During Prohibition cannabis had to go underground. For decades, it might have been found in the
bedside table of every young college student, waiting to be visited at about
4:20 in celebration of a productive class-day.
Or it might have been found rolled and ready, and stashed alongside
legal smokes in an infantryman’s cigarette pack while on patrol in some foreign
land. But it was most often actually found in the pockets of
minorities during harassment
searches.[1]
These harassment searches went on in front of everyone, but
no one stepped forward to defend the victims’ privacy or protections against
illegal search and seizure of property - until recent years and under states’
protections concerning Medical Marijuana (MMJ).
Pain, anxiety, spasms, cancer, and numerous other maladies have been
discovered to warrant research and acceptance in the knowledge that every lie
told in relegating cannabis to Schedule I has been debunked. Young people who’d tried cannabis in their
teens or college years knew they had experienced none of the adverse effects
cited by authorities, and the positives were gaining in number. They started talking to each other and
realized there were plenty of perfectly fine stoners around.
It took someone noticing that most of the possession arrests
involved minorities before we began to consider prohibition is mostly providing
a way to incarcerate large numbers of minorities. Initiatives from the people instructed lawmakers to make the appropriate changes –
and change is happening.
Cannabis taxes fund education in Washington. Our tax-starved public education system was
rescued by the millions of dollars cannabis consumers contribute each month
through purchases in state-licensed retail stores. As our state’s constitution prohibits any tax
on income, property taxes and other creative means have been implemented over
the years, placing the heavy burden on the shoulders of property owners and
creating an uncomfortable situation for all.
As everyone pays rent in some form or other, this system reaches into
our pockets at every level of income, is not optional, and falls most heavily
on the poor.
As the thirty-seven percent tax on cannabis is completely
voluntary, it affects only those who choose to buy it – and Washingtonians are
buying it. In 2016 the state is on trend
to collect over $972 million, twice the taxes cannabis generated in 2015 when
largely unregulated MMJ collectives were still providing for patients.[2]
Should the new Trump administration prove its stripes and go
after cannabis, I fear it will awaken a sleeping giant. We’ll see a recreational industry, with
strong associations now grown near in size and power to those in the
pharmaceutical industry, motivated to lobby Congress, fund initiatives, and
support battles in courtrooms. And these
are backed up by our state’s educators and a host of new businesses serving the
cannabis industry. Cannabis won’t be
killed with legislation – at least, not at this point – and its momentum is
building. There’s just too much money to
be made, and enough powerful players are in it now.
Some changes to think about in the nation’s future should
include a ban on for-profit prisons and any form of prisoner labor programs,
reschedule cannabis to Schedule 3 or remove it completely, regulate it like
alcohol and tobacco, and allow home growing for everyone. I realize industry stake-holders fear losses
if anyone can grow. But the truth is this plant is not as easy to
grow as one may think. It can’t just be
another plant in one’s garden. It needs
a very controlled environment, nutrient and watering regimen – and most people
don’t have the patience.
Should home growing get the go-ahead from Olympia, I would
expect a boom in the area of home gardening for a while. However, as most people lack a green thumb or
are put off by high utility bills, I don’t expect the retail cannabis market to
suffer. Alcohol doesn’t suffer from
home-brewers. Cannabis won’t either.
[1]
Harassment searches are those undeservedly resulting from a very minor
infraction of law, real or suspected, by an individual or group in the presence
of law enforcement officials. Littering,
loitering and other charges can easily be escalated into a more prestigious
(for the officer) bust if a search can be justified.
[2]
502data.com
