Pubdate: Sun, 02 Dec 2012
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Copyright: 2012 Journal Sentinel Inc.
Contact: http://www.jsonline.com/general/30627794.html
Website: http://www.jsonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/265
Author: Christian Schneider

WISCONSIN, TAKE THE HIGH ROAD ON MARIJUANA

Traditionally, the truism about marijuana legalization is that if you
think it's ever going to happen, you've almost certainly just sampled
some yourself.

But with Colorado and Washington having recently legalized marijuana
for recreational use, it might be time to re-examine our relationship
with the drug and whether the federal government should be dictating
marijuana policy to the states where citizens support
legalization.

It's difficult to see exactly how different the world would be if
states were allowed to dictate their own marijuana policy; it's not
like the nation would be overrun by the guy from your dorm who played
his guitar at 3 a.m. Currently, marijuana policy represents a
facsimile of a world that we'd like to see, not the one that currently
exists.

The people who want the drug right now can generally get their hands
on it; some cities, such as Madison, have decriminalized "casual"
possession in private places. Public possession amounts to a fine of
only $100 and isn't considered a crime - you're likely to receive a
larger fine for having a Scott Walker bumper sticker on your car. Yet
people in Madison still get up, go to work, march on the Capitol and
generally manage their lives.

It's difficult to condemn smoking weed when even the current president
was once a card-carrying pothead. Back in his Hawaii high school,
Barack Obama was part the self-described "Choom Gang," which believed
in the doctrine of "Total Absorption" - blazing up in a car with the
windows rolled up so you get the benefit of secondhand smoke. What's
the lesson to kids here? Smoke weed and you'll only be elected to the
presidency twice?

So far, 18 states have legalized medical marijuana, recognizing the
need for compassion for the sick. But individual rights shouldn't
begin simply because someone contracts a disease; freedom of choice
should be extended to everyone. Plus, full legalization would end the
ridiculous charade of people pretending they're sick to obtain phony
"prescriptions." Generally, these people simply suffer from headaches
brought on by lack of awesome weed. (Possible Surgeon General's
warning: COULD CAUSE DANCING IN PUBLIC.)

There's actually a very good reason to outlaw most controlled
substances - people addicted to them cause significant damage to
others. For instance, there's no such thing as a "responsible heroin
user." If you live next to someone on methamphetamine, enjoy your new
flat screen television, because it'll be gone in a week.

But marijuana is different, especially when compared with Wisconsin's
state pastime: drinking. Humorist John Hodgman once imagined society
without alcohol: "All the unbroken homes! All of the highway
nonfatalities! All of the well-considered tattoos and planned
pregnancies and books unwritten by Charles Bukowski!" By contrast,
marijuana users generally remain sedentary - and if you've seen some
of the heaviest users, it's in society's interest to keep them at home
(If only to spare us from speeches about how George Washington grew
hemp.)

But even conservatives that might object to legalization of any kind
can find refuge in the argument that states should be allowed to
decide how best to cater to their own citizens. In 2005, the U.S.
Supreme Court decided that California couldn't allow homegrown medical
marijuana, deeming it a violation of the broadly interpreted Commerce
Clause.

But Justice Clarence Thomas dissented, convincingly writing that our
federalist system "allows California and a growing number of other
States to decide for themselves how to safeguard the health and
welfare of their citizens." Like the death penalty - which actually
kills people - if you don't like marijuana, you're free to live in a
state that doesn't allow it, or convince your local legislators to
change it.

I get it - for social conservatives, starting to legalize drugs is
just one more step toward a Gomorrah-like existence with which we are
unfamiliar. Suddenly smoking weed isn't a crime, bread is actually bad
for you and dudes are marrying other dudes in churches. But for those
who are suffering from the angst of progress, come a little closer. I
might have something that will take the edge off.

Christian Schneider is a senior fellow at the Wisconsin Policy
Research Institute, a nonpartisan conservative think tank. He writes
the Yankee Review blog as part of the Editorial Board's Purple
Wisconsin feature at JSOnline.com. Email  ---
MAP posted-by: Matt