I have noticed a very disturbing trend in the news of late. I’m sure many of you have noticed it, too: the rabidly hysterical anti-marijuana viewpoint. Gotta give ’em equal time, I guess, but they don’t really bring anything new to the table. They just repeat the old, paranoid statements without any actual evidence, and the charges get more and more hysterical.
In the weeks since Colorado and Washington legalized marijuana, I have read articles about stoned drivers spreading terror on the naton’s highways, marijuana as a gateway drug, and marijuana causing several deaths (which has never happened – sure, it’s possible to die of a heart attack when you’re stoned, and if you’ve just smoked a big, fat dooby and an earthquake causes an Acme Company 2 ton safe to fall on your head, but you can’t blame the marijuana for that).
I suppose it is precisely because legalization in those states is so far functioning rather smoothly. There have been large numbers of people waiting patiently in line, a larger than expected increase in state income, and many, many, happy hippies. Side effects have included an overall drop in traffic accidents, and an increase in girl scout cookie sales.
Anyway, it got me to wondering why. I know, all those years ago, people actually bought into the “marijuana is dangerous” crap, but this is the 21st century, the millennium of the great enlightenment, the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. There have been more scientific investigations than Amsterdam has grow shops, and not only haven’t they found any down side to marijuana, they’re finding it can cure or at least relieve a whole range of ailments, including some kinds of cancer.
Also hemp, marijuana’s straight cousin,makes paper, rope, and a really nice cloth, tough like denim but much lighter, and softer. The seeds make anice, crunchy addition to any salad, and the leaves and stalks can be ground up and served to cattle. I’ve heard rumors that the cows love it, and I’m all for cows being happy.
I don’t know whether it’s big pharma or big cotton or somebody else that’s so seriously against seeing marijuana legalized, ever, and I’m not sure why, although I suspect that there’s an “all of the above’ factor going on.
Because it’s a goddamned wonder drug and it scares them shitless.
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