OK... this might be a bit of a stretch for Q, Cheech is much more likely to have said, "Hey man, what's up?" - but I had to find some way to recognize the fact that today is 4/20, and here in Colorado, it's a bit of a big deal.
For those of you not "in the know" on these things, 4-20 is slang for marijuana culture. Why 4-20, you ask? I have no earthly idea, but ever since pot became legal here in Colorado, April 20th is practically a state wide holiday!
This year there was a bit of hub-bub over the big gatherings at Civic Center park. You might think that people were up in arms over the prospect of thousands of stoners gathering to smoke weed in public, but no - it was an issue of competing permits for the events, which basically boiled down to some deal about port-a-potties.
You know, it's been rather amazing the speed with which it's all been normalized. Seriously, the other day I turned on the local news and there was a story about a push to require testing of pot to ensure that it is free from mold and other contaminants, just like FDA testing of food items.
It's kinda like the earth has shifted on its axis or something - a few years ago they'd have been tossing pot smokers in jail and throwing away the keys, now they're stampeding to ensure their health and safety!
And while you might think that marijuana related crime was way up, that really hasn't been the case. There have, of course, been more citations given for smoking pot in public, and a few more for DUI, but marijuana DUI's still pale in comparison to the alcohol related ones. There has been a rash of burglaries at marijuana stores and grow houses, but that just seems a bit like an occupational hazard.
There is one brand new crime wave that took the Colorado Department of Transportation by surprise though. They were having a real problem with people stealing the 420 mile marker sign! Not kidding. Creativity prevailed though, and they came up with a solution.
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| Seriously... this is real, not PhotoShopped |
There have also been a handful of idiots blowing up their houses by using butane to make hash oil. Sorta hard to blame the marijuana for that one though, since this sort of stuff really seems like it belongs in the Darwin Award category.
But the truly remarkable part about all of this is the lack of contentiousness with which the state legislature has dealt with it all. It's sorta like the people of Colorado stood up and decried that the emperor had no clothes.
And once that happened all of the polarizing political left vs right horse-pucky that has surrounded the issue of marijuana for soooo many years just fell away and people became downright reasonable.
Who'd a thunk it?
I guess it all gives me hope. I mean, regardless of what you think about legalized marijuana, the fact that a hot-potato issue like the war on drugs could be reduced to a rather hum-drum topic in such a short time tells me that once you get the emotional us vs. them BS out of the equation, we, as a society, really are capable of solving some of our problems.
In case you're curious, here are a few infographics with some statistics after a year of legal marijuana in Colorado:
So what do you think? Has marijuana (medical or recreational) been legalized where you live? Has your community seen any impacts, positive or negative? Should the federal government consider ending the marijuana prohibition? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic.
Pot has not been legalized where I live, but it has in near by areas. However that just happened recently, so no stats out yet. What I wonder is where it has been legalized, if the use has really changed or if it's just legal now to use it?
ReplyDeleteAlso, there are some that say if we legalized all drugs, crime rates would go down here and in many countries. There's a whole ugly world out there supply drugs and there is a lot of major and minor crime associated with it. I think there's a lot truth in that. That's not to say that irresponsible use of drugs that causes harm still shouldn't be illegal.
BTW, I love the way they fixed the mile marker signs. :)
The mile marker thing totally cracks me up.
DeleteI tend to agree that legalizing all drugs would reduce crime significantly. What's the Humphrey Bogart movie set in the Florida Keys where Edward G. Robinson plays a washed up bootlegging mobster? Key Largo, maybe? Anyhow, there's a scene in that movie where the mobster is distraught because he's all washed up, and one of his mobster friends tries to cheer him up saying things like "It'll get better. They'll bring prohibition back and everything will be good again."
I thought that was a very revealing scene. I mean, there are plenty of issues surrounding alcohol these days, but organized crime isn't really one of them. Seems to me that when you outlaw something as basic as a plant, it just turns a readily available substance into currency for criminals.
And I think you're right - people who are gonna use, are gonna use whether it's legal or not. At this point I think getting accurate stats on that issue would be difficult though, since a non-trivial number of people have moved to Colorado simply because pot is legal here.
