Pot —What are they really afraid of?
I watched this show on MSNBC entitled “ Marijuana Inc.” and though it was well produced as the media is expert at doing, only their efforts hardly scratch the surface. Marijuana has been used as medicine in many places around the world for as long as recorded history and most likely much longer. Western medicine has been slow to down right stubborn about going against the obvious misinformation that infects the truth about Marijuana and the plant from which it is derived. Here in the U.S. in spite many studies, a famous one commissioned by Nixon, reported that the use of Marijuana showed no long lasting effects on individuals who used it, nor did it appear to cause any detrimental effects on society. Nixon promptly threw the report in the trash having never read it and then he began the drug war,( probably to take heat off of his own failing presidency.)
I am a disabled Vet injured on duty way back in 1975 and have lived with severe back, hip, and leg pains every day since then as a result of that injury. I have not known a day, an hour, or even a second free of pain since that injury. I learned about Marijuana as a pain relieving medication many years ago and began using it to aid in the control of the debilitating pain I live with every day. As the years went on, my military injury deteriorated to the point that I had to have surgery but that failed along with every type of treatment I could find and with each doctor I was told I would have my life back but instead I have been left with ever more pain. The VA doctors have given up putting me on a narcotic painkillers, which has had many side effects that have destroyed so much of my body’s normal function and diminished my mental capacity to the extent that I have no quality of life left. Marijuana has no such side effects. Marijuana never lowered my testosterone level to 107 when it is supposed to be 600 like the man made drugs did. There are just too many side effects, some so embarrassing that I cannot discuss them here and besides, what I want really to say is far more important, so on we go.
I was surprised at the reporter’s display of giddy emotion upon entering the strange and mysterious world of Pot. She came off as uninformed as most people appear to be on the subject. Her surprise I think was the response of those who believe all the propaganda that has flooded the media with respect to illegal drugs and the drug war. And, being a law-abiding citizen, surely the reporter had never experienced Pot before. Right? The propaganda, by the way, is more about institutionalized over-sized governmental departments fighting to keep their exploding budgets, thus their power base, growing and that can’t happen if the truth of Marijuana got out.
What is that truth you ask? That Marijuana is not the addictive, narcotic that destroys lives, like we hear about so often, accept in the case of those who want to control the distribution, but in fact is, in and of itself, not dangerous. In the legal context of the U.S. a narcotic refers to opium, opium derivatives, and their semi-synthetic and fully synthetic substitutes like cocaine. There is no opium or opium like substances in Marijuana.
The truth is, Marijuana is not a narcotic, contrary to popular belief and as such does not meet the strict definition of schedule one drugs nor does LSD and other psychedelic drugs fit the definition of being narcotic. So, why are they classified as such and why is so much money, time and energy put into trying to stop pot smokers? And, how does the punishment over smoking Marijuana fit the supposed harm it causes society? What happened to the punishment fitting the crime, and how is it a crime to smoke a plant when millions smoke another far more deadly plant that remains legal? Why do we allow ourselves to live with such blatant contradictions? These are the distorted perceptions around the substances made illegal created by the misinformation the media takes as truth. But what we continue to hear from the media in spite all the knowledge we have to the contrary is not the truth. What most people think they know about Pot is a distorted perception because so few of those people who are against Marijuana have had little if any real first hand experience accepting what they hear to be the absolute truth on the matter.
A further truth about the hemp plant that keeps it illegal is that it has many beneficial uses that compete with long established giants of industry. For anyone willing to do a little research into the history about this subject would know of how the Hearst paper and Dow Chemical did back in the 1930's much to sinsisterize the whole plant to keep it from competing with their interests causing it to eventually be made illegal. There have been some great programs on this entire subject on the History Channel.
I think the question that should be thoroughly explored is, why is Marijuana illegal? I also think I know the answer but so rarely do I hear anyone give the same reason as I do, so I will let that be the question to comment on. What are “They” really afraid of, and is that fear real or is it a case of intentionally distorted perception on a mass scale brought on by our media reporting for ratings rather than truth? You can’t say that mass delusion would be impossible for all you have to do is to consider what happened in Germany not so long ago that it is forgotten. But then we have already forgotten all the violence and mayhem in this country caused by the prohibition of alcohol because here we are doing it again. Only this time at much greater expense financially, the totally unnecessary toll in human lives lost, and an even greater cost to society when you consider the effect it has had on everyone’s freedom for we have all become suspect. To our government, drug user, drug dealer, terrorist, what’s the difference?
I have a degree in Mass Media Communications and I was taught that reporters were supposed to be unbiased but the story on MSNBC seemed to be slanted Right on the side of keeping this miraculous plant out of our hands. With the quality of my life as it is, without Marijuana, I just assume check out if dealing with this pain means continuing to live on the chemical concoctions our pharmaceutical companies pass off as drugs. That’s right. If you’ve ever paid attention to the commercials on television on all the drugs being marketed to the American people, you are aware of the long list of frightening side effects they can have, some that can and have killed. I admit that some drugs do work for what they were intended but considering all the side effects I must endure with the ones I take, I often wonder, if I wouldn’t be better off letting go of this damaged and aching encasement.
