“Almost half of American states have taken steps to legalize cannabis. The federal government should follow”, reads the opening line of an article in the Nov 8th,2014 issue of The Economist. The article comes in light of the latest polls where more states have chosen to allow for free trade in cannabis. Alaska and Oregon chose to expand cannabis use beyond medical to recreational purposes, just like Washington and Colorado already have. Florida came very close to legalizing cannabis.
Cannabis is used to manage pain in medical situations as well as for recreational purposes. It is purported to be less harmful that some other drugs such as cocaine, heroine, etc but is quite harmful nonetheless leading to disorders such as psychosis, panic attacks, hallucinations, depression, aggressiveness. Even in short term use the drug impairs judgement, memory, and learning. Mental disorders associated with marijuana use have their own category in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) IV, published by the American Psychiatric Association. These include Cannabis Intoxication (consisting of impaired motor coordination, anxiety, impaired judgment, sensation of slowed time, social withdrawal, and often includes perceptual disturbances; Cannabis Intoxication Delirium (memory deficit, disorientation); Cannabis Induced Psychotic Disorder, Delusions; Cannabis Induced Psychotic Disorder, Hallucinations; and Cannabis Induced Anxiety Disorder.
What is prompting such a rush to legalize this harmful drug? From the users’s point of view this is yet another mad rush toward nirvana – finding that next silver bullet that will dull the pain of loneliness, hardship, and the alienated face that life can present from time to time. It would be a great escape from needing to face up to reality.
On the seller side, the interest in cannabis business is quite an obvious one. The overall weed business is already around $40B by some estimates and expected to be much larger (closer to $100B/year) if fully legalized [The Economist].
The Government, expected (by some) to watch out for the society’s greater good have much to gain (or lose, by not legalizing) as well. Colorado, where cannabis was legalized in Jan 2014, already raked in $1B this year alone. Given the significant budget shortfalls faced by most of the US states, this would be a lucrative option (as is gambling to many states).
Some cannabis legalization advocates argue a reduction in criminal activity from drug legalization. Perhaps we would also be safer if we legalized cocaine, heroine, people trafficking, prostitution, child pornography, and ivory trading? This argument fails to recognize that these acts were deemed illegal not because of who carried them out (“criminals”) but because of what they meant for the overall well being our society. Criminals become “criminals” not because they are so born but because they blindly pursue their personal gains in severe conflict to the overall social well being. Legalizing what has been rightly illegal does not reduce crime, it legitimizes it.
What is the future of a society in which the buyers, the sellers, the regulators all collude in trading a false sense of freedom? The buyer buys an escape from reality, while the sellers and regulators happily forgo social responsibility in view of commercial gains.
Several months ago, a friend, unhappy with some cultural aspects of the US, wondered aloud how life was probably better in other countries and asked for my opinion on the same. Being an immigrant to the US and having lived and worked in many different continents across the globe, her question forced me to really think through my experiences. “In my experience, US is by far the best country to live in terms of economic opportunity and personal freedom. Here, more than anywhere else, one can choose to build a great life or to wither away into nothingness, unnoticed. Where this country is failing, however, and in a dangerously risky way, is that it has chosen to put its commercial interests ahead of its citizens’ welfare”, I reflected.
In such a world, a wakeful citizen of individual responsibility can come to rescue of the individual and of the society. Alas, it is not an easily cultivated virtue or mental habit. Nonetheless, it exists, is available, and is much needed in face of today’s increasingly conscience-free commercialization.