I'm believe marijuana use has been decriminalized here and we have legalized medical marijuana.
ReplyDeleteI am firmly in the camp of legalize it's use. As long as smoking and alcohol use are legal it makes no sense to say, yes you can use this legal drug but not that one.
It's use may be harmful, but what's more harmful is making ruining people's lives by turning them into criminals.
All the crime that goes along with M use is because it is illegal.
Once legal, addicts could get help from the medical system to get off it, just like smokers and alcoholics do.
Of course I think all the drugs should be legal and treated the same way. The war on drugs and drug addicts should be stopped and perhaps spend the money on social problems to prevent addiction in the first place.
Marieann
Yes! Spend money on problems that get people addicted in the first place.
DeleteI couldn't agree more. I think the criminalization marijuana, and a lot of the psychedelic drugs is particularly problematic because they're all listed as schedule 1 drugs (addictive, high potential for abuse, no redeeming qualities) when the medical evidence to support that is simply not there. Seriously, marijuana is considered more dangerous than cocaine, opium or morphine?!? I think we all know that these designations are really political and not medical in nature, and that leads people to assume that all information on drugs us complete hogwash - which is a dangerous precedent to set.
DeleteI guess I just think we'd all be better served by treating drug use as a social problem rather than a criminal one. People need information based on real science, rather than politics or hearsay.
So, I was checking ut your Q and live and learn's Q and I laughed over the contrast between the two leading photos for your posts! Cheech and Chong vs. English royalty. Just funny,to me.
ReplyDeleteI'm in the Seattle area. My big complaint over legalized pot is that in many of my favorite public places in the downtown area, people regularly get high, and the rest of us have to put up with the smell. I feel the same way about cigarette smoke. I don't like having to choose between going someplace I've always gone in the past, but put up with the stench or having to quite going to these public areas. Seattle has not come up with a way to control public use of pot.
And I especially don't like the my 2 daughters have to become second-hand pot smokers because their bus stop downtown (where they have to catch their transfer bus every day, twice a day), is one of the primary public spaces with a lot of outdoor pot smoking.
And like I said, I am just as annoyed at people who smoke cigarettes in my air space.
Sooo... you're saying you don't think Cheech & Chong are royalty? :-)
DeleteI think the smoking in public thing is a completely valid concern. I'm not aware of it being a huge problem here, but then again, I don't spend a lot of time in public places... well - when I do, I'm generally whizzing past on my bike, so I'm not around to smell anything very long!
It is a bit ironic though, that the laws regulating marijuana are getting more and more lenient while there's a big crack down on smoking tobacco in public. Of course, public smoking of pot is illegal - but maybe pot smokers are just more used to breaking the law and therefore don't feel as bound by these restrictions as tobacco users do. Hmmm...
I don't know if it counts, but all illegal drugs were legal in Ireland for a day about a month ago, so there's that! You really can't make this stuff up. Tbh I'm still not sure whether I'm for or against the legalisation of weed. I can definitely see the argument for, but I have an uncle who has messed up a lot of his life and others since he started smoking it, so that kind of puts me off. Plus I'm not a fan of drugs as a whole so I'm not sure. I must do more research, but I can hazard a guess that this isn't in the pipeline for Ireland for quite some time!
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely not a fan of drug abuse, but I'm also not sure that making it illegal does anything to reduce the rates of abuse - in some ways it makes it more difficult for people to get help because they fear criminal prosecution.
DeleteHow did drugs come to be legal for one day? That's bizarre!
Yeah I definitely get that. It's something I really do need to do more research into before I declare an opinion.
DeleteAhaha I don't know the full details, but apparently some loophole was brought to the Supreme Court which basically made the whole illegality of drugs unconstitutional. So while they had to rewrite the law, they couldn't legally stop people from doing drugs. It was quite hilarious alright!
It's not legal here in NC. This may be ignorance speaking, but I don't see it as being much different from cigarettes, except that there's possibly some medical benefit for some people. I'm pretty much of the belief that if you have consenting adults, paying their own tab, doing something that isn't hurting anyone else, they should be left to it.
