Something About Mary Jane

A new report confirms what every reasonable-minded person already knows: the “war’ on drugs has failed in a spectacular fashion. Here’s the article discussing the report’s findings, which includes some prominent Republicans, or at least they worked for a Republican administration: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/06/02/136880528/global-war-on-drugs-has-failed-former-world-leaders-say

Sometimes the notion of legalization of marijuana comes up in class. Students often argue that it should be legal. Hardly anyone takes the other side; in fact I recall only one ever taking that side. Curiously, I will ask the class if they know someone who has smoked marijuana. In every class, most, say over 90%, and 100% in some classes, confirm that they know someone who has smoked marijuana. Then I ask if they think these folks are criminals that should be thrown in jail. No one ever thinks that smoking a joint or two should lead to prison-time. The idea seems almost ludicrous, absurd when I pose it. And indeed, it is.

The students are well ahead of the government’s troglodyte-minded perspective. Not only the students, but many people, the regular folks, are far more sophisticated and reasonable about this issue and incline toward legalization. After all consider how many states have approved legalizing medical marijuana in direct conflict with the federal government: sixteen plus the District of Columbia. The government classifies Mary Jane as a schedule one drug meaning that:

(A) The drug or other substance has high potential for abuse. (Umm, doesn’t alcohol and cigarettes meet this criterion?)
(B) The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States. (Not according to several States and many studies.)
(C) There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision. (This is because it isn't legal.)

Of course, the discussion about legalizing marijuana for medical use is not the same thing as legalizing it for recreational use, but it does suggest an entirely different attitude about the drug. There are no efforts to legalize cocaine, another schedule one drug, for medical use as far as I know. And I do not see a war on, say, “valium,” a medical-prescribed drug. The country is in a weird place about this. Can the tide be turning?

Of course, there is virtually no good reason to maintain marijuana’s illegality. Many of the supposed ills it causes have been refuted. The most pernicious is the idea that marijuana is a gateway drug. This connection is spurious. For example, how many meth, cocaine, or heroin addicts have tried alcohol or smoked cigarettes? Many, most, all? Most reasonable folks do not automatically arrive at the conclusion that Marlboro Lights or Smithwicks leads to meth use. Perhaps it sounds ridiculous to conclude that—a post hoc fallacy—and you’d be correct. So why is cannabis lumped in with other “hard” drugs?