Illegalize This!

In a moment of friday evening boredom I picked up a documentary which I hadn't seen in a while about the illegalization process of Marijuana, entitled "Grass". I began watching it and was reminded about the complete stupidity of the drug laws criminalizing the drug.

It started in 1910s, when Mexican immigrants began coming over the border into San Hose [i'm actually not sure that's the name of the town, i will have to check], carrying with them the Marijuana plant. They smoked the plant as a way to relax after a hard day's work in the fields. The townspeople were wary of the new people with their strange customs--they thought the marijuana gave the Mexican immigrants "super powers" (hey, don't ask me--people were pretty crazy back then). Then came a case in which a Mexican immigrant who had supposedly grown insane from Marijuana use had violently murdered a man. So the county passed an ordinance that made possession of marijuana a crime--seemingly a way to control marijuana in general, it was really a way to get rid of the Mexican immigrants who pretty much were the only people who had it on them.

The anti-marijuana ad and movie campaigns were ridiculous, too. Here's a chronological list:
Marijuana. If you smoke it:
--You will go insane!
--You will die!
--You will become a heroine addict!
--You will become out of touch with reality!
--You will become unmotivated, dysfunctional, and generally a LOSER!
--You will be in the hands of Satan! And the evil sodomites that run Hollywood.
Now?
--Bad things will happen. But we don't know what.

In the '70s, Marijuana came close to being decriminalized, thanks to Jimmy Carter (bless his soul)... but unfortuantely a scandal involving an incident with Cocaine arrived at the very last second and Carter was forced to appear tough on crime, so the decriminalization movement was shot down before Congress was able to vote on it.

Oh well. Luckily marijuana criminalization is a state issue thanks to Anheiser (the original tough government "marijuana will kill you" guy) who encouraged states to take drug enforcement into their own hands. So that means to have effective marijuana legalization we can concentrate our efforts in one state and get it there. What is strange to me, though, is that at one point New York had legalized marijuana, due to lack of ability to enforce its marijuana laws. Looks like at one point that got shot down, I guess.

Still, there's always hope. Except for me, as I for now have to deal with having a relatively anti-marijuana Assistant District Attourney for a mother. However, she probably wouldn't care if it weren't illegal. Which is of course all the more reason to fight to legalize it...