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rom enth eog en i c to recreati on al u se, m ari jua na ha s ha d apl ac e i n th e h earts ( an d lu n g s an d stom ach s and event ua l ly b rai n s) of hu m an k i n d si n c e th e f i rst n ean dertha l fi gured o ut h ow to rol l a j oi nt. I n al l seri ou sn ess, th e dru g ha s been used m edi ci n al ly an d spi ri tu al ly si n c e as early as 5 00 B C E i n C hin a an d S outh A si a. T h e i l l eg al i zati on of m ari j u a na i s a ct ua l ly f ai rly rec ent i n b oth th e Un i ted S tates an d th e Uni t ed K i ngdo m, h av i n g oc cu rred i n th e 20 th c entu ry al on g w i th a gl o ba l wave of restri cti on s an d cri m i n al i zati on on th e cu ltivat i o n, di st ri buti on an d recreati on al u se of m ari j u an a. I n som e ca ses, c o unt ri es m ade m ari j u an a u se i l l eg al u n der th e pressu re o f t he US a nd U K , wh i ch cal l s i nto qu esti on th e m otivati on s behi nd l ega l restri cti on s on th e dru g ( an i ssu e wh i ch I do n ot n e c essa ri ly have th e word c ou nt to di scu ss i n th e w i der g l ob al sc ope). T h ere are m any arg u m ents f or, an d ag ai n st, the l ega l i z at i o n of m ari j u an a al l arou n d th e worl d, b ut i n th i s a rt i cl e I w i l l f ocu s on th e di sc ou rse w i th i n th e U S , as i t seems t o be o ne o f th e c ou ntri es at th e f oref ront of th e g l ob al wave of rest ri ct i o ns, especi al ly c on si deri n g th ei r i nterventi on i n m any o f t he ca ses of proh i b i ti on . T h i s i s al so my area of experti se, si l ly Ameri ca n th at I am . A s any H ealth cl ass worth i ts salt w i l l tel l you , ma ri jua na i s th e m ost c om m on ly u sed dru g i n th e U S - prob ab ly even a ro und th e worl d. A s th e m ov i e ‘ R eef er M adn ess’ wou l d t el l yo u, use o f th i s dev i l’s l ettu c e by teen ag ers resu lts i n si n f u l a ct s o f sexua l c on g ress, driv i n g u n der th e i n f lu en c e, mu rder, i nt ri gue, sexua l assau lt, an d f ram i n g som eon e f or al l th ese th i n gs. Appa rent ly, l eg al dru g s su ch as al c oh ol do n ot resu lt i n any of t hese a ct s. ‘ B ut K rys!’ : you cry : ‘ You are oversi mpl i f y i n g th e po i nt ! S urely you mu st k n ow th at peopl e are al so su per f reaked o ut by a l c o h ol , l eg al or n ot l eg al !’ To th at, I wou l d say, su re.
A Touch Of (Reefer) Madness Pe op l e often are jus t a s f r e a ke d o ut a bo ut a lc o h ol as th ey are ab out m ari j u an a - h owever, th e c on c ern and scrut i ny amon g l ay peopl e rely h e av ily o n t h e le g a l s t at us of b oth of th ese dru g s. F or i n stan c e, an adu lt wh o i s an al c o ho l i c i s s cr ut i niz ed, b ut doesn’t in c it e t h e s a m e h o r r o r a s an u n derag e dri n ker. O n th e oth er h an d, an adu lt wh o sm o kes ma ri j u an a rec reationa l ly a n d a t e e n a g e r wh o d o e s t h e sam e i n ci te ab out equ al am ou nts of h orror an d scruti ny, w i t h t he ad d e d b onus of H arsh L e g a l C o n s e que n c e s . Adu lt s c an l ose job s ove r d r ug t e s t s , t e e n a g e r s c an l ose opportu n i ti es an d ( i n extrem e cases) su f f er l eg al a ct i o ns a nd eve r -present stains o n t h e ir c r im in a l r e c o r d s f o r th e possessi on an d di stri b uti on of th e dru g . T h e i nvasiveness o f drug t e s t s and interventio n o f t h e law o n a d r ug le s s h arm f u l th an b oth tob ac c o an d al c oh ol i s b ad en ou g h , b ut (especi a l ly i n t he United States) t h e r e is a n a d d e d laye r o f system i c raci sm i n th e j u sti c e system .
