Now that John Boehner has reversed his formerly intractable stance on the legalization of marijuana, its time that Kansas comes to the same conclusion. Boehner is now advocating for legalization on the basis that it is extremely useful for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, and that marijuana is a useful and safe alternative to opioids and other extremely addictive pharmaceuticals that are ruining our country and killing our citizens. Its a start.
Cannabis has been a Schedule 1 drug since 1970 when the Nixon administration decided in its War on Drugs that pot had no known beneficial effects. Of course, in doing that, the DEA cut off any studies that might prove otherwise. After nearly 40 years, cannabis is still unstudyable, except by a few biased government labs that are hell-bent on proving that marijuana should remain a Schedule 1 classification. There are no official governmental studies proving that marijuana is non-lethal, has few if any harmful effects, or that it can and does cure certain kinds of cancer, or that it is the drug of choice for veterans with PTSD, or that our country would be better off using a cheap and natural substance to treat pain rather than allowing huge pharmaceuticals to distribute billions of highly addictive opioids off which they make money. My opinion? A lot of people in Congress are being bribed by liquor and pharmaceutical and private-prison lobbyists to keep this status quo going and going and going.
Everyone knows by now that marijuana is not the demon drug portrayed by Reefer Madness, one of several propaganda films put out by certain white-supremacist church groups to back their anti-marijuana, anti-negro agenda in 1936. The films continued to be shown through the 30s, 40s, and into the 1950s. Those films have since become hilarious cult films because of their preposterous insinuations that pot turned people into monsters. Theyre very entertaining now, although at the time they were taken as gospel truth. Early fake news.
So far, marijuana has been fully legalized in eight states, and 24 states allow some form of marijuana use, according to Fox News. It doesnt take a genius to see the writing on the wall. The next Congress will probably erase these archaic statutes and classifications from federal law and finally allow states to determine for themselves how to deal with this useful plant.
If Kansas were to legalize marijuana, it could mean that ordinary farmers would have a whole new crop to grow that would prove EXTREMELY PROFITABLE. Let me illustrate that statement by giving an anecdotal example from my own experience:
I lived in Los Angeles for 34 years. I had a close friend who worked at one of the pot dispensaries, a co-op group, in LA. I asked him if the dispensary paid taxes and how much. We pay out $300,000 EACH WEEK IN TAXES. After my open-mouthed double-take, I
started to add things up: $300k per week meant $1.2 million each month, equaling $14,400,000 going into the states treasury each year, and thats just from one dispensary. There are literally tens of thousands of stores and dispensaries in California. (Now you know
why other states are legalizing cannabis despite federal regulations.)
I hope this gives you a clear understanding of how much money is involved in legalizing pot. It means that Kansas could have in its treasury money to go towards necessities like education, infrastructure, social security, health care for its sick and aging population, food stamps, recreational facilities, job creation projects, parks upkeep, child protection, etc. Even with the reckless tax giveaways of the last five years under Brown-back, we could still make some of that back in a shorter period of time while we try to fix the damage Brownback and the tea-party Republicans inflicted while they were in power. In my opinion, its one of our only options. And its not like were making yet another deal with the devil. This time, we would actually be helping people. Ordinary people could grow their own weed to use as they wish, they could sell it to people over 21 and keep the profits (minus the taxes to the state), they could help out people (including themselves) with PTSD and other medical problems without putting them in the poorhouse or worse, prison, and we Kansans could start bringing our state out of the Dark Ages and into the light of prosperity. Kansas might become known for something other than backward leadership and religious credulity.
For those of you who are concerned with the morality issue of getting high, let me say that you have no right to foster your beliefs on others who have a different viewpoint. There is no morality issue here. Theres nothing wrong with getting high if youre old enough and mature enough. Most pot smokers are no more immoral than someone who likes to drink beer on weekends. And for those of you who say that marijuana is a gateway drug, it isnt. Actually, alcohol is the real gateway drug. It is addictive and dangerous with few if any health benefits, and is available everywhere. So why do we allow it? Because prohibition (remember that?) doesnt work. And why dont we have a bigger problem with alcohol than we do? Because we regulate it. Regulate marijuana in the same way, and there wont be a problem.
Kansas farmers and citizens will soon have a chance to become rich entrepreneurs by growing, possessing, and distributing pot legally throughout the state, IF they vote to stand up to federal regulations like so many other smart states have done. This November will either be the turning point or well stay on the straight and stony to once again be left in the dust at the wrong end of history.
Tom Ellis,
Iola, Kan.
