Knowledge Responds: Puff Puff Pass America’s Marijuana Conundrum

America’s current stance on marijuana is akin to a bad relationship that desperately needs the hackneyed help of Dr. Phil.  Marijuana is the significant other that has the collective mentality of the country all screwed up. We don’t know whether we want to fully legalize marijuana, continue with the decriminalization hypocrisy, use marijuana strictly for medical benefits, re-emphasize the illegality of marijuana according to federal standards, embrace the marijuana zeitgeist that permeates popular culture or spin uncontrollably in the center of the room, lost in the confusion of the aforementioned options.  We are caught in an unsustainable tug of war: 23 states and the District of Columbia have passed medical marijuana laws; several other states, including Maryland, have passed (or are in the process of passing) decriminalization laws; and two states: Colorado and Washington have completely legalized marijuana. Are we trying to get the milk without buying the cow here? I mean sure, it conflicts with the war on drugs ideology, and sure your family may not like it but hey isn’t about time that we stop treating our relationship like it’s just friends with benefits.  This current state of affairs cannot continue.

According to the federal government, marijuana is illegal and is a schedule 1 drug. Other schedule one drugs include heroin, LSD and ecstasy/ molly. By comparison, cocaine and methamphetamine are schedule 2 drugs and Vicodin and anabolic steroids are schedule 3 drugs. Schedule 4 drugs are drugs with a “low potential for abuse and low risk of dependence” and include Xanax, Soma and Ambien. Or as I like to call them, drugs which have a history of abuse and dependence but are cash cows of the pharmaceutical industry. But that’s another story. Ask Stone Cold Steve Austin about Somas and Ambien and how they are related to the death of some of his friends. No seriously, email his podcast at questions@steveaustinshow.com.  It’s possible to overdose on Ambien and Somas, but medical science has concluded that the amount of marijuana it would take to overdose is physically impossible to smoke. But Soma, an ingredient in date rape drugs, somehow ends up as a schedule 4 drug. So what does this all mean? There’s more politics than in the war on drugs than you could imagine.

Back to the grass: America doesn’t want to commit either way with marijuana so it plays with several different options at the same time. Decriminalization is seen as a happy medium by some, including the President of the University of Baltimore and former mayor Baltimore City, Kurt Schmoke. However, decriminalization contradicts federal law and at best, will have a marginal effect on the criminal justice system. Medical marijuana, the bane of the pharmaceutical industry, is gaining traction and acceptance throughout the country. But the overall effectiveness of medical marijuana is undermined by wild variations of laws governing its use and a widespread lack of general understanding of  medical marijuana. We, as a country, have yet to scratch the surface of the benefits of medical marijuana. Finally, the benefits of the legalization of marijuana have been touted by a significant part of the population. Some of those benefits include job creation, reduction in crime, tax revenue and the treatment of several medical conditions. Those would seem to be great reasons to jump feet first into the deep end with marijuana but America has cold feet and the schedule 1 drug classification is a great excuse to keep marijuana at a distance

Simply put, America doesn’t know whether to shit or wind its watch when it comes to marijuana. Anyone who has ever been in a committed relationship knows that commitments are hard. America has reached a breaking point with marijuana. America cannot continue with this convoluted state of affairs. There are currently 5 sets of laws governing marijuana: state criminal laws, state medical marijuana laws, state decriminalization, state legalization and federal criminal laws. That’s fucking insane. And, in the case of conflict, federal law  state law. If you really want to deport Justin Bieber, don’t create a stupid petition to send to the White House. Send your friend who’s a federal agent to catch him smoking marijuana. Even if Bieber is in California, Colorado or Maryland, he’ll be deported back to Canada faster than you can say “Bieleber.”

At this point, it’s really simple: in every relationship, there comes a point where you have to put up or shut up. America and marijuana need to have a heart to heart. America needs to  legalize marijuana or decide that marijuana is no good for this country. This clusterfuck  needs to end.  America: shit or get off of the pot.

