D.C. Legalizes Medical Marijuana
The Washington, D.C. Council voted today to legalize medicinal marijuana. The Washington Post reported the story in a straightforward manner, which failed to note the amusing part of the story:
The D.C. Council unanimously approved a bill Tuesday to allow chronically ill patients to receive a doctor's prescription to use marijuana and buy it from a city-sanctioned distribution center.
Under the bill, which passed without debate, a patient who suffers from HIV, glaucoma, cancer or a "chronic and lasting disease" may receive a doctor's recommendation to possess up to 2 ounces of marijuana in a 30-day period.
The patient would not be allowed to grow their own marijuana, but between five and eight pot distribution centers would be established in the city.
Those distribution centers would receive marijuana from privately run cultivation centers, where up to 95 marijuana plants could be grown at a given time. The distribution and cultivation centers, which could not be located within 300 feet of a school or preschool, would be operated by private or nonprofit organizations and businesses that would be licensed by the city.
The council will have to vote on it a second time next month. But it will likely be at least several months before the city's medical marijuana program gets off the ground.
It is indeed worth noting that our nation's capital has now joined the ranks of the 14 states which have also allowed (in one way or another) marijuana to be used medicinally. And it just adds another reason for the argument that it is time to move marijuana's federal drug classification from Schedule I to Schedule II (which I have made the case for previously). After all, Washington, D.C. is federal territory. Meaning that you can now get a prescription for marijuana on federal land, even though the federal government has decreed that there is no accepted medical use of marijuana.
But even that bit of doublethink isn't the amusing part. The amusing part is the date. Today is the twentieth of April. Or, to put it another way, it's 4/20. And for the past few decades, "420" has been a sort of "inside joke" or "code word" among pot smokers. Which is why there are "smoke-ins" held around the country every year on this date. The origins of the term itself are debated endlessly, with more and more creative explanations appearing all the time, but these things are usually lost to the mists of time. At least, I think those are mists....
The date 4/20 means different things to different people, though. Some white supremacist movements also mark the date, since Adolf Hitler was born today. And the Columbine shootings happened today, a grim anniversary which follows yesterday's anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing.
But one has to wonder, knowing the significance of "4/20" among marijuana enthusiasts, who actually scheduled today's vote for the D.C. Council, and why today was selected. Either it was a wildly-improbable coincidence, or someone decided to have a little fun with the calendar. Now, as the article says, a second vote must be held in a month, before the law actually takes effect. So when anyone looks back at the history of the legalization of medicinal marijuana, they will likely see the second vote as the date which D.C. formally enacted the law.
But we would be remiss if we didn't at least point out the amusing part of this story, to address the lack of context in the Washington Post article. Either some staffer who was "in on the joke" decided when to schedule the vote, hoping nobody would notice, or (even more amusingly) a member or members of the D.C. Council themselves decided to have a little fun with the subject, to send some sort of message (one assumes) or merely to provide irony for the blogosphere to comment upon. Either way, one more bit of 4/20 lore has now been added, as the date the District of Columbia voted to legalize medicinal marijuana.
-- Chris Weigant
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
"...or merely to provide irony for the blogosphere to comment upon."
Well at least that tactic worked, dinnit? ;-). And, to which I also say: Hear (inhales deeply) 'ere!
Schedule I should be eliminated. The most problems caused by illegal drugs aren't from the use of the drugs, but from all the criminal enterprise that has grown up in production, import and distribution of the drugs, as well as the "small enterprise" required for individual users to raise the money to obtain their drug of choice.
I was disappointed to see a headline about yet another poll(*) that reported that a majority of Americans are opposed to the legalization of marijuana (though a majority favors medical use of marijuana, I believe). I had thought we were getting past that.
(*) I didn't read the article itself, so I'm skeptical on principle of the quality or validity of whatever poll was being quoted.
I said it before and I'll say it again.
Legalizing something simply because it is too difficult to enforce is a very slippery slope that leads us to a place we definitely do NOT want to be.
While I see the logic in medicinal issues for illegal drugs, I simply cannot condone legalization just because druggies want to get high legally.
That's the cop in me talking...
Michale.....
Alcohol was once illegal. It become legal again for roughly the same reasons, way to difficult to enforce and too many people drinking it. Think about that over your next beer...
Think about that over your next beer...
I heard "beer", then what?? :D
Seriously, though..
I understand your reasoning, BB and it does make sense..
But my question still applies...
Where does such an attitude lead us???
What's next to be legalized because it's too difficult to enforce...
Michale.....
Where does such an attitude lead us???
A more free society?
I'm not saying it's be all end all, but too difficult to enforce, or more accurately too difficult to enforce because too many people are doing it is a good starting place for what should probably be legal...
too difficult to enforce because too many people are doing it
So, your litmus test would be that, if a lot of people are doing it anyways, it should be made legal..
That's still a slippery slope...
Michale.....
A slippery slope is a informal fallacy of logic...