ReplyDeleteI'm of the same mind - trying to protect people from themselves seems like spitting in the wind to me. I do, however, think that laws protecting people from harm caused by other people using substances need to be strengthened and enforced. Seriously, here in Colorado there are cases of people with multiple DUI's (we're talking like a dozen) who are still out on the streets driving! To me, this is just insanity!
DeletePennsylvania will probably be one of the last states to legalize pot which is unfortunate. My son was a corrections officer and knows that the vast majority of the inmates are in prison for drug offenses. Stupid if you ask me. Since when did it become a crime to do something to your own body? People here have been watching Colorado to see how legalization worked and hope to see it happen here soon.
ReplyDeleteWhy is it illegal to smoke pot in public?
I totally agree that locking up a non-trivial percentage of the population for using drugs is a complete waste - waste of money, and waste of humanity. Not sure why it's illegal to smoke in public - I think it's to protect people from second hand smoke? At first, they were gonna say it was illegal to do it outside even on your own property - but that failed. I think the thinking is they didn't want kids to see it and think it's OK. Not sure I see the logic there.
DeleteForgetting my own thoughts on this issue, I mostly just like to see local and state governments coming up with their own decisions on issues. I like seeing communities decide what should be allowed to happen in their communities.
ReplyDeleteOn the flip side, I also like communities deciding whether they want to allow certain businesses (pay day lenders, liquor stores, strip clubs, etc.) in their neighborhoods. Let the people decide.
I totally agree that local control is key with this stuff. All of it cuts both ways, and I think people need a real say.
DeleteI love that frickin' sign. Amazed anything related to government would come up with such a creative solution.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing pot will eventually be legalized everywhere. It should certainly be decriminalized. My big fear is that there is not enough information out there about its effects on young brains. It's not as benevolent as the kids (and many adults) think. It is also closely tied to schizophrenia, but how it is tied is not fully understood (currently the prevailing theory seems to be that it pushes people who are prone to schizophrenia over the edge). Also it is non-addictive in the same way alcohol is non-addictive (some people do get addicted). Hoping that with legalization, education will come...have you seen that happening in CO?
That sign just makes me giggle.
DeleteAnyhow, I totally agree about the research. I may be wrong about this, but I believe the fact that pot is considered a schedule 1 drug makes it virtually impossible to do any actual research on it - which is just crazy in my opinion. So people are left in the position of trying to sort out all of the claims on their own. Is it safe? Is it not safe? Are any of the medical claims legit? Yadda, yadda, yadda.
I dunno... just seems like the whole drug classification system is intrinsically flawed - especially since many of the designations are at least as much about politics as science.
Yeah, 4/20 is practically a holiday here in Washington state as well. I absolutely love the mile marker though. Very creative!!
ReplyDelete--Raven Oak
SF/F Author & AtoZChallenge Participant. I can be found at www.ravenoak.net
I sorta can't believe the highway department came up with that one - makes me wonder if they were smokin' something! :-)
DeleteI don't like mind altering drugs (especially addictive ones), but since people all through the ages and in all cultures have been into them, I know that I'm the weirdo. Therefore, I am for legalization. With regulation and education.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I've heard there is some form of marijuana that is not mind-altering but can still help your glaucoma, for example, so I'm all for that.
In my state marijuana is not legal. And we have imprisoned a pretty high percentage of our citizens and privatized a bunch of prisons so there are probably private prison companies that would lobby against legalization if that ever became a possibility. It's hard to imagine politicians in my state ever becoming reasonable, but then we've got some pretty over-the-top extremists in charge right now.
I'm surprised that so much of your marijuana sales are black market, but if there's a high tax, I guess that makes sense. I wonder how it compares to the black markets for other highly taxed products like cigarettes and alcohol. (And petrol, but is there a way to sell that on the black market?) Actually, re-reading that, it sounds like there's just not a large enough legal supply yet.
I can't tell, but it looks like the increase in pot DUIs is about matched by a decrease in alcohol DUIs. So that's cool.
This is reminding me about when anti-smoking and anti-drunk driving campaigns were taking off in the 1980s. I thought that you can't suddenly make smoking in public illegal because it's an addiction. Well, I was wrong about that. In fact, my mom actually quit smoking because it became too hard to deal with not smoking on long flights and at her work place. Similarly, apparently there are people willing to go out drinking with their friends but not actually drink and be the designated driver.
