Pro

There are many reasons why marijuana should be regulated and legalised.

Hemp

Hemp, the stalk of the Cannabis plant is what some would call a wonder crop. Right now it is illegal to grow hemp in many parts of the United States. Some States enable hemp licensing, however you need a permit from the DEA, which is not easily obtained. Some of hemp’s many uses are, to make extremely durable clothing, highly nutritious food and beverages, paper, rope, plastics, biofuel, building supplies and it can clean soil contamination.

Put in Context

A point raised in both debate above is that the drug policy in the United States and really the world is very inconsistent. Two of arguably the most harmful drugs in society today are tobacco and alcohol, which are both legal. Whereas drugs like marijuana and magic mushrooms are illegal and listed as Schedule 1 drugs.

Marijuana is the least addictive out of popular drugs. A 2013 documentary shows rates of dependence as: 9% of marijuana smokers become dependent; 23% of heroin users become dependent; 17% of cocaine users become dependent; and 15% of alcohol drinkers become dependent[i]. Also, unlike alcohol, you can’t overdose from marijuana. There are no known cases of overdose, and if someone did overdose, I’m certain one of the anti-legalisation agencies or the DEA would be all over it. I believe that the government should not regulate personal behaviour, we should be able to express our right to free will and liberty. If you do believe that the government should regulate personal behaviour, we should also make tobacco and alcohol illegal.

Source: The Economist, “Scoring Drugs” http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2010/11/drugs_cause_most_harm

Safety

Legalising marijuana will make every aspect of the drug safer for everyone. Legalizing and regulating marijuana will help stop kids from using it. In its illegal state, kids can find a drug dealer somewhere, selling a variety of drugs, whereas, if it was legal their only option would be to visit a dispensary where they will be ID’d. One layer of restriction is better than nothing, particularly when some dealers prey on kids.

One of the most important reasons for legalising and regulating marijuana is the safety around the drug (this is also important for other drugs). Right now, 230 million people in the world are illegal drug users[ii] and for the most part they have no idea what they are putting into their bodies. In nearly every case with drugs, proper education and responsible use of drugs is relatively harmless but when anything could have been added to the drug, it’s a guessing game. A 2001 article from the Guardian that argues heroin should be legal (and is really worth a read) makes some really good points. During the prohibition of alcohol, bootleggers often times sold moonshine, moonshine can literally make you go blind and when produced poorly contained all kinds of poisons. This is not really an issue that we worry about today since alcohol is regulated and we trust the source. Heroin is so valuable that dealers will put in fillers such as paracetamol, drain cleaner, sand, sugar, starch, powdered milk, talcum powder, coffee, brick dust, cement dust, gravy powder, face powder or curry powder. Some of these are poisonous but none were ever intended to be in human veins[iii]. Similar associations can be made with marijuana and other drugs. Drug use won’t stop, but I think everyone could be helped by having access to safer / regulated drug production.

The Guardian article arguing for the legalisation of heroin also focuses on dirty needles and the harm caused by them. In the past, I have heard of clean needle programs, where clean needles are provided to addicts. I don’t think these programs are widespread though as one statistic shows that 33% of all aids cases in the US have been caused by the sharing of contaminated needles. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention shows that clean syringe access programs lower HIV incidences among users by 80%[iv]. Drugs should be legalised and regulated to make it safer for recreational users, safer for addicts and help stop kids from using them.

Society

A popular argument in the media these days is that legalising marijuana will generate substantial tax revenue (comparable to the levels of revenue generated from alcohol) for governments that are heavily indebted. I agree with this reason but I think it is quite ignorant to use it as the primary reason why marijuana should be legalised. Nevertheless on this same train of thought, legalising marijuana will also reduce costs of incarceration, costs of tying up the legal system to prosecute drug offenders, governments will save money on drug enforcement, police can focus on more important criminal activity and legalising marijuana will eliminate the criminal element; sending a huge blow to the Mexican cartels. Some of these changes have been seen from the effects of legalising marijuana in Colorado[v].

