TalkLeft pointed to and excellently excerpted portions of this story by Eric Schlosser of the New York Times* which detailed the worldwide movement toward the decriminalization of marijuana use and the history of the US laws and political agenda during the terms of the last few Presidents to continue the ban on the substance.
The portion that was actually most interesting was the part that stated that at one time, one state made it mandatory for every household to grow marijuana.
Oddly enough, the first American law about marijuana, passed by the Virginia Assembly in 1619, required every household to grow it. Hemp was considered a valuable commodity.**
It never ceases to amaze me that with all of the things that the government should be concerned with, that they continue to put so much effort into keeping people from using something that God put on the planet. It is not like anyone has to do anything other than to pick a few leaves off of a plant, dry it out a bit, roll it up in a piece of paper or put it in a pipe or bong, to make use of the substance. One thing that the story did not point out was that our own Declaration of Independence was originally written on paper made out of such plant.
And there are some who wonder if our politicians are all idiots. With regard to this single issue they all seem to be.
*Despite the fact that many of the reporters working for The NY Times have been under the microscope for their shoddy reporting, using underlings to write their pieces or chopping out parts of quoting excerpts to align with their point of view, I have heard no indication that Eric Schlosser has been mentioned for not being less than stellar in his journalist efforts.
**I felt that it was necessary to add the part about hemp being a value commodity to provide an accurate context for the preceding sentence, so that I could not be accused of Dowdism Dowdarism*** Dowdlerism.****
***As I might be originating a new term, I decided to make is something with a bit better ring to it.
****I failed in reference to the previous note, as McGehee of blogoSFERICS came up with a much better term. [see comments]
Posted by Tiger at June 1, 2003 12:07 PMI understand the reasoning behind the war on drugs but there comes a point where you must at least declare a truce. The government can't even keep drugs out of maximum security prisons.
Meanwhile, less than violent people are overcrowding our prisons and police officers are getting killed all over pot.
Seems awfully silly to me.
Posted by: jaboobie at June 1, 2003 08:58 PMPreaching to the choir, my friend.
Posted by: Tiger at June 1, 2003 11:22 PMGiven the similarity of means, if not of intent, I propose "Dowdlerism," as a hat tip to "bowdlerizing."
Posted by: McGehee at June 2, 2003 08:23 AM