Mac-Coleman

7 August 2014 –

That’s why they call it dope.                       

It’s another hot, muggy morning in Houston.  I should clean the garage and replant some bushes along the fence.  Or, I could cruise the Net and relax.  Or, I could turn to channel 5143 and let classic blues erode the edges of reality.  My son, a musician who poses as a lawyer by day, told me that listening to the blues makes you want to do only one thing: listen to the blues.  You gotta be strong, he said, or your life will slide forever into the key of F. 

Maybe there should be a law against listening to the blues at certain times of the day—for my own good.  But the libertarian in me argues that such laws are classic “nanny” government tactics to control our lives.

What about something more serious:  legalized use of marijuana—especially while listening to the blues?  Even the President, our toker-in-chief, said that smoking weed is no worse than smoking cigarettes.  Dude, we adults should be able to do what we want to our own bodies. 

I like the concept of being a free agent in all things, but the responsible, world-weary adult in me sees the argument for the legalization of marijuana as self-serving and short-sighted.  Our Founders stressed that a society based on individual liberties and rights prospers only if its nation’s citizens act responsibly in their daily lives.  In other words, freedom and prosperity reign when people don’t need numerous laws to coerce them to be good.  That certainly isn’t the case now. 

Sadly, baby boomers’ romantic attachment to the counterculture of “sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll” has spawned the present generation’s embracing of such destructive behavior as the norm.  More or less responsible behavior has given way to license, destructive license.  So most pot heads, of my generation and younger, only want to make legal what they are doing anyway.  Society’s weakness, not strength, is making legalization of recreational marijuana inevitable in most states.    

Local and state government officials also add to the corruption.  They are enticed by the prospects of taxing marijuana’s growth, distribution, and sale.  There is nothing good or praiseworthy about government employees getting into the drug business.  Dollar signs are seducing local and state officials into becoming legal accomplices—pimps, if you will—for Mary Jane.  And all pimps agree: it’s all about the Benjamins.    

We need only look to New York City to see what kind of business our elected officials are getting into.  Because of high local excise taxes, most cigarettes are now purchased on the black market.  New York state and city governments that tax this addictive, health-destroying product in the name of controlling and benefitting from it have created another illegal enterprise in their already corrupt society.  I see no dividends of revenue that can justify such a rise in bureaucratic power and such a drop in moral governance.   But others seem to. 

We need to tip the scales away from another drain on our society’s morals and property.  If idiot pot heads can legally erode the edges of their health and productivity, then our laws should protect responsible adults from paying the huge associated costs.    For example, private health, life, business, and car insurance companies should not be required to insure someone who admits to smoking pot.  Nor should they have to pay benefits if the insured is caught with THC in his system after an accident, health failure, or business setback.  Businesses should be able to deny employment to, or fire someone who smokes dope at work or shows up to work under the influence.  Stores and restaurants should be allowed to deny service to anyone who is under the influence of weed.  Churches, private benevolent organizations, country clubs, private schools, and maybe even property owners’ associations should also be able to dictate membership privileges based on the use of marijuana. 

Limiting marijuana use should come from society, not government, because if left unimpeded, society will do a better job of it.  Society should frame what is acceptable behavior and what isn’t; the government will then follow suit. 

Nothing in the use of marijuana should make it a privileged class under the law.  Too harsh on poor pot puffers?  Tough. 

Remember: Just ‘cuz it’s legal shouldn’t make it acceptable in a responsible, well-mannered society.