So , going b ac k to the p o int a bo ut ‘Re e f e r Ma d n e s s’ , I w i l l say th at l eg al i ty h as m ore to do w i th th e paran oi a surro undi n g ma rijuana tha n th e a c t ua l e f f e c t s a n d us a g e o f th e dru g . I wou l d b e rem i ss n ot to g ive attenti on to th e a rgument t hat weed ma kes the us e r “s t up id , s lug g is h , la z y an d u n c on c ern ed” ( as F ran k O c ean’s m oth er on c e tol d h i m , a nd t hen all o f us when he rel ea s e d t h e vo ic e m a il in h is t r ack “ B e You rsel f ” ) . I w i l l dou b l e dow n on th e f act th at th e so lut i o n t o t hi s p a rtic ul a r prob l e m d o e s n ot lie wit h in c r im in al i zi n g m ari j u an a, b ut u pon cl ear m essag i n g reg ardi n g the drug a nd e ff e ct ive harm reduc tio n . W h e t h e r o r n ot t h e d r ug i s i l l eg al , teen ag ers an d adu lts al i ke are ab l e to g et th eir ha nds o n mar i j uana and use it r e c r e at io n a lly. If r e s t r ic t io n s were an ef f ective way to h an dl e overu se of any dru g , th en undera ge d r i n ki ng woul d not be a p r o ble m . If a ny t h in g , t h ese restri cti on s m ake i t m ore di f f i cu lt to seek h el p du e to s t i gma a nd r i s k o f l ega l reperc uss io n s . What matters most in t h e que s t io n o f le g a liz at ion of m ari j u an a, especi al ly i n th e Un i ted S tates, i s dec on st ruct i ng a n i d e ology whic h purpo s e f ully m is un d e r s t a n d s t h e ef f ects of m ari j u an a u sag e f or th e sake of excu si n g raci al i z ed cri min ali zation, a nd moreove r d e c o n s t r uc t in g t h e sys t em wh i ch i s b u i lt u pon th i s i deol og y. E ven i n states wh ere ma ri jua na h as be en l ega l iz ed for r e c r e at io n a l us e o r d e c r im inal i zed, th ose wh o were c onv i cted f or th e i ntenti on to di str i but e ma ri j u an a b efore it wa s le g a liz e d o r d e c r im in a liz e d o f ten are g iven th e sh ort en d of th e sti ck an d sti l l are stu ck w i t h t he le g al c onsequenc es. L e g a liz at io n c a n’t j us t be f o c u sed on th e f utu re of m ari j u an a u sag e, b ut on th ose wh o were sha ft ed by t he l egal system a lo n g t h e way.
by Krysta Siguenza-Limin
G-YOU MAGAZINE// FEBRUARY 2022// 7
A lt hough predomina nt ly wh it e n e ig hbo r h o o d s a n d predom i n antly b l ack n ei g hb orh oods h ave th e sam e l evel o f ma rij u an a distrib ution an d us e , bla c k n e ig hbo r h o o d s are pol i c ed m ore h eav i ly, an d so th e c on sequ en c es of th i s l ega l st at us h i t t hem the hardest. D r ug -r e lat e d c o nv ic t io n s h ave b een an i mportant tool f or th e l eg al system to su ck di sa dva nt a ged yo ut hs of c ol or in, an d ke e p t h e m s t uc k in a c yc le wh ere i t i s i mpossi b l e to g et a j ob or h ou si n g on c e th ey are rel ea sed f r o m prison. Of c ours e , t h o s e s t uc k in t h is imp o ssi b l e si tu ati on w i l l reof f en d an d g et cau g ht b ack u p i n t he i l l ega l d i s t r i b ution of marijua n a , a n d like ly g e t c aug ht an d sent b ack to pri son .