#PersecutedKnowledge #KnowledgeResponds

Maryland’s Decriminalization of Marijuana, Close but no Cigar

Use the result to fix the problem

Maryland’s Marijuana decriminalization(bill includes Washington D.C.) should appease the likes of Whoopi Goldberg and Jesse Jackson (yes he’s a cannabis supporter, to see other famous supporters check the NORML.org webpage). Which also means that Charlo Greene ‘s efforts are paying off outside of Alaska’s Cannabis Club right? Well not really, in the state of Maryland the use of marijuana is still illegal. In fact the new law is nothing more than a term switch, an attempt at tracking and targeting smokers and an overall bad sidestep that’s going to cause huge headaches for local government and law enforcement workers in the long run. Decriminalization is nothing more than avoidance of the real issue, marijuana’s legalization.

#LegalizenotDecriminalize

The law took effect on October 1, 2014 and it rolls possession of marijuana down to a ticket-able offense. Under the new law marijuana users will be ticketed and civil fines imposed for the first three possessions. Of course each ticket will be higher than the last. The full details of the bill are discussed at the Maryland Policy Project. 18 other states have similar bills on the books. Without going into the federal boneheads, their archaic class system in ranking drugs or their absurd notion that smoking marijuana isn’t comparable to drinking alcohol, let’s look solely at the local implications of Maryland’s new bill.

#FederalBoneheads #LocalLunacy

Decriminalization is basically acknowledging defeat of an issue that is still technically wrong. The drug’s downgrading to a ticketed offense makes it comparable to speeding. Everyone does it but don’t get caught echoes in the back of my mind. One question though, isn’t it still as dangerous as it was on Sept 30th? It’s still a schedule 1 drug so I guess heroin and LSD will be ticket-able offenses next and cocaine legalized. Is this the local government saying, “Hey we can’t control it so we may as well profit from it by writing tickets?”  Well if it is, I guess heroin and coke will definitely be legalized shortly. All of the police activity in the city this weekend suggests that this is already the case; however a closer look at the implications of the bill reveals the state’s ulterior motives.

#SmokebutStayWoke

In case you didn’t know Maryland has been in the top 5 for marijuana arrests since 2007; some 22,043 arrests for marijuana a year. Furthermore, convictions count for about 28.3%(2003) of all drug convictions, and we know how important conviction numbers are to “the man”. Local government isn’t throwing away a “cash cow,” they are dressing it and selling it as the world’s prettiest bull. The new law allows ticketing for the first few offenses; but what then? Yep,you guessed it. The state then has the option of imposing jail time. Guess what those other tickets then become, evidence of a steady problem. Now I’m no lawyer, but sounds like the state is setting someone up for an easier fall.

#BmoreCareful

To the boyz in blue don’t let the local government hang you out to dry like this. This ticketing process is going to mean more civil rights issues and more undue scrutiny by other entities. The whole ticketing process will mean more contact with the public that doesn’t result in an arrest. Not saying that successful arrests can’t go bad but how many “in the moment” crusaders are going to claim that they are targets or subject to profiling after the second ticket? Not to mention the hassle of going to court for the ticket, because I’m sure there will be a plethora of court cases that result from them. After all local law enforcement has enough issues to worry about with the federal government’s probe into the Baltimore city police department pending.

#BmoreBlue

Martin, it’s time to get real. Stop bending halfway on issues and hoping to keep constituents, no one is fooled. It’s obvious that the federal government’s take on things is wrong. You’ve already enacted a bill that amounts the drug use to speeding. Why not just legalize it, setup state-run dispensaries comparable to state-run liquor stores? Allot part of the sales to education and children’s welfare, part to drug awareness and treatment programs and hell, stick the rest in your pocket. Even if there’s not enough to fix the states deficit, at least it’s a fresh take on the obviously lost war on drugs. Seriously Governor O’Malley,  let’s just avoid this headache before it starts.

#TylenoltheNightBefore #ResultsfixtheProblem

What do you think? Is the decriminalization bill the right way to go or is it just another ploy to get arrests numbers up, making local law enforcement look better? Do you think that it will backfire and make them look worse than they do now? Do you think that Marijuana should be legalized? Is the state wasting another opportunity to make some desperately needed cash? Leave a comment below.

#CloseButNoCigar #PersecutedKnowledge #PersecutionIsInevitable

Persecution

For more information:

States that have decriminalized

Md rate of Marijuana possession arrests

Maryland Policy Project

NORML.org

Marijuana Legalization Organization