The legalization of marijuana in Colorado and (soon) in
Washington state, represents a tipping point. Like gay marriage, legal weed is now inevitable. Maybe we will have dope states and non-dope
states for some years to come, but the culture has changed. This
political battle is over.
What is interesting about this, politically, is who won.
It is the first major Libertarian victory in American history. Most
of the electoral juice came from the Left, of course, but the
legalization could not have occurred without the Libertarians and the
Libertarian wing of the Republican party.
The Left would never have done this alone. They have
historically been behind the most draconian drug laws in America
because, first of all, the War on Drugs was just the sort of big
government program leftists love, and had the added benefit of
allowing Democrats to appear tough on crime. The largest
beneficiaries politically and financially have always been blue state
Democrats like Rep. Charlie Rangel of New York City because the Drug
War was a steady source of federal money. All the big Democratic
cities with major drug problems lined up at the trough as well.
One ironic aspect of legalization is that it appears to
be, at least in part, a reaction against the nanny state. Those of
us who have grown weary of the constant drumbeat against potato chips
and second-hand smoke and trans fats and sweet drinks and wheat and
beef welcome this kind of rearguard action as a blow for freedom,
regardless of our fondness or lack thereof for weed itself. And it's
a major blow. All the other mini-fascist incursions of the punitive
Left will now be much more difficult to justify. If I can legally
smoke a joint in the park, what self-respecting policeman is going to
write me up for sucking down a 2-liter Pepsi?
Do not be surprised if the next states to legalize dope
are those with traditions of fierce independence and a distrust of
government. These will be mostly western and southern states, rather
than states dominated politically by leftist elites in big Democratic
cities. Utah will legalize weed long before Illinois does. Texans
will toke up before Massachusetts.
Copyright2014MichaelKubacki
Posts
I find interesting the arguments people use to defend legalizing weed.
ReplyDeleteThey use some arguments forgeting there are still some drugs forbitten and/or demanding medical receipt. Plus, they mention Holland as successful. However, people in Holland dont like Amsterdam, nor did I. Also, there will always be crime and traffic. I have seen, v.g., that cd/dvd traffic is bigger (and more profitable).
Nevertheless, what I think is the greater problem is the advertisement there is nowadays about smoking weed. Many movies/tv series in US show successful people smoking weed and having fun with that. I believe that, whether legalized or not, influences young people way more.
PS: I have seen on the internet that weed is a probable male anticonceptional. So, for that, I prefer this drug to be legalized than others, because breaks my heart when I see addicted people having children and using drugs even while pregnant.