On this universal holiday celebrating everything
cannabis-reefer-weed-mary jane-ganja, I’d like to demand that our elected
leaders embrace the potential of this plants total legalization. There has never been a point in my life were
such an opportunity exists to simultaneously realize so many social and
economic victories. They are sorely
needed and overdue.
The first potential victory begs the attention of my
fiscally conservative free market capitalist friends. We are restricting a trillion dollar economy
that can be heavily taxed. This market
is many times larger than our beer, wine, and liquor economy by its very
nature. Our economy can create many
products and supply many different demands with cannabis. You can literally spontaneously create a
massive agricultural sector that offers the highest job creation factor
imaginable. Using the statistical data
from states who have embraced this plant, the tax revenue can totally change
that part of our economic puzzle. Oh and
remember that federal deficit and nearly 14 trillion dollars in national debt? What other trillion dollar black market
economy are we going to be able to turn free market at a vice-tax rate?
Next is alcohol, the highly addictive and frequently
destructive liquid that is part of our national identity and which we tax the
hell out of. This exemplifies the
concept of “reefer madness”: A free
American over 21 years of age living in Wellsville NY can buy a lethal dose of
alcohol, 7 days a week, for less than $50.
Or you can spend $10 a day on a liter of 100 proof vodka, live a short
life, and make all sorts of bad decisions that cost society dearly. Governor Cuomo frequently announces tax
credits for distillers, wineries, and beer makers. New York State is deregulating alcohol sales
and venue restrictions and making a fortune of arresting citizens who have .05%
blood alcohol levels. To allow our governments too fully exploit
this vice, while suppressing a much lesser cannabis is wrongheaded and greedy.
A free American in Wellsville NY can be ticketed, jailed,
fined, fired, arrested, imprisoned, publically humiliated, and forced to purchase
counseling by the court for having a pocketful of ganja. People are losing custody of children,
employment, and private property for possessing cannabis, which cannot kill
anyone. The costs of enforcing these
unjust laws is more than the billions of dollars; it’s the young kids criminal
record and the employee who lost a job because they used cannabis for back pain
instead of prescribed opiates. We can
reverse and eliminate these costs to our people and economy.
The science is now solid: Cannabis can cure illness, ease
pain, mitigate neurological disorders, help beat the addictions that plague us,
and provide countless medicines. By
suppressing the availability of this plant and its many extracts we are refusing
to let her help us. Cannabis can solve
so many problems and make our country and planet stronger. Please use your power, your vote, and every
opportunity to support this medical, social, economic, and political panacea.
