Pot: A Tool of Oppression
Now that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has declared a detente with medical marijuana, people are convinced of victory for the “legalize it” movement.
Fine by me. The less pot prosecutions – the less prosecutions of any type – the better. (That, by the way, is ostensibly a conservative precept … except as it relates to pot. Or prostitution. Or s-e-x in general. Or Harry Potter in the school library. Yeah, except for those, conservatives are all about some autonomy).
Anyway, what I’d like to know is this: What makes marijuana so special?
I know, I know. Everybody’s doing it. But I mean besides its ubiquity, what sets pot apart?
Because the last time I checked, “everybody does it” isn’t a viable legislative position. (It certainly wasn’t yesterday, in fact, when I had to hand over exactly $262.00 for speeding … another “infraction” committed by, like, all of us).
Actually, now that I mention it, I think speed is indeed the point.
Pot is special – decriminalized in some states, legalized in other states, idolized in all states – because it soothes rather than revs.
It’s a timing thing.
After the cocaine-Ritalin-Red Bull-Adderall fueled ’80s and ’90s, Americans needed to slow their roll. And so back came pot – retro chic, like something you’d get at Goodwill – to steady America’s pulse.
And steady the collective pulse it has. Because you know what? Nobody’s accomplished a damn thing since.
Productivity is pot’s victim.
Seriously, what do we export anymore in America? Well, besides the promise of “democracy,” which we don’t even practice ourselves anymore.
I mean, every nation has its thing: Israel’s got its technology, China’s got its textiles, Japan’s got its cars and DVD players. Mexico’s got its drugs … everybody’s always making something. Americans make … purchases. That’s it.
Because what else can we make, when “everybody” is frosted out on pot?
Let’s keep it real. People aren’t pushing for legalization merely because “everybody does it.” People want pot legalized because pot fits squarely with the new American ideal: Passivity.
After all, what’s the frequent defense of the drug? That it mellows people. You know, the whole “I’d rather deal with a stoner than a drunk” thing.
Oh and by the way, not “everybody” is toking up.
Specifically, the “man” is not.
That’s right. The people calling the increasingly “pro-pot” shots depend on y’all being too stoned to notice what they’re doing. They rely on pot to keep us passive enough to not notice or care. Feminists like to blame the “patriarchy” for oppressing women. I blame the “potriarchy” for oppressing us all.
And here we come full circle.
Why do you think the government is willing to look the other way on the issue of pot? Its complicity alone should rouse suspicion, because we all know the government sidesteps enforcement of its laws only when it has something to gain. Take illegal immigration, for example, the un-enforcement of which benefits the government … just as, in its way, the decriminalization of pot benefits the government by pacifying us into passivity.
Too “conspiracy theory” for y’all? Yeah, I bet.
Or maybe we’re all just too “dazed and confused” to see it for what it is …
Pic: 420 Girls (NSFW)
Comments
By Ynot on October 23rd, 2009 at 11:36 am
There was a SC legislator pushing for medical marijuana a year or two ago.
By Skidmarks on October 23rd, 2009 at 11:57 am
Heavy.
By Heather on October 23rd, 2009 at 11:57 am
I am NOT a drug-user (or pothead) and I still couldn’t follow along with this article.
Perhaps you should put down the joint and write something that makes sense. :]
By Billy Bob on October 23rd, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Ya’ musta’ been stoned when ya’ wrote that?!?
By Jonny D on October 23rd, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Mande, again, you’ve lost me in translation. Are you for it, against it, for it before you were against it, what is the issue anyway? But better yet, just forget about it, because the more pressing matter is that I see that you’ve dyed your hair and changed your lip gloss. Would you please give us more of a look upstairs, and especially down below? Because really, an afternoon blast (free!) would really be some great stress relief after trying in vain to figure out what it is that you are talking about.
By dirtbogger on October 23rd, 2009 at 2:57 pm
The nylon, logging, and pharmaceutical industries do not want it legalized! The drug war is more of a war against freedom than for moral good. The reason for the cartel violence is they are fighting over control of the US market for what can be grown here. Weed does not cause liver damage like many pills. It also does not cause people to go crazy who smoke it. Uses: glaucoma, cancer, ADHD, arthritis, anorexia, cerebral palsy, clothing, rope, building materials, furniture, and paper (save the rain forest anyone). If we were a free society it would not be illegal, and this could be the best thing for the economy. It should not be up to the government to decide what we do with our time. They should not even have the athority to make it illegal!