The side effects of the pain medications are as debilitating as the pain itself so my choice is to live in serious chronic pain unable to enjoy any of the activities I once enjoyed or living on brain numbing, mentally depressing, chemically and hormonally misbalancing narcotics that leave me completely demotivated to the point of disability and either choice leaves me with the mindset where I can’t imagine being alive much longer. Marijuana helps reduce my pain but our laws would have society deny me that benefit, and for what reason?
Let me ask the nation this, if there was a natural substance just discovered that had medicinal properties that were in any way beneficial to the relief of human suffering, do you believe that it is moral or ethical to withhold that substance? The only ones that act to deny people this miraculous plant have never needed it or fear that it might compete with their profits. And, if some of us come off as desperate to acquire Marijuana for relief from our ills, it is only because Western medicine has failed us. Not everyone can tolerate chemical medications or are hypersensitive to them as is my case.
There are many reasons Marijuana is illegal and only a couple of those reasons have to do with people smoking it to get high. Considering all the corruption in American business we are all so familiar with these days, it is not hard to imagine that the pharmaceutical companies do not want the competition from a natural plant that has so many beneficial medicinal and commercial uses, a plant that anyone who needs or wants it can grow it almost everywhere?
By the way, for those who still don't know this, Marijuana is not the whole plant but is just the flowering portion of the Hemp plant. If the country and the world would only remember what it knew of all the products that can be made from the plant Marijuana is derived, we would begin to recognize the huge waste it is not to be using this plant for all its uses. Anything that can be make from crude oil can be make with the oils of the seed, which is also high in protein and can be used as food. Hemp fiber can be used to make paper and cloth of higher quality with less polluting processes than with conventional wood fiber, and you can produce four time as much fiber on an acre of land with the hemp plant than with trees. So it competes with many contemporary ways of doing things and that threatens their existence. The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper.
Making it illegal keeps it from competing, not to mention the opposite affects. Making any substance many people want illegal also makes those substances more expensive to deal with attracting people who do not respect the laws anyway. These people actually like the fact that drugs remain illegal and are willing to fight and even kill each other in their efforts to control this lucrative trade made so by our laws meant to stop it. Yet, go to practically any law enforcement agency and ask if we are winning the drug war and you will likely hear a resounding NO. After forty years these drugs are more plentiful than ever so when do we the people make our lawmakers reevaluate the effects of the war and consider a different direction not so costly or damaging to the nation?
For all the drugs that are illegal there is no federal, state or even local control accept for those who are willing to kill each other over distribution territories. The violence is also between the dealers and the enforcement agencies. People who just want to smoke it aren’t killing each other. When was the last time someone got killed trying to smuggle a pack of cigarettes in this country? You see no one has to die for them, because they can get them whenever they wish. The same would be true of Pot.
The argument over the kids getting it is weak too. Just asked any kid today if it is easier to get Pot or cigarettes and I’ll bet you it will be Pot. This is simply because, when a substance is legal it is under the governments control and kids have a much harder time getting their hands on it. But when it is illegal all a kid has to do is make a phone call or go on the streets to purchase virtually any illegal substance because the illegal substance dealer doesn’t care if the person is under age. People don’t kill each other smuggling alcohol any more either because it was made legal again. Now we are repeating the same mistakes by prohibiting adults their Constitutional right to put in their bodies what they choose. So how long is it going to take to learn the prohibition lesson all over again?
You have to realize that virtually any substances that we consume have a potential for abuse. The spoken fear is that our nation will be destroyed by drug abuse if we make them legal, but I pose you this, if the idea that to make drugs legal would have such a devastating impact, then why are we all not cigarette smoking alcoholics? And so what if some people want to use it recreationally isn't that what people are doing with alcohol? What is the real difference between the person smoking a joint or drinking a beer anyway? Nope, that would be wrong, because both substances legal or not have some type of mind-altering effect. Every argument that can be made to keep Pot illegal can be made for tobacco and alcohol.
When will we ever learn that whenever we try to prohibit a large number of people from doing what they will simply because some people disagree on what it actually does or doesn’t do servers only to create a class of criminals where none existed before. And in creating so many new criminals comes a whole host of further unwanted behaviors that did not previously exist, resulting in the inevitable violence that is being blamed on Pot smokers. We see only what we want to see and we choose to see the resulting violence as the fault of the people using a God give plant rather than the result of the law put in place to stop them. So why do we continue? The answer when you realize it is insidious.
Now can you imagine that if the enforcing agencies admit that they are loosing this war, that a new strategy is needed that doesn’t waste money, make worse or even ruin a persons life just because they smoked a joint or needed a natural remedy that doesn’t have the debilitating side effects of modern medicines. Think about the amount of money spent on police, judges, lawyers, bail bonds, courts, prisons, prison guards, hospitals for treatment, on and on that could be saved if we simply dealt with this issue like we do alcohol. Not to mention a significant reduction in violence and crime. This is the insidious nature of the drug war that all of these things have become necessary because of our war on drugs. A war, by the way, that is a declared war by our government waged against Its own citizens, that by definition is a civil war, where the enemy are members of our own families, and like all wars, people are killed in them just the same.
