The current situation of cannabis legalization in the USA is confusing, to say the least. There are two types of marijuana for the purposes of legalization, medical marijuana and recreational weed. Depending on the state, some have legalized medical marijuana, some have legitimized recreational marijuana, some have legalized both, and some have legalized neither. As it currently stands, there are 29 states which have legalized medical weed and 8 states have legalized recreational marijuana.
But within each state many of the rules and requirement regulating the growth, sale and distribution of weed are left to each individual county. Safe to say there are a diverse array of rules depending on where you are in the USA in terms of marijuana growth and consumption.
And the cherry on top is that weed is still actually illegal at the Federal level. It is still classified as a schedule one drug with heroin and cocaine. If you were to send weed by post between two states where recreational marijuana is legal, even if they are adjacent, you are in contravention of federal law and may have to face the consequences.
A Bizarre Situation
President Trump left it up to individual states to decide whether or not to allow medical or recreational weed. Which was a very libertarian and fair decision. However, he did so while reserving the right to prosecute people for using marijuana. And in the event of a conflict between state and federal law, federal law will win out. We could be in a situation in 10 years with 50 legalized marijuana states while marijuana is still illegal at the federal level. Should this situation arise it will be symbolic of the fact that the will of the people and the ideals of the federal government are misaligned.
But it is not President Trump that is the primary cause of concern for marijuana lovers. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has been vehemently anti marijuana and has publicly stated that he intends to crackdown on marijuana. He has a task force set up and the reason he cites is that marijuana is a gateway drug to more extreme substances. Last May, Sessions created a memorandum which ordered federal prosecutors to pursue the toughest possible sentences for non-violent drug offenders. The sad fact of the matter is that hundreds of thousands of innocent people were thrown into the American Prison complex simply for possession of a harmless (in fact a life enhancing) drug. It is a strict liability offence and if you are caught three times, then it is jail time. American prisons are known through the world, and not in a good way.
Racially Motivated
The argument put forward by AG Sessions is thin at very best. Everybody knows that marijuana is a sedative plant that leads to a state of relaxation and has no ties to crime other than the fact that it is criminalized. When cannabis businesses come into a community, crime levels go down, and not up, as shown by studies.
Because of the irrationality of the policies put forward by Jeff Sessions, many are beginning to ponder whether or not they are racially motivated. It is not difficult to imagine who is going to be hardest hit by a crackdown on “illegal” marijuana usage. As usual, it will be Africa Americans who end up in a brutal prison system with no chance of escape. And it will merely make the problem worse in a vicious cycle of prison, drugs and poverty. Because of preexisting social conditions, people of a lower socio-economic background are forced to peddle drugs to earn any form of income and invariably end up on the wrong side of a jail cell. While this may be something of an oversimplification, there is no question as to who the hardest hit in society are going to be if his polices get implemented.
And his policies are out of line with Trumps ideologies to let the citizens do as they wish and get the economy going, as well as the will of the people. His radical views are outdated and he is neither popular with republicans or democrats. And his is gathering more ill will to himself as he prepares to launch an unwarranted attack on cannabis consumers.
A more chilling theory is that Sessions is not racially motivated but motivated by big pharma. His donor list includes a law firm who representbig pharma and marijuana legalization is going to hit big pharma heavily. Marijuana use is linked to a decreased use of opioids, a class drug which drives users into the arms of big pharma. When people regularly smoke marijuana they are not going to need any toxic pills from pharma conglomerates.
Senseless Prohibition
Marijuana was criminalized in 1937 against the advice of the American Medical Association. Its criminalization has led to untold suffering, crime and poverty which served no purpose whatsoever save to enrich the few at the expense of the many. Following the testimony of Nixon’s foreign adviserJohn Ehrlichman:
“We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and Blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing them heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news”
The policies of Jeff Sessions are slowly being revealed for what they are and blatantly against the will of the American people. These people are finally standing up and demanding that their will be recognized while radical politicians get put under severe public scrutiny.
