The Great Cannabis Debate

Today's Topic: Legalizing Marijuana

Wouldn't it be funny if this picture became a reality? Could you not see the corporate fat cats drooling over the money they would make on selling marijuana, if it was legal? Could you not see the government thinking of all the money to be made if you were to TAX IT? Because I can.

I can still say I haven't tried it. There have been many, many opportunities where I could have, but I still have never smoked weed. It's not so much that I need to or wanted to, it's just a personal choice that I have made over the years not to smoke it. And I figure I have gotten through the worst of it now, what with high school, peer pressure and the everyone-is-doing-it attitude. I've gone this long without doing it that I don't really want to do it. However, never smoking a joint still makes me think that Marijuana should be legalized, especially in the culture we live in nowadays. That's right, a non-pot smoker wants pot to be legalized.

There is obviously negative impacts of putting through such a proposal but for now, I am going to stick to what appears to me as the "positive" side of legalizing hemp. Bare with me.

I think giving people the option to smoke weed will actually help a growing drug problem. It seems as though when something is deemed "illegal", for whatever reason, people are more likely to think about or actually do it. Making it acceptable would make people less ignorant to the fact that smoking pot is in fact not as bad as what you might think.

"Potheads" as we have so cleverly coined them (yes, I'm being sarcastic), have been labeled as trouble makers and a menace to society. But wouldn't it be just as plausible to label "alcoholics" in the same category? If you were too compare these two habits, you have Alcohol; a widely accepted hobby, a form of being social, a way to let loose, entertain yourself or forget about that 9-5 job. However, when abused, alcohol makes some people reveal there true self, endangers others and causes fatal deaths. I'm not gonna surround you with stats about how many people die from alcohol related accidents every day or every year because I know it is still a lot. BUT, when it comes to Marijuana; a widely unacceptable habit that is illegal, it doesn't have the negative impacts compared to a habit of say consuming alcohol and it is still a form of being social, a way to let loose, entertain yourself or forget about that 9-5 job. Now I am going to throw a fact at you that it hard to believe, but is true. Not one person died in a marijuana related accident last year. Not one. So remember, if you were comparing habits; alcohol kills thousands when behind a wheel, weed kills none. Alcohol is accepted, we have bars that serve people this substance and it makes for more people to be put in harms way. Weed is banned because society doesn't like "potheads" and it is not okay to get "high." Now I'm not a theorist or educated doctorate on the theory of law, cannabis or alcohol but this seems just a tad ridiculous when you look at it this way.

So say someday Marijuana does become legal and people can smoke it for other then just medicinal purposes. This is a completely untapped market that would have remarkable potential. Think of the imports and exports, the connections we make with countries, the branding of weed, smoke houses, smoke bars, etc. etc. I just don't think it's that crazy. You would create THOUSANDS of jobs. Importers, exporters, drivers, pilots, people who run smoke shops, people who build them, people who work at them...the list goes on and on. People could become pot harvesters, you could use wasted land to grow it. You would need machinery to harvest it, so more jobs here; people to sell the machinery, people to deliver it. And if people tried to steal your product, hire security to look after it. It would sure help the struggling society and unemployment rate. Would it not make sense to have something like a license to sell drugs? Ridiculous right? Sounds stupid right? Well, I'm sure the first time someone said "you have to have a license to sell alcohol" it was a stupid idea too...right? All I'm saying is that it would be a new business, a new product and it's there if you want to try it. It would be there for the people who always wanted to try it but never had the guts to actually do it.

You have a product, people pay for it, you have a tax on it and the greedy government makes millions. That is essentially what we do with all products on all store shelves anyway. Why is this not being taken advantage of? Why is this not an acceptable form of business? Capitalize people!! If anything, you would have LESS crime because people wouldn't be so pissed off all the time for having to sneak around and tip toe through the tulips to sell or smoke weed. The Utopian society places such a high monetary value on everything, why not do the same with pot? Why not?

I can already hear the do-gooders getting fired up about it: Don't legalize it because then everyone will be stoned. Kids will get exposed to it. It's not good for your health. Oh, I'm sorry, but Happy Meals are? Beer is? Rapidly consuming toys is? I think this is just as plausible. Is it not better to have it out in the open and let people decide for themselves if you want to accept it or not?

Think of the potential. In all honesty, we should practice what we preach. If we truly DO live in a democratic society, put it to a vote! It seems that we spend time voting on more ridiculous things then whether or not to legalize marijuana. I think it's going to take a charismatic power figure of authority to stand up, make a life changing speech and have it go viral for people to actually wake up and realize the potential this thing has. Perhaps then we can move forward on this issue. So let the people decide, have a massive vote, have someone who is pro smoking pot and someone who is against it. Let them state their cases and then let the people have their say. Have a strict policy on the product and set an age when it's acceptable for people to make then own decision if they want to sell it or smoke it.

Maybe then, I might try it.