Marijuana has been making news lately. Although I am a conservative, I have libertarian leanings. I tend to believe that people have the right to choose how to live their lives as long as their choices do not harm others.
Montana voters did approve medical marijuana, but that doesn’t mean that using it is good or desirable. Even though I don’t mind it being legal, I oppose its use. I have seen the problems using marijuana causes.
I remember my college days when I was smoking weed. Oh. Actually, I really don’t remember. Some memories from those days are missing, unfortunately. Happily, connecting with some old friends on Facebook has helped me to regain some of those parts of my life. The problem is, some of these memories are best forgotten.
I was a music major, so it was an easy transition into the culture. We all toked, we thought we were these sophisticated musicians. There was one particular album, a live album by Carlos Santana, that we loved listening to while high. Thing is, I couldn’t stand it when I was straight. Same with Frank Zappa.
And of course, we thought we played our instruments better while high. We played in jazz bands and jazz combos, where you close your eyes and just feel the groove. We felt it. Magical. But what a surprise to hear the recording the next day! It was terrible.
Fast forward some thirty years. Having recovered most of my mental faculties (an assertion my critics might dispute), I note that marijuana advocates are still using the same fuzzy rationalizations we used: “Well, dude, alcohol is legal, and marijuana is no worse than alcohol.” You know, appealing to another damaging product is a not smart move, I think. On second thought, it’s hard to blame them for not thinking clearly.
The real problem is, legality eventually leads to the idea of desirability and necessity. Then, we all must tolerate, approve, and eventually celebrate. Later, it becomes a right. Finally, the right requires funding. I wonder if Obamacare covers medical marijuana?
I note that a local firm has opened a laboratory to study the different varieties of cannabis. Once might rightly wonder, if this lab discovered a variety that had all of the medicinal qualities, but had absolutely no mind-altering effects, would medical marijuana advocates rush to embrace it? Somehow I doubt it.
Marijuana supporters are starting to become more insistent. They chafe under the perceived slights to their cause. They don’t want their medicine to be restricted, but since marijuana is a “smokable product,” it is subject to 50-40-103. 8): “’Smoking’ or ‘to smoke’ includes the act of lighting, smoking, or carrying a lighted cigar, cigarette, pipe, or any smokable product.” Yup, it's smokable, just like tobacco.
The city has rightly established other restrictions, like the 1000 foot buffer for schools. But wait a minute. If marijuana is really so wonderful, maybe we should tolerate/approve/celebrate what is legal/necessary/a right. Maybe we need a marijuana clinic in every school. After all, it’s medicine. Who are we to deny relief from suffering? And besides, kids are going to use it anyway, so shouldn’t we teach them to do it responsibly, and provide a safe, non-judgmental environment to do so?
Under the guise of relieving suffering, those who advocate marijuana use have another agenda at work. I think it is pretty clear that they are putting up, forgive me, a smoke screen.