Here are some other statistics from the website DrugPolicy.org to illustrate the current social costs of drugs:

• Amount spent annually on the war on drugs – more than $51 billion
• Number of people arrested in the US in 2012 on non-violent drug charges – 1.55 million
• Number of people arrested for marijuana law violation in 2012 – 749,825 (possession only 658,231 or 88%)
• Number of people killed in Mexico’s drug war since 2006 – 70,000+
• Number of students who have lost federal financial aid because of a drug conviction – 200,000+

These are staggering statistics, I’m not quite sure about the source of these statistics but most facts from this website are well supported. The website DrugPolicy.org’s bias seems to be wanting drug policy reform, but it seems to be more informative than anything else. Moving over to the additional facts section of the website there are quite a number of other drug facts and each fact is supported by a number of studies.

Here are the marijuana facts (there are some interesting facts on other drugs too, definitely worth checking out):

• Most arrests are for simple possession with racial minorities over represented;
• Most marijuana users don’t use other illicit drugs;
• Increase in treatment admissions is nearly half based on individuals who aren’t characterised as being dependent (a third of people hadn’t used marijuana in 30 days);
• Marijuana can be good for mental health; and
• There is no link between car accidents and marijuana.

Addiction

After the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Russell Brand wrote an article for the Guardian that argues that the drug laws made Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death inevitable. As a former drug addict himself, Brand has a uniquely informed perspective on Hoffman’s addiction. Since reading the article I have become more familiar with Russell Brand’s stance on the legalisation debate and think his perspective is important to outline. Here are some excerpts from the article:

“Like a lot of drug addicts, probably most, who “go over”, Hoffman was alone when he died.”

“In spite of his life seeming superficially great, in spite of all the praise and accolades, in spite of all the loving friends and family, there is a predominant voice in the mind of an addict that supersedes all reason and that voice wants you dead. This voice is the unrelenting echo of an unfulfillable void.”

“Addition is a mental illness…which is hugely exacerbated by the laws that criminalise drug addicts.”

“If drugs are illegal people who use drugs are criminals.”

“People are going to use drugs; no self-respecting drug addict is even remotely deterred by prohibition. What prohibition achieves is an unregulated, criminal-controlled, sprawling, global mob-economy, where drug users, their families and society at large are all exposed to the worst conceivable version of this regrettably unavoidable problem.”

“Most importantly, (what) if we insisted as a society that what is required for people who suffer from this condition is an environment of support, tolerance and understanding.”[vi]

My interpretation of Brand’s message is rather than reject drug addicts as mentally ill criminals, what if we regard addiction almost like we do cancer and encourage an environment of love and support. This vision can’t happen when drugs are illegal, leaving the people that are addicted to fight their demons alone.

Medical

The research around the medical benefits of Cannabis are becoming more and more clear these days. Cannabis is seen to be able to treat those with chronic pain, Lupus, Chrones and Epilepsy. In the United States, 22 States have legalised medical marijuana and it is medically legal in a variety of countries throughout the world.

The first debate on marijuana that I referenced above features Dr. Sanjay Gupta. As I mentioned, Dr. Gupta released a documentary on medical marijuana last year (2013) and released a follow-up documentary this year (2014).

The documentaries are a very interesting expose into marijuana and its medical benefits. The first documentary features the story of 6 year old Charlotte Figi (a resident of Colorado State) who suffers from Dravet syndrome and at one point was having 300 violent seizures a week. Her parents had tried every treatment available, but nothing was working and the seizures were impairing Charlotte’s development. It literally seemed that Charlotte would not be able to endure this lifestyle much longer.

Generally most marijuana is higher in THC than CBD, but the Figi’s had a group of local Colorado growers create a special strain of marijuana for them, that was high in CBD and low in THC. Upon treating Charlotte with this special strain of marijuana, it worked nearly immediately and Charlottle’s seizures dropped to 2 to 3 times per month[vii]. This is a life changing result.

