Pubdate: Wed, 22 Jan 2014
Source: Middletown Press, The (CT)
Copyright: 2014 The Middletown Press
Contact:  http://www.middletownpress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/586
Author: Michael Ennis

ONLY IN AMERICA: OBAMA, ALICE AND MARY JANE

President Obama got it just about right when asked recently about
marijuana and its use, saying "I don't think it is more dangerous than
alcohol," and that it is also "a bad idea, a waste of time."

Having "been there and done that" myself, I can strongly second the
president's opinions, although I would add "colossal" to "waste of
time." Like alcohol, marijuana can be detrimental, and dangerous,
particularly if it is ill-used by young people.

Equally, as the president also says, "let's be clear." Marijuana can
be an innocent recreation, open interesting psycho-active parts of our
brain and consciousness, and it can also be a soul-sucking source of
addiction, dissolution and stupidity. It is all about how, and who is
using it, and how much. Does it belong, as the DEA now classifies it,
in the same category as heroin, LSD or ecstasy? No. Can it be
dangerous? Absolutely.

Should marijuana be legalized? De-criminalized? Again, it depends, and
is not a black-or-white issue. As President Obama also pointed out,
the "war on drugs" has put more poor, black and Hispanic people in
jail for marijuana use or possession than white and middle-class
users. This is wrong, and a good argument for at least
decriminalization.

Nor should we encourage its use, or too quickly liberalize or condone
its availability to Americans, young or old. There are lots of adults
lost in a haze of regular, dulling, addictive marijuana "use." Do we
want to make this easier to fall into? No.

Somehow, in Colorado, or Washington State, it seems almost OK to
witness "pot shops" now legally dispensing, like a very fragrant
Starbucks, recreational marijuana. One has to say, with tongue planted
only half-in-cheek, "What a great country! Where else but America can
democracy express itself so uniquely than in the micro-legalization,
and boutique commercialization of marijuana? What can be a more
charming form of latter-day capitalism than pot-at-retail?" We're not
in Kansas anymore, Toto - whether we're smoking, or not.

I can picture the conversation now, in Denver, as the self-described
"suburban mom" interviewed on the NBC Evening News admitted "I'll
probably try it." The camera now off, a sales clerk politely asks: "Do
you want to start off with something light and fun, or do you want the
"Steven Hawking?"

No kidding, this may be coming to a shop near you. I'd wait to try the
"Hawking," by the way.

To speak politically for a moment, both the Colorado and Washington
experiments, and the eighteen States that have legalized
medical-marijuana use underscore one of the core tenets of our
democracy, and Constitution-State's rights. This is the kind of issue
that needs to be settled by the governments and constituencies of each
state-what works in California may not be the will of those in
Alabama, or Utah, for example.

Nationally, close to 60 percent of Americans support legalization, in
contrast to 18 percent 30 years ago. But which Americans? Like gay
marriage, a sea-change is at work, and yesterday's demons are today's
tolerances, but not for everyone, or everywhere. This is a good and
respectful thing.

Again, the president set the right tone - informed, sober,
common-sense attention to the perils and permissions of marijuana use
requires a balance of liberalization and essential
disapprobation.

For every suburban mom having an innocent lark, there is the kid, or
adult being lost in a stupor of chronic drug abuse. More people will
die in cars because of alcohol, but marijuana has a unique ability to
addict. America needs less of this, not more.

So what do we do with the billions of dollars spent on producing and
"recreating" with marijuana? Does this create jobs? How many? Could
it? Even without our tongue-in-cheek, is there a place for pot in our
GDP? Will you be getting "pot pastries" in your Christmas stocking ten
years from now? Will this help with your arthritis?

It is, with all due respect to the Alice, and the Jefferson Airplane,
an interesting rabbit-hole to peer into. And, again, kudos to the USA
that we can, and not fall in-or make sure we know we how to crawl
back out if we do.  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D