You know, I'm not sure that marijuana is addictive - at least not physically addictive like alcohol or tobacco. I think it's probably psychologically addictive like many behaviors are, but I'm not sure there's the chemical component like with so many other drugs - I could be wrong.
DeleteAnyhow, it seems to me that we're living in a crazy world when prisons are a private industry that have lobbying power to try to keep people in jail just to boost their bottom line.
I wonder how they get those statistics about black market marijuana sales... kinda curious. I suppose if people already had a dealer, and that dealer can get it for them cheaper than buying it legally, it would stand to reason that they'd keep going that route. But one would hope that will decrease as time goes on. That's my sincere hope anyway. I guess I just think that if you can get the drug dealers out of the equation, then marijuana stops being so much of a "gateway drug," so that people who want to experiment casually are less likely to get sucked into more dangerous stuff like heroine or meth, and also less likely to get into the whole criminal world. Perhaps that's a pipe dream (yuk, yuk!)
I agree, I've heard marijuana is not physically addictive. (So I'm not as opposed to everyone using it as some other drugs!)
DeleteI do think that the black market will decrease as time goes on (unless somehow black market marijuana is cheaper). Good point about the gateway drug (and nice pun, too!).
As long as it doesn't affect my finances and safety, and I don't have to pay for anyone doing anything stupid, including becoming addicted and needing to be put on welfare as unemployable, then have at it. However, that is not the way things usually work around here. Somewhere down the line, it is going to cost me for something someone else is doing to themselves. That is when it isn't fair. And I don't care if it is drugs or anything else for that matter. Do not make it my problem to solve with my money.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. It totally is NOT fair to have to pay for someone else's irresponsibility. But... and this is a pretty big but, we're already paying billions upon billions in tax dollars to fight the "war on drugs," and honestly, I'm just not sure that's money well spent.
DeleteI also think that by keeping drugs illegal, we end up funneling billions of dollars into the criminal underground instead of taxing it and having a revenue source to deal with some of the problems it creates.
I dunno, I just think that trying to legislate everything that has a social cost is... well, it just doesn't seem possible or practical to me. I mean, do we start outlawing sugar or fast food? Maybe we should outlaw cars that can go more than 65 miles per hour. I'm just not sure where the best place to draw that line is, and it seems very clear to me that the current line is not working very well.
You are so hilarious. Not on the serious stuff of course but where you meant to be was AWESOME anyway I don't really have an opinion :)
ReplyDeleteHa! I'm so glad you were entertained. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteThe big marijuana news in Georgia is that our governor signed a bill last week legalizing medical marijuana to treat eight serious illnesses: "Georgia's law makes cannabis oil legal to treat people with epilepsy and other seizure disorders, Lou Gehrig's Disease, cancer, multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease, mitochondrial disease, Parkinson's disease and sickle cell anemia." This is huge coming from a Southern Bible-Belt state.
ReplyDeleteAnd medicinal use is great. Make it a prescription drug though.
DeleteMary, that's amazing - especially for Georgia. Sorta surprised AIDS and glaucoma aren't on the list, but hey, you've gotta start somewhere!
DeleteAnd Donna, a "prescription" is already required here in Colorado - heavy emphasis on the quotation marks! I guess I do sorta have a beef with the way the medical stuff is being handled. Since it's still federally illegal, most doctors aren't willing to prescribe it, so there are special "clinics" set up, with special doctors who only see medical marijuana patients. The result is that there are an awful lot of people getting iffy prescriptions - really they're just recreational users. This practice hasn't really changed since the recreational stuff was legalized because the recreational stuff is taxed at a significantly higher rate than the medical variety.
I dunno... I just wish that the government would take it off of schedule 1, allow genuine research to be done, and allow real pharmaceuticals to be made from cannabis - which could be prescribed by "normal" doctors in conjunction with other treatment plans.
I'm hopeful that if enough states legalize it in one form or another, the federal government will be forced to act, and we can get closer to sanity with it all. I guess the blurry line between recreational and medical use just sorta bothers me.