The power struggle between state and federal marijuana laws just took a turn for the interesting in the wake of Tuesday’s mid-term election results. Washington D.C. voters decided to legalize the recreational use of marijuana by a landslide 69 to 31 percent vote, thereby legalizing possession of two ounces of marijuana or less for personal, recreational use, begging the question: If it’s legal in our nation’s capital, not to mention a growing slew of other states, why should anyone in any corner of this country be incarcerated, or even prosecuted for marijuana?
95,351 voters in D.C. voted in favor of the measure, as compared to 42,052 against it. Oregon, and likely Alaska, are already joining Colorado and Washington state, as well. Florida voters overwhelming voted in favor of medical marijuana, also, though the attempt was ultimately defeated because the vote fell just short of the required 60 percent.
Still, the great green wave of marijuana legalization continues to germinate and spread in this country, and each state that takes the rightful step to legalize marijuana also pollinates and emboldens additional states to follow suit, especially when no massive crime waves have resulted and revenue is up, up, up. States hesitant to allow citizens a legal high that has no logical arguments against it so long as alcohol remains legal may eventually choose to puff (but not inhale) simply to help their state budgets rise.
But getting back to the point, just how will D.C. choose to handle a people’s vote in favor of legalization when D.C. isn’t a state claiming state power, and D.C. is a federal town? Shouldn?t voters get what they want in a true democracy? What kind of message will be sent to the larger American public if D.C. does not honor the people’s vote? And if it does, how can any state rationalize the criminalization of its population due to marijuana when the nation’s capital openly allows recreational use, stepping even further than some states by allowing two ounces of marijuana legally, rather than one?
And for you fuddy-duddy prohibitionists out there shaking your heads in disgust, the criminalization of medicinal and recreational marijuana goes a great deal further than folks? right to their chosen form of inebriation.
It affects and breaks up entire families. Children lose parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Jails are perpetually over-crowded. The justice system is permanently clogged up to the point of near stagnation due to choking on all these nonviolent, smalltime drug ?crimes,? when the only reason marijuana is considered a “crime” in the first place is because of its being a politicized football. Anyone who’s ever been through the system for marijuana knows what a joke it is, how it’s all about the money. There’s no real risk or danger present from use, unlike alcohol.
And for those who try to reply, ?Just don’t smoke it then,? well, then, just don’t drink your booze then, either. That’s an easy enough answer to that; however, why should folks abstain if they don’t want to? Who is the government to regulate what people do and don’t do with their own bodies, as consenting adults in the privacy of their own home? No, people have a right to do what they like. People forget the government exists merely to provide services, not strip us of our rights on the whims of fearful puritans. It’s a matter of choice in a free country, and people have the right to choose for themselves whether they wish to smoke cigarettes, have a cocktail, or smoke a joint. Period. All other arguments are dishonest politics, and citizens (and their families) are caught up in the grinder while one side fights for yes and another says, ?Hell no.?
But who are they to tell any of us what we can and can’t do? What right do they have to deny our own rights, given by right of birth, government be damned. Government does not grant you your rights; it is supposed to uphold them. That’s all. Your rights do not come about, by, through or via government. They are not ordained by government. They are those ?unalienable? rights you’ve heard so much about.
The fact that the federal government still classifies marijuana as just as dangerous a substance as heroin should give you some indication as to the level of political and economic propaganda behind the issue.
When Attorney General Eric Holder was interviewed by CNN not long ago, he stated that he was ?cautiously optimistic? regarding the legalization of recreational marijuana by Washington and Colorado.
You can can see that video below:
Monitoring both of those states heavily since their legalization of marijuana was enacted, still Holder remains ?cautiously optimistic,? which means everything is going well. Otherwise, the feds would have been on those states like ants on a sugar pile.
You see, the real addiction being dealt with in the midst of all these marijuana reforms is not the drug, itself, but the state and federal governments? addiction to all the revenue they rake in by keeping a harmless substance illegal. As things stand, they hold the keys to the golden goose, not to mention a whole lot of power, and they are reluctant to give that up simply so people can relax, enjoy themselves, and perhaps start thinking for themselves a little more.
Unless Congress steps in to circumvent the people’s vote, the D.C. legalization law could begin as early as March, 2015. Naturally, one Republican lawmaker out of Maryland has vowed to stand in way of the people’s wishes, but Sen. Rand Paul, of all people, showing his Libertarian streak, has also stated that the Maryland Republican would have to go through him, first.
Chair of the D.C. Cannabis Campaign Adam Eidinger stated:
?This victory is dedicated to everyone still sitting in jail tonight because of marijuana prohibition. District residents have made their voices heard loud and clear. The road to justice won’t end on Capitol Hill.?
That’s right. Looks like you’ll take our right to recreational marijuana use ?from our cold, dead hands,? and the reasons are far nobler than simply getting high.
Let us know your thoughts at the Liberal America Facebook page. Sign up for our free daily newsletter to receive more great stories like this one.
H/T: cnn.com / (Featured image courtesy of WikiMedia)
