Pot? The responsibility lies with the user
We are standing at the precipice of truth and dare as the legalization of marijuana rages on and enters what appears to be the final stretch.
It is a hot topic — and one that stirs deep passion from people on both sides of the aisle because much in America will change once it becomes law — and become law it will in the state of Connecticut.
I doubt you will find a columnist who hasn’t put in his or her two cents about the legalization of the pungent flower that has been around since 500 B.C. in Asia, when it was likely used as an herbal medicine, according to history.com.
I have weighed in on the topic several times.
Last week, my colleague, Jacky Smith, the editorial page editor for The NewsTimes and Norwalk Hour and a columnist for Hearst Connecticut Media, joined in with a column that hit home and probably resonated strongly with opponents of legalization.
It was a story of a life lost on the highway due to a teen driving under the influence of marijuana. The teen was later convicted and sentenced to three years — hardly a tribute to our justice system. It was indeed a story of how smoking marijuana and driving can end with tragic results, but it is not a reason not to legalize marijuana.
And that is what prompted this column.
My colleague should be applauded for presenting the dangers of smoking weed, and I admire her acknowledgment of the unfairness of the judicial system on minorities. But I don’t buy her argument that in the midst of an opioid crisis, legalizing marijuana will only make things worse.
To me, one has nothing to do with the other, and my colleague and I see this issue a lot differently.
While studies certainly have shown that traffic accidents are rising in states where marijuana is legal, I don’t see how that should be a deterrent to legalizing marijuana. After all, I don’t see the state pulling alcohol off the shelves of stores or from local bars because of a drunken-driving crash.
And I never hear calls to stop the sale of alcohol that has been a menace on the roads since I can remember. What I hear is “don’t drink and drive” or “drink responsibly.”
Smoking marijuana is a choice — just like drinking — and it is up to the user to use the product responsibly.
So, let’s just stop this demonizing, outdated view that smoking marijuana will only lead to the destruction of some young lives and kill more people on the highways. Unfortunately, I don’t doubt these things will happen, but it is not the marijuana but the misuse of it.
And that is supported by the many successful “active” smokers and the many who smoked and decided it wasn’t for them. And guess what? They went on to become presidents, heads of corporations and even (such as Jacky is) successful editorial page editors and columnists.
Why? Because they used responsibly.
Legalization is a tough challenge for lawmakers but, right now, these young people already know where to buy it and those who don’t are being robbed and sometimes killed going into dangerous areas to get it. And that is a problem. Like the masters of weed themselves, Cheech and Chong, made clear in the movie “Things Are Tough All Over,” when Tommy Chong said, “sometimes it’s not even the drugs that’ll kill you, man. What really kills you is looking for drugs.”
And I simply don’t believe people should be dead because they want to smoke a joint.
But there also is another reason I am a proponent of legalization. It would be vindication for the black community.
The truth is the illegal sale of marijuana and other drugs has been a cloak for racial discrimination and fodder for the persecution of young, black, urban males to bury them in a system they could never get out of.
And the war on drugs is built on a lie that affected every black family.
I have made that statement before and I will scream it until the cows come home because it is the truth: Black people do not have the resources in 2019 to flood the entire United States with drugs and marijuana and they certainly didn’t have the resources 100 years ago when black people could not even drink from certain fountains without the law coming down on them.
We may not like the truth when it is laid bare and we have sit in its ugliness, but in this age of social enlightenment, I know it to be true and so does everybody in the world, not just the United States.
And now, it is a matter of truth and dare. The truth we already know; the dare is for elected officials to own up to that truth and legalize marijuana and expunge the records of those caught with less than 1.5 ounces of pot when they were arrested. I don’t see why this is a problem. Pot is sold every hour on the hour in Connecticut.
State Sen. Tony Hwang from Fairfield told my colleague, “we need to take pause and think about it long and hard” before legalization.
No, we don’t. That would mean we are two steps behind. We need to get out in front of it. We need to think about how we are going to implement it once approved, keep our roads safe with new measures and devices, and the sale of marijuana out of the hands of kids.
Parents, clergy, politicians and other opponents should be concerned — that is their job and whether they have never smoked marijuana, smoked it and stopped or continue to smoke it (as a lot of them do), nothing less is expected from them. They must rail against the sins of society to keep the balance.
The wife of the victim in Smith’s column said, “It shouldn’t have happened.”
She is so right. To have your loved one taken away due to a person’s irresponsibility is unconscionable and it is impossible not to feel her anguish.
But there are no real crystal balls and no one can see into the future. We don’t know what legalization is going to bring, we can only surmise.
But what we do know is the war on drugs has not worked. We do know not only has it cost billions and probably trillions, it has cost lives, broken families, destroyed communities and the United States is worse off because of it.
We are at the precipice of truth and dare. We know the truth; it is time for elected officials to take the dare by owning up to what they know is true — and legalize marijuana.
Pot? The responsibility lies with the user. James Walker is the New Haven Register’s senior editor and statewide columnist for Hearst Connecticut newspapers. He can be reached at 203-680-9389 or james.walker@ hearstmediact.com. @thelieonroars on Twitte