The second documentary shows the struggles of people that don’t live in Colorado. It illustrates that many families with illnesses are travelling to Colorado to take advantage of the treatment there, but then can’t take their medicine back over State lines. The documentary shows one family moving, leaving their family and friends in New Jersey and heading to Colorado to take advantage of the treatment available. A strange fact in the documentary is that although marijuana is illegal in the US, the US government has a patent on cannabiniods[viii].

It seems apparent that marijuana has medical benefit to some people. The fact that medical marijuana is not legal across the globe is a tragedy. I think this further reinforces my distaste for those that are anti-legalisation and approach the topic in jest, this isn’t a joke and it effects the lives of a lot of people.

Personal

While learning about marijuana and other drugs as well, particularly Wikipedia stands out. There is not much, if any mention of the beneficial aspects of using the drug recreationally. Why are people actually using marijuana recreationally, no one seems to care about this and if it is addressed, it’s usually from the perspective that users smoke marijuana because they are addicts. Well the rough statistic I showed above said only 9% of marijuana users become dependent, so what about the other 91%? This is a huge oversight and I think there is a taboo in some aspects of society today around enjoying pleasure, which doesn’t stop the media and corporations from exploiting our primal instincts (selling fear and sex).

When most people think of marijuana, they think of someone who is quite relaxed, someone who is laughing a lot and generally pacified. These aren’t bad things. Many people have a beer, wine or cigarette to unwind/relax after a long day at work, why aren’t people allowed to smoke marijuana to get the same effect? A benefit I find of marijuana over alcohol, is that where alcohol is a depressant, marijuana can let you relax and after the high, you just revert back to your normal state of consciousness. It has a lot less of an impact than a hangover.

Dr. Gupta’s first documentary on weed explains what happens when someone smokes marijuana in terms that I understand. The effect of the high is that the pre-frontal cortex of the brain (the commanding part of your brain or the CEO) is pacified and it amplifies the messages from the other areas of your brain. The other areas being things such as creativity, love, sense of well being and happiness[ix]. This pacification of the frontal cortex is what gives you a different perspective on things.

When your frontal cortex is pacified I’d imagine it’s a strange feeling at first. The dominance of the frontal cortex likely varies from person to person. I’ve found that a variety of things can happen depending on your setting. If you are hanging out with friends, it might result in talking about things that are deep and meaningful, you might just put on some enjoyable music, you might watch something that is funny or play some games. Pacification of the frontal cortex gives time to the other regions of the brain and enhances all of these things.

If you are with your girlfriend or boyfriend, it could lead to similar enjoyable experiences and it also makes sex feel even better.

Since the frontal cortex is pacified you feel much less inhibited, not as much as alcohol, but less inhibited for sure.

Not to play down any of those experiences, because they are amazing. But, I’ve found that marijuana’s biggest impact on my life is a result of inner reflection. This can be done with someone else through a deep conversation or it could be done in your own mind.

Some of the things I have reflected on are:

• Contradictions in the World (will be explored through this and subsequent blog posts)
• Confidence (Be free, dance, sing and ignore what other people would think)
• Conditioning (Media using psychology and our current states of consciousness to reach us)
• Life (important things, what do I want, what makes me happy)
• Marijuana allows you a perspective outside the normal cycle and you are able to focus on what is really important in life. It allows you the time to reflect on the things that are important to you.

Contradictions

A good example of contradictions in the world is the US message through the second half of the 20^th century regarding the Communist evil. Yet, the US government committed many evils itself during this time. In this instance, who is good and who is bad, is it just a perspective of the person’s bias giving you the information? I think finding contradictions fuels your thirst for knowledge and most importantly the truth.

Confidence

In my experience, the release of dopamine from smoking marijuana makes me feel really good. This allows you to be free and just do what you feel like doing. It also allows you to think about certain things that you may not be confident with and explore why.

Conditioning

We are very conditioned these days by the media and our surrounding environment, less conditioned than some periods in the past though. Some examples of our conditioning include things like, we should be afraid of everything, we should worship celebrities, external beauty is very important (i.e. people should strive to look a certain way to feel good), women are objects and real men have power. I won’t delve into this too much as it will be the subject of another post, but upon reflection, I’ve realised that I didn’t decide these things make me happy, I was conditioned to think they are important. Real things that make me happy are love, well being, learning and having fun.

