The federal government ruled on Friday that marijuana has no accepted medical use and should remain in the same class of drugs as heroin. The decision comes nearly nine years after marijuana supporters asked the government to reclassify the drug to take into account the growing body of research conducted across the globe that proves it’s effective in treating certain diseases, reports The Los Angeles Times. The paper spoke to advocates who criticized the ruling but are pleased that the government has finally responded, which allows them to appeal to the federal courts.
I don’t know about you, but I can think of few things sillier, more wasteful, and more long-running that this country’s misguided war on drugs. While the American Sheeple seemed to have settled into a benign stupor when it comes to drugs, our government seems stuck in the same “Reefer Madness” mindset that it was trapped in during the ’50s. I can find no sound or logical reason for treating marijuana as being in the same class as heroin, and yet there we are. While states are beginning to see the light and move towards decriminalizing the Demon Weed, the federal government still seems to think that marijuana somehow remains a threat to Our Way of Life ©. Meanwhile, alcohol abuse continues to destroy lives and families virtually unchecked. As far as I can tell, the only difference is that one (alcohol) is socially acceptable and has a powerful and influential lobby, while the other (marijuana) lacks either. Stoners tend not to worry about things like politics…which I can only assume is a good thing.
What I’d really like is for someone to explain to me how smoking a joint is any different from polishing off a second or third single-malt Scotch. Absent the alcohol industry’s lobby and the careers of politicians built on demonizing marijuana, I can think of no defensible reason for jailing those who smoke weed. Like anything else, marijuana can be abused if one is so inclined…but only marijuana use is subject to criminal sanctions. Abuse alcohol, and…well, boys will be boys, right? No harm, no foul.
If we look at this question mere in financial terms, we’ve wasted billion, perhaps trillions on the war against drugs. Much of that has gone to propaganda efforts to convince Americans that marijuana will turn us into hypersexual animals lacking both impulse control and any sense of social responsibility. Of course, I’m not here to tell you that marijuana won’t do those things to you…but what about the effects of alcohol? Marijuana won’t turn your liver into pate. It won’t trap you in a web of addiction in the way alcohol can. It MAY increase your consumption of Doritos, and it may be the impetus for a few late-night trips through the drive-through at Jack-in-the-Box, but for most people the effects of marijuana usage are far more benign than alcohol.
I’m a History major, so I can’t wax rhapsodic or in any detail about the comparative physical and psychomotor effects of marijuana vs. alcohol. What I can tell you is that, as a nation, we have a very schizophrenic and hypocritical approach to marijuana, one that serves no purpose save to waste large sums of tax dollars. I’m not necessarily going to advocate for smoking weed; what I am saying is that it should be treated as the functional equivalent of alcohol. We should be able to have an honest and reasoned discussion, and we should be able to recognize that ending our hypocritical war on marijuana would save us billions of dollars, money that can be used for roads, schools, and other projects that will have a for more positive and long-lasting impact.
And, hey…if you own stock in Frito-Lay, I’ve got to think you’re going to be with me on this one…. ;-)
