Friedman says he’d legalize pot in Texas
AUSTIN, Texas - Kinky Friedman says he favors legalizing marijuana to keep nonviolent users out of prison. If Texas elects him governor, he says, he’ll try to get locked-up pot users released to make room for more violent criminals….”I think that’s long overdue,” Friedman told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday. “I think everybody knows what (U.S. Sen.) John McCain said is right: We’ve pretty well lost the war on drugs doing it the way we’re doing it. Drugs are more available and cheaper than ever before. What we’re doing is not working.”
In the interest of self-disclosure, I will mention right up front that not only have I smoked marijuana (quite often, in fact), I LIKED it. A lot. To me, it was (and still is) no different than having a beer or a martini to unwind. The difference, of course, is that alcohol is socially acceptable and marijuana is not. This is reflected in the inexcusable reality that marijuana is still illegal. Yes, you can have 12 beers and fall asleep face down in your neighbor’s compost pile with no repercussions (except for the killer hangover), but God help you if happen to have a couple of tokes…’cuz your going to the pokey.
It’s been years since I last indulged, and I don’t really miss it, but then I rarely drink anymore, either. Oh, I’ll have the occasional Shiner Bock, but the reality is that chemically-altered states of consciousness no longer do it for me. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to enjoy a clear mind more as my body has become less tolerant of mind-altering chemicals. What hasn’t changed is my befuddlement at the obvious double standard at work here. The seemingly never-ending, all-encompassing war on drugs can be deemed a success only if you accept the prevailing double standard that alcohol is benign, but marijuana is OF. THE. DEVIL.
Alcohol, which arguably is far more addictive than marijuana (whose addictive nature is still being debated), is responsible for killing far more people than marijuana, It causes more and longer-lasting physical damage, and yet we accept alcohol abuse because so many Americans enjoy alcohol and will give it up when you pry their bottle of Old Grand Dad from their cold, dead fingers. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying alcohol. Like anything, when used in moderation and with common sense, there’s little or no problem. The same is true with marijuana, yet how much tax money is wasting enforcing our draconian and archaic drug laws?
I’m not necessarily advocating the use of marijuana, though I have no real issue with it. From where I sit, if you can enjoy a couple of vodka & tonics, why not a few tokes? What I am advocating is the employment of common sense when it comes to this issue, and this is why Kinky Friedman is onto something here. While I’m not supportive of his candidacy, I do applaud his stance on the issue of recreational marijuana use. There’s a point where our tax dollars are being wasted in the pursuit of a hypocritical drug policy, primarily so politicians can parade their “I’m tough on drugs” propganda before the American sheeple.
WE DESERVE BETTER.
