It seems like over the last year or so there has been a huge movement on the internet to legalize marijuana, but it seems like the movement can get past just trying to make it legitimate. Though I don’t smoke the stuff, I can see why it should be legal, and at the same time I can see why it is not. For anyone else that would like to see it legal, pot head or not, I have posted five things that could make a difference.
Change minds at an academic level
If people start to learn more about the drug while in college then they might see things in a different light. A lot of older doctors that went to school during the 60’s and 70’s grew up during the hippie years when pot was still seen as a drug that can make you crazy and a communist. The best thing that people could do is ask a lot of questions about it in school and learn as much as they can and try to get their classmates involved in the discussion. College professors could help sort fact from myth about pot and other drugs, not just in biology or health classes, but in classes like political science, criminal justice, and economics. Just remember that people don’t want to hear a student argue with a teacher about it, so if the teacher says something that you don’t agree with, then just let it be or do more research to see if what you thought you knew is fact or not.
Change minds at an economic level.
If people knew how many of their tax dollars were spent on enforcing marijuana laws, there would be rioting in every city. It is not just on a federal level, but state and local governments spend millions if not billions every year enforcing the marijuana laws. Anti drug programs in schools as well as on TV cost a lot of money and tend to focus on getting people to not smoke pot. These costs do not include the lives of law informant lost every year.
The laws don’t just cost money on a short term basis, but in the long run as well. It cost a lot of money keeping people in jail for breaking these laws. This would just constitute the fiscal loss, but the economic loss is much greater. By making it illegal, billions of dollars of income that should be taxed are not because drug dealers don’t pay taxes. Not to mention that thousands and maybe millions of jobs would be created in the US not just by the growers and sellers, but companies that make farming tools and fertilizers would grow as well. If people want to make a big change in getting pot legal, then they should contact their local politicians and tell them to find out exactly how much these laws cost our country. If these numbers turn out to be high enough then politicians would have a hard time keeping it illegal.
Don’t be high in public
If you are a pot smoker and you want it to be legal, don’t be high in public. Just because you think that you can do your job the same or better when you have a little weed in you does not mean that you can. People generally notice people that are high in public, and it does not help their opinion of them. Think of it this way: you wouldn’t be drunk in public, so don’t be high. It also doesn’t help to have a coworker that is frustrated with your little mistakes that you made because you are high. If you keep it at home and don’t reek of it in public, then at the very least you won’t be hurting the cause.
Don’t compromise with it
A lot of people think that it should be legal as long as there is a special tax on it. To them this would make it legal but at the same time raise money to help society as a whole. This may not be true, as special taxes would cause the price go up, which would cause demand to go down. With demand down there would be less production, which means fewer employees and less materials purchased to grow it. Companies that sold it would also make less money and pay less in income taxes. The government may also try to keep people from growing it themselves. This would also cost a lot of money as it would be very hard to police. The best thing to do would be to let people grow it and sell it from their homes. The only regulation that should occur would be in making sure that no dangerous chemicals are added to it, and if people grow it themselves then this would not be much of a problem.
The best way to get it to be totally free would be for people to not compromise over it. If it takes longer to become legal, or never does, it’s better than giving in to things that could give the government more power over people.
Don’t lie about it
Saying that marijuana helps people with cancer or how hemp can be used to make cheap paper, while may be true, only turns people off. Paper is cheap, and if you don’t have cancer then just shut the hell up. Just tell people that you like smoking it, and that you will keep smoking it legal or not. People will respect your opinion on the subject more if you are direct about it.
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