By entering another state of consciousness, the psychoanalytic techniques used to condition us aren’t effective and it allows us to consider if these things are important to us.

Life

My perceptions on life and my goals for this blog are summed up nicely in the mission statement of the website High Existence:

“Compel you to follow your bliss and make a life (not a career); provide a medium for free thinking individuals to connect & discuss, question anything and everything that is considered ‘normal’; explore all aspects of the human condition; and promote the general spread of happiness.”[x]

The self-growth that can be realized by entering into an altered state is unlimited. I have found that my new perspective has a lot of similarities to Zen. Here is a quote on Zen from a blog post on the website:

“Zen practice involves questioning everything, because, after meditating and cultivating mindfulness for long enough, you start to realize that everything can be questioned.  It’s remarkable how much BS usually pervades the mind of the person modern society views as ‘normal’ or ‘well-adjusted’.”

This is a conclusion that you can also come to when using a drug like marijuana or a psychedelic. These drugs give you a different perspective on the world and then you start to see contradictions, so many contradictions in fact, that it leads you to question everything. The website High Existence also recognizes this parallel:

“While strict Zen ideology values the natural authenticity of meditation over psychedelic experience, these substances have been known to aid in the process of experiencing mindfulness and exploring the mind.  I only mention psychedelics here because, in time spent reading Zen philosophy, I’ve found many parallels with philosophers who’ve implemented psychedelics into the quest for enlightenment. Terence McKenna, a brilliant psychedelic philosopher, said this:

“We have been to the moon, we have charted the depths of the ocean and the heart of the atom, but we have a fear of looking inward to ourselves because we sense that is where all the contradictions flow together.””

From my experience using marijuana and in limited instances other drugs, they have opened my eyes. They have provided me with a different perspective on reality, but marijuana in particular allows me to unwind after a long stressful day and some time for inner reflection. I can’t overstate how powerful it is sometimes to quiet that CEO in your head, so that you can focus on other things, rather than stress about this, that or the other.

Conclusion

Marijuana and drugs have been used throughout human history and have also been the subject of persecution for many different reasons. In the 21^st century, there are many reasons to legalise marijuana and few to keep it illegal. Some progress has been made, in that medical marijuana is available today in many US States and countries around the world. There has been recent progress in the legalisation of marijuana (Colorado and Washington State, as well as Uruguay), but there is still a lot of apprehension for change. The prohibitionists are embarrassed by their lack of success and the fact that legalisation is gaining progress; while grasping to their life’s work.

Hopefully, this blog post has provided you with some insight on the debate. I’ll leave you with two key points.

Legalising marijuana doesn’t mean that everyone should do it, that is a person’s choice and people should be free to choose. It is not for some but, do it or don’t do it, people shouldn’t be criminalised for doing it.

Lastly, and the underlying subject of my blog, is that regardless of if you don’t use psychoactive drugs, every enlightened source urges you to live in the now, focus on the things that make you happy and realise that everything else is just noise.

-Oldmate

 

[i]Gupta Documentary Part 1 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrVXRZY1_x0

[ii]Drug use map of the world – http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/interactive/2012/jul/02/drug-use-map-world; 2012 statistic from the World Drugs report

[iii]Heroin article – http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/jun/14/drugsandalcohol.socialsciences

[iv]War stats – http://www.drugpolicy.org/drug-war-statistics

[v]Article on Colorado – http://www.policymic.com/articles/83075/marijuana-legalization-is-a-multi-billion-dollar-revolution-that-s-sweeping-across-the-usa

[vi]Brand article – http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/06/russell-brand-philip-seymour-hoffman-drug-laws

[vii]Gupta Documentary Part 1 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrVXRZY1_x0

[viii]Gupta Documentary Part 2 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAFu-Ihwyzg

[ix]History Channel Documentary entitled The Stoned Ages, hosted by Dean Norris

[x]High Existence – http://www.highexistence.com/