By dirtbogger on October 23rd, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Listen to Willie!
http://www.livevideo.com/video/rclark23/BD99F66DB89C48A98CD40920FFBD8927/willie-nelson-hemp-and-the-fa.aspx
By Toyota Kawaski on October 23rd, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Man-d one should not take BT’s at work
By Lenny on October 23rd, 2009 at 5:37 pm
Mande…Great link! Thanks.
By Old Bike Dude on October 23rd, 2009 at 8:26 pm
I could never get the shit to come out of the needle.
By PasserBy on October 24th, 2009 at 10:44 am
Mande:
If you had to pay that much for a ticket, you weren’t just speeding, you were burning up the highway! If only you’d had a SLED agent in the front and the Governor in the back of the car, you’d have been fine…
By UpstateChris on October 24th, 2009 at 11:40 am
I should preface with “Yes I have, but not in 20 years.”
Check out norml.org – this is a mature group with some legit reasons to legalize.
Study after study shows far fewer side effects than either alcohol or cigarettes, more or less other legal or illegal drugs. There was even an entire issue of Scientific American devoted to it.
The list of medical uses is huge – a real challenge to many multi-billion dollar pharma’s and the stockholders that own shares (including myself).
The risks are far fewer than most “legal vices” today.
The real irony is everyone knows this to be true but continue to deny it, like a gay uncle. Know anyone with cancer? Been to Chemo with them? I do, and I have. Every doctor and every nurse has hemp paraphernalia sitting around and will tell you “Smoke pot – but I can’t give it to you”. I spent two years helping someone through chemo – and it was this experience that really changed my views on it.
The reduction in costs to investigate, prosecute and incarcerate offenders is nearly immeasurable. The potential job creation and taxation is the also tremendous.
It amazes me how many of my conservative Republican (which I am) friends will sip on whiskey, smoke a cigarette or cigar, have an affair, hit a strip club every now and then but then look at me like I am the ignorant Spawn of Satan when I suggest there are numerous reasons to legalize marijuana.
If it was legal would there be “stoners” everywhere? Hmmm…alcohol is legal (with far less controllable effects, far more after effects and far more long term medical side effects.) Is everyone a drunk? In fact, I can say that when it was illegal (when I was under 21 – missed the 18 year old law change by 1 year) it had far more draw to it because of the taboo. It lost much of it’s appeal after I could get it anytime I wanted (sex in marriage?) Yes, there are alcoholics – but alcohol is a physical addiction. Numerous studies show that marijuana has no such side effects. Will it be abused if legalized? Hmmm…can you name one thing that isn’t abused by some segment of the population or another?
The last ridiculous argument I hear is “There are no large scale legitimate studies”. Hmmm…if you were a research scientist would you risk jail time to conduct such a study? The U.S. government does have a single strand of marijuana they make available for studies, but researchers generally laugh at it due to the extremely low quantity and quality of the THC in it – essentially worthless for such trials. (Read the Scientific American issue to see this sentiment over and over again) Other countries, such as the UK are just starting longer term larger scale trials. Most of what is passed off as research today on the subject is from survey groups that are against legalization. In fact, the entire concept that it is a “gateway drug” is from ER admittance surveys of patients who have OD’d on hard core narcotics – “Have you ever smoked pot? Yes! Oh, that MUST have led to your Heroin use!” Hmmmm….I have eaten on McDonalds and yet I am not 500 pounds. I own a handgun and yet have never held up a bank at gunpoint. I own a pen and yet have never written a ransom letter. Interesting….
By Catherine on October 30th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
Wait a minute… Pot was the only “drug” I did in the 90s. Then, I put down the weed and got down to business with coke and adderall during this decade. I mean, let’s face it, pot is really kind of childish, or so I thought. I wanted to play with the big kids and the big kids were doing speed. Damn you, Trendiness!!! You’ve outfoxed me again. What are you going to tell me next? That bangs are on the way back out… or in… or… damn it!