legalize. This does not mean all drugs. G-d, no! I am talking about marijuana. This is where I draw the line.

Are you thinking, how can I be for legalizing weed now that I am a mother?

First and foremost, you should know I never even touch it! I am probably the most casual user ever. The first time I smoked pot I was in high school. I was in a playground at night with some girlfriends and a bunch of older guys. We passed the joint around. No big deal. I wasn’t sure if I felt anything and that was pretty much it. I have no idea where the pot came from or who got it but if anything it just seemed to “mellow” us out. The End. It wasn’t a gateway drug. It didn’t make me want to try other drugs. It did not do much except make me hungry (probably why I stopped that quick, lol…just kidding). Kids are going to smoke pot whether it is legal or not. If you think your kid is an exception, think again.  Kids are curious creatures. Legalizing pot will ,yes, probably make it easier for kids to get it but I promise you they will find a way to get it anyway. Just like they find a way to get alcohol. Even if kids started smoking pot instead of drinking alcohol regardless of this fact, it would paint a different picture. In order to overdose on pot, you would have to smoke, according to theory, 1,500 pounds in 15 minutes.

Um, not a chance.

It is not linked to violent behavior like alcohol. Have you seen the ad campaigns for alcohol?  Countless ad campaigns group alcohol with your favorite sport. This is not the example we should give our kids, not at all. If we want them to know how dangerous alcohol is, we need to be less liberal with these commercials making beer look like the joyride of your life. We also need to realize that 750,000 people are incarcerated every year in the US for marijuana related crimes, 82% of which for simple possession. We have the highest incarceration rate in the world because of prohibition, which not only shows how lacking we are on our core value of “freedom” but also speaks volumes when you compare people who have smoked and gotten caught and people who have not. If our president got caught for smoking marijuana in college, his life would not even resemble what it is now. He would have been convicted of a crime that can have longer sentences than rape and murder, even though it is a victim less crime.  He would be labeled an ex-con for the rest of his life, being refused basic American freedoms like the right to vote to this day. He would not even be able to get a minimum wage job because he would be seen as a blight on society. That’s our president. The war on drugs in this country is atrocious. We have spent over $1 trillion dollars and it hasn’t gotten us anywhere but into a war WITH drugs.   The truth is that marijuana is not only a safe drug with very few negative effects in adult users, it is also a drug that has been used for thousands of years in both medicinal and industrial settings. It can have a very positive effect on those who are suffering from many diseases.

I am not this granola, grow from the earth flower child that thinks it’s okay for my kids to get high when they are teenagers. My parents weren’t either. But I did and so will my kids. I would be a fool to think otherwise. I would much rather live in a world where illness can be controlled and health care costs would be reduced. Where Jail cells can be need emptied and the police can get back to focusing on bigger fish to fry.  Where greater regulation would and should occur. Cigarettes come with warnings. Alcoholic beverages are clearly marked with the amount of alcohol. Currently legal drugs contain a listing of all active and inactive ingredients. Marijuana  could be sold legally with ingredients lists, warnings and purity levels clearly marked. This isn’t the crappy dirt weed we bought when we were kids. The sophistication in growing pot has changed tremendously. The potency level is up significantly. Botanists can now tell us that a particular strain will have effect x and another strain effect Y allowing us to make educated decisions when purchasing these different varieties.

I am not saying to hell with government regulation. We need government, we need law, we need order. Without it I am confident this would not be a place any of us would want to call home.   However, with proper government oversight and a potential windfall of tax revenue, this seems like an obvious place where government can relax existing restrictions.  It is very clear that I am not the only one who feels this way.  I do, however, feel bad for the New York City delivery guys. They may just need a new line of work.

Do I dare ask if you agree?