Attacking drug abuse, (which is not the same as drug use because using a drug that is illegal doesn’t constitute abuse contrary to popular definition), the way we do clearly shows our overall lack of understanding of the issue. We approach drug abuse the same way doctors do most common ailments, that is they only seem to treat the symptoms and not the cause. We act as if drug abuse is a simple problem that can be cured by locking people up as if punishment cures whatever causes people to abuse drugs in the first place, but there are innumerable causes.
Do you not see how simple-minded this approach is? And how can we justify such police, DEA, expenditures arresting people for smoking one type of plant while another plant people smoke which has been overwhelmingly proven to cause so many deaths as does tobacco, remains legal. Making the argument that one is legal and the other isn’t doesn’t work either when you think about it because we decide what is or isn’t legal. We all know that alcohol has been on both sides of the law and the way people behaved when it was on the “Wrong” side of the fence. That is the right of free people to tell their government how it will operate when serving them, rather than what has become the norm where the government dictates it whims to the people especially in matters that lie outside its constitutional boundaries. We must stop being afraid of our government and start making our elected government fear us by fearing our vote.
I make a personal plea and appeal to president Obama that when he has dealt with the major issues he must, that I call upon him to consider with both compassion and a logical mind to ending the drug war. I don't know how we can justify a war against our own people rather than finding a kinder and gentler if not more realistic approach. Start my setting up a way to legalize Pot with taxes to deal with any ill effects, then begin releasing all non-violent drug offenders directing them to real rehabilitation. Bring Marijuana under the control of the government, and I will assure you that the violence will die down to a more manageable level. This is no less brave a move as you, the president of change have already made. In these hard economic times, ending the drug war would save literally tens of billions of dollars in cost cutting.
Here is another thought to contemplate. Let’s say you get arrested for using Marijuana and you go to court where you are made to put your hand on the Bible to swear an oath to tell the truth, so help you God. We do this hoping people fear God’s punishment so much that they will tell the truth. But, of course we all believe in that God and we swear on that Bible because we believe it is the real and true word of God. Then we arrest and imprison people for using a plant that God in that very same book tells people he has put here for our use. (Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you.” Genesis Chapter 1 verse 29. New American Standard Bible.) Who are we then to deny God’s will?
The point I am trying to make is this. We create our reality by focusing our attention on it. In particular, the more we focus our attention on a thing the more real it becomes as has clearly happened in the case of the drug war. Believe me the same is true for all that is going on it the world today and could happen no other way accept if we were to wake up and realize that all the problems surrounding the issue of illegal drugs is a result of the way we focus our attention on it. That is, we create the side effects associated with illegal drugs by making them illegal. People who want illegal drugs will still get them no matter what is done to stop them. The more energy that goes into stopping people the more you have to crack down on the whole of our society if you are to have any real impact in a free society. The pressure to conform to the majority’s rule serves only to create an even more devastating side effect, a continuous and lasting deterioration of our rights and freedoms.
These freedoms are recognized by any person who has read and understood our founding documents, that we have an inalienable right to pursue happiness in whatever fashion we so choose so long as in doing so we do not harm others. This pursuit is not defined by the majority, moral or otherwise, but by each individual. This is why the founding fathers created a Bill of Rights so as to protect the rights of individuals from majority rule allowing each person to make their way through life on their own chosen path even if that path ultimately proves self-destructive.
What we lack in this country which, in spite individual rights, continues to allow the majority to impose Its beliefs on minorities, is tolerance. Freedom is just that, allowing people to define the “pursuit of happiness” in their own way. That can only happen if and when we stop living from a place of fear and start trusting again. The media could go along way to making this happen by ending the nightly diet of fright and things to fear and begin reporting for truth not ratings.
The best thing we can do, if we were truly a nation “Of the People; By the People; and For the People”, is to stop punishing people for victimless crimes and start finding ways to accommodate responsible adults in their pursuits. Responsible adults smoking pot is no different than responsible adults having a beer. Instead of imprisoning our people, find ways of dealing with what the people want. That is, to find a way to accommodate people by legalizing pot, taxing it and using the proceeds to offset any ill effects from those who loose their way. We make help readily available paid for by those who use these substances rather than the taxpayer at large. Some of the money can be used for education and to help states with their budget needs. As it is now, all the money made in the Pot industry continues to operate and does so tax free. On top of that we spend upwards of 50 billion dollars each year on the drug war but drugs are evermore readily available and as a result the U.S. imprisons nearly 2.5 million of its own people and it is estimated that more than 60% of that population is in for some drug related incident. Added on top of the 50 billion is an average 35 thousand dollars per inmate per year and none of this includes collateral costs like courtrooms, judges, prisons, medical, on and on which is incalculable.
Well what more can I tell you? Actually there is a lot, like did you know that every major function in the human body is controlled and maintained by cannabinoids, that there are receptors in the brain for these cannabinoids and that Marijuana has something like 62 cannabinoids in its chemical makeup? Like I said, the show hardly scratched the surface on this subject.
Littleagle
Tempe, AZ.
