October 19, 2009

Under new guidelines that are supposed to be issued today by the Obama Administration Federal drug agents will no longer pursue charges against pot-smoking patients as long as they are following state laws. Prosecutors are rightly being told that it’s not a good use of their time to arrest people who use or provide medical marijuana in compliance of state laws.

I can see both sides of this argument and as long as the folks involved are truly following state law it’s a good thing.

Before I even get into an opinion of Marijuana it’s a step in the right direction as far as state’s rights go but unfortunately it’s just damned hypocritical. In an age where the government is trying to control everything they can and our states are giving up control over their own laws giving some back is a good thing. Unfortunately it’s bullshit. What’s it’s saying is that “yes, you can follow your own laws that’s you’ve already made. On this one thing. Temporarily. But we still have final decision making ability”.

As far as Marijuana itself, I’m on the fence here and probably lean toward legalizing it for various reasons. I don’t smoke pot. I don’t particularly like it. As a teen I smoked a lot of pot, probably your share too. There are several health issues with it including reduced motor function, reduced brain function and cancer. Then again there are a lot of issues with alcohol and cigarette smoking as well, both of which I indulge in, one heavily and one occasionally. That’s my decision and as long as I can make that decision as a responsible adult and choose not to do either in places where I shouldn’t then it’s my deal. For instance, I very rarely drink in public as I don’t want to impair my ability to drive or make important decisions. Occasionally I’ll have a drink at home but more often than not any beer I buy just goes bad before I can drink it.

The big problem with that is that just with alcoholics, not everyone who consumes Marijuana is a good decision maker and you’ll always have people who are irresponsible with it. You also have medical providers in some of the fourteen states that allow the use of medical marijuana that will prescribe it for anyone that wants it, whether they need it or not. I’ve seen (and posted here) too many people hurt or kill their children while under the influence of Marijuana that clearly would not have had they been in their right minds.

I don’t normally post about stuff like this and just stick to the criminals and douchebags simply because this is such a gray area for me. I have friends that partake in the privacy of their own homes and while I choose not to let that be a part of my life they aren’t hurting anyone but themselves. They are no less my friends than they would be if they didn’t.

Over the last two decades the war on drugs has been a huge failure both fiscally for the United States as well as diverting resources that could better be used elsewhere. It has also paved the way for an increase of militarizing civilian police departments around the country. As big a supporter of law enforcement as I am, I think that is a horrible thing.

Enough with the policy and politics as it’s obvious that I don’t really have an opinion either way. Back to the grind of scumbags and buttheads.