Who is Scared of Legalization?

Pharmaceutical Industry, that's who.

Via Good Morning America, I have found this story. Meiko Hester-Perez has a ten year old autistic son. Not too long ago, he weighed forty-six pounds. You see, her son, Joey Perez, had become unwilling to eat and because of this, his weight fell to very dangerous levels. She became worried and began to give him marijuana in the form of brownies to stimulate his appetite. His appetite improved and became healthier. He also had a change in his routine. He usually took enough medication to kill Lindsay Lohan but now he takes only three medications and special brownies.

What this story shows us is that the pharmaceutical industry is probably afraid of legalization. Should marijuana be decriminalized, the necessity for massive amounts of medication would inevitably decrease. The pharmaceutical industry is scared that their huge income would fall and then their wallets would then be thinner than Kirstie Alley. Boo-freakin'-hoo

Implications

For the purpose of this post, let's say marijuana stays illegal and does not become legal at any point of time in the foreseeable future. The purpose of this is to analyze who would be affected and what are the consequences of the policy of marijuana prohibition.

If marijuana were never to be legalized any time soon, many people could be affected negatively. Those who would use marijuana for medical use only (ie. those with glaucoma, HIV, cancer, etc.), would very possibly be giving up years of their life or even their life. The government would be forfeiting billions of dollars in federal and state budget while also giving up the chance to lighten the load in prisons nationwide and make the streets safer for citizens. Normal citizens would be robbed of their ability to make more income and increase their quality of life.

The possible externalities, or consequences that can be both positive and negative, that occur from the remained criminalization include a changed number of people with lung cancer, no increased GDP, no increased government revenue, and no more jobs or businesses created. One can look at the issue of lung cancer two ways. The first way is that most people will smoke marijuana which can possibly cause damage of the airways or even lung cancer. The way I see it is that smoking marijuana can be a substitute for smoking cigarettes, especially for those who want to smoke a safer plant. This would decrease lung cancer among the population.

Drunk v. Skunk: A Comparison Between Alcohol and Marijuana

-Note: skunk is slang for incredibly strong weed.

More than once in the comments and in one of my posts, we've discussed how alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana. I have never shown any proof for this, until now.

It is well-known common knowledge that alcohol is incredibly dangerous and possibly fatal is consumed irresponsibly. The lethal dosage for alcohol at which half of the population would from is .40% which is five times the legal driving limit. Furthermore, on average, drunk driving kills one person every forty minutes in the United States alone. An MSNBC article conservatively estimates the deaths related to alcohol to be about 75,000 while a more comprehensive analysis estimates one hundred thousand people die each year from alcohol related causes. MSNBC includes deaths from drunk driving accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, cancer, and other diseases related to drinking too much alcohol, while the other, in addition to those causes, cites suicides, accidental drownings, accidental falls, and homicides that are attributed to alcohol.

On the other hand, it is practically impossible for anyone to overdose on marijuana. One would have to smoke one-third of their body weight in fifteen minutes to overdose on marijuana. Also, unlike alcohol which causes liver damage no matter how it's consumed, marijuana can be consumed without harming the lungs (eating it in food) or minimizing the damage (vaporizer). As mentioned in past articles, marijuana does not impact driving much, but neither I, nor any advocate for legalization, would ever agree that smoking pot while driving is acceptable.

One last thing I would like to look at is prohibition as a policy. As everyone knows, or should know, alcohol was prohibited from 1919 until 1933. Marijuana has "enjoyed" a much longer stay under prohibition. But how effective was/is each prohibition? Let's delve in. Prohibition of alcohol in the United States is somewhat well-known. Despite the ban, speakeasies arise providing people with illegal alcohol that is in turn provided by gangs and organized crime. This effectively introduced organized crime and gang violence to America. Doctors began to lobby for repealing of the eighteenth amendment and finally in 1933, it is repealed. Besides the negative externality that is gang violence, prohibition also caused feelings of distrust in the government because of endorsed propaganda.

As for marijuana prohibition, the effects are similar: gang violence is increased because gangs fight over marijuana and territory in which to sell it, feelings of distrust in the government, and widespread consumption despite the ban.

Cannabis Clips

TOWELIE

That is all.

Unpotpular

Recently, an Alternet writer wrote an article that puts into words the frustration I've been having about marijuana legalization. With each year, more and more citizens are becoming more welcome to the idea of legalization and yet most politicians are afraid to touch the pro-legalization subject with a ten-foot pole. Even our own President Barack Obama laughed off the subject of marijuana legalization.

Yes, I understand there are more important, pressing issues, but to laugh at the movement is akin to insulting the intelligence of all those in favor of legalization by emphasizing that marijuana legalization is a joke. It's as if one is saying "You silly stoner, politics are for legislators!" How can it just be laughed off when 800,000 people each year are arrested for having marijuana*?

And I don't get it. Politicians have obviously used marijuana before (see former NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg, current NY governor David Paterson, former President Clinton, and ... President Obama!). This hypocrisy is easily responsible for delaying the legalization of marijuana for many years. Another major reason which I would agree with is the idea that the people who are being arrested for marijuana are those with little "political voice." Between those reasons and the scientific studies that show marijuana is not harmful to use and even beneficial, I cannot comprehend how so little progress has been made in the movement to legalize cannabis.

As for what can be done to change this, the author of the article provides statements from some spokespeople. I think in order for progress to be made, the general populace needs to be educated with correct unbiased information. Furthermore, more people need to stand up instead of staying silent.

* A note on the 800,000 people arrested for marijuana: prisons across the United States are filled to the brim and an increasing influx of convicted marijuana users is pushing out truly violent criminals into society.

Links to Some Informative Websites

This link is an article in SeattlePI from 2003. Attorney Maureen Brown constructs a hypothetical income statement, using likely tax percentages and approximating statistics. When analyzing her numbers, one should take into account the changes in estimates, including an increase in population and and increase in taxable corporate income.

NORML (National Organization for the Reformation of Marijuana Laws) runs a website that can answer most questions anyone has about marijuana. While in favor of legalization, or just decriminalization even, NORML has valid unbiased points that one should consider while debating legalization.

This Drug War Facts web page is part of a larger site that focuses on, well, drug war facts. But this particular page focuses on marijuana. It is completely unbiased, containing only facts from sources that it cites.

Marijuana Myths takes on the myths that many are aware of concerning marijuana. It soundly refutes or attests to the accuracy of each myth.

And lastly, Marijuana: Health Effects is a web page that summarizes various points made in the author's book. Some topics it addresses are the risks of pot, how cannabis affects the brain, and how cannabis affects the body.

Class Links

The following are some of my favorite blogs written by my peers.

The Impact of Superweapons: As a person who is interested by the future of weapons, this blog is of utmost quality. One who chooses to read it will undoubtedly learn about all of the up and coming technology that will scare you and possibly even threaten your life in 50 years! Cool!

Reducing Abortion: It Takes Compromise: This blog is an interesting read for those who want a fresh take on the abortion issue. Instead of choosing one side or the other exclusively, this conservative blogger opts for compromising abortion in order to decrease the number of abortions overall.

Fluids and Flames of the Future: Concerning the topic of the 'green' movement, there are few blogs that compare to the Triple F, as I call it. Instead of looking at the 'micro' part, Nature Man delves into the 'macro' portion and analyzes what new improvements and developments can be made to reduce carbon footprint and create renewable energy resources that have a minimal impact on the environment.