Michale -
You might ask instead, why make it illegal in the first place? From a strict constitutionalist stance, does the government even have a right to do so?
Drug laws, for the most part, are a holdover from a much more racist time in America. The first drug laws were anti-Chinese laws (opium dens), and the first marijuana laws were anti-Mexican laws. Historical fact.
While I do understand your "cop" viewpoint in the broader matter of outright legalization for all, there is simply no justification or rationale for keeping cannibis on Schedule I at the present time. Not with 14 states and DC allowing medical use.
jbl_inAZ -
The poll was a nationwide poll. I'm still waiting for someone to release a current poll of CA voters, since there is an outright legalization proposition on the November ballot now. But, strangely, nobody's polled on it since the prop. qualified. Previously, it had polled at around 54% approval. CA's argument is an interesting one -- legalize it and TAX it. What other group of people in America is BEGGING to be taxed? And CA could use the money -- both tax revenues and the savings we would get by not having to pay for police and prisons for pot smokers. Such an argument is an inherently practical and fiscally responsible one to make, which is why it's going to be an interesting campaign out here. So where are the CA poll numbers??
-CW
Herm71 -
I wondered if anyone was going to notice that. Heh. Mission accomplished! Irony duly noted!
-CW
All things being equal, do we REALLY need to legalize ANOTHER way for people to act like morons and assholes??
I mean, honestly...
I understand and conditionally agree with the idea that if we de-criminalize marijuana, then it will (obviously) take the criminal element out of it.
But would that really solve anything, vis a vis the criminal element??
Does anyone HONESTLY believe that drug related crimes would plummet??
If anyone does, obviously they aren't waiting for any de-criminalization of marijuana... :D
Michale.....
I have trouble seeing any reason that it should ever be a illegal to act like a moron or an asshole.
I honestly believe that drug related crimes would plummet. And I'm speaking of legalization (with some controls*), not decriminalization.
*There are current restrictions on how tobacco, alcohol, guns are imported, sold and distributed. Mostly this is about collecting taxes; sometimes (e.g. in the case of weapons) there are other stated reasons for controlling their distribution and sale. Undoubtedly similar restrictions on sale and distribution of legalized drugs would be imposed, and again the main reason would be to enforce the collection of the proper taxes. As with alcohol and tobacco, there would be some criminal activity, no doubt, evading these controls. But the incentive for doing so in the face of possible criminal penalties is much less, as the drugs (like alcohol and tobacco) would be available without that potential hassle, and therefore the level of criminal activity would be substantial less. And of course, drug related crimes related to possession and use would be completely eliminated.
Please excuse typos, it's late.
I have trouble seeing any reason that it should ever be illegal to act like a moron or an asshole. and
...and therefore the level of criminal activity would be substantially less.
I'm annoyed at myself, but I won't post corrections again (unless I badly screwed up the meaning). Chris, I don't suppose it's likely that the commenting software could make it possible for one to go back and edit a comment, or delete-and-repost it?
I have trouble seeing any reason that it should ever be illegal to act like a moron or an asshole.
"Being miserable and treating everyone like dirt is every New Yorker's god given right!"
-Mayor Of New York, GHOSTBUSTERS II
:D
I am not saying it should be made illegal to be a moron OR an asshole.
I am just asking is it really in our best interests as a country to allow people to use mood altering chemicals to do so? Especially since there are so many legal ways to do so already...
And I'm speaking of legalization (with some controls*), not decriminalization.
What's the difference??
I am not being facetious or sarcastic here. I am sincerely curious.
and therefore the level of criminal activity would be substantial less.
With regards to marijuana.. But I submit (with nothing more than personal experience as my evidence, which is dated, to be sure) that the crime associated with marijuana is simply a drop in the bucket compared with all drug related crime. In other words, making marijuana legal would not have much of an impact on the overall violence level from the illegal drug trade.
Michale.....
Chris, I don't suppose it's likely that the commenting software could make it possible for one to go back and edit a comment, or delete-and-repost it?
I can see the logic behind not having editing or deleting capability.
But a PREVIEW option sure would be nice... :D
Michale....
Decriminalization seems to mean that they stop prosecuting (either in practice or by an explicit change in the law) for owning a small amount for one's own use. They still go after the distribution chain.
With regards to marijuana.. But I submit (with nothing more than personal experience as my evidence, which is dated, to be sure) that the crime associated with marijuana is simply a drop in the bucket compared with all drug related crime.
Exactly. So if you go back to my first comment, #2, that is why I advocate the elimination of Schedule I as a category, in other words, legalize (under appropriate controls such as exist for tobacco and alcohol) all such drugs. I know this approach is not problem free (and I can see what some of your objections might be) but I think drug related crime will drop way down and we can get back to more interesting stuff like pornography and sex-related misbehavior :-).
we can get back to more interesting stuff like pornography and sex-related misbehavior :-)
Don't tease me..... :D
Michale.....