The Far-Reaching Consequences of Legalizing Marijuana
First, I'm glad to see that AI was given a shot, let's make it as good as we can.
Ok, this is more of a philosophical question rather than a debate on an issue, I'm only going off of my own personal experiences and those of the people I associate with. I know I make generalizations and distinctions between two big groups of people, but this is my personal experience.
So lately as I've been smoking more marijuana, and I've realized that the propaganda surrounding this substance is much more pervasive than I would have thought. I too believed that the people who regularly smoke end up sitting on the couch, useless to society. However, as I've done a lot more thinking about the subject, I realized it is indeed quite the opposite. Instead of making you lazy and dead to the world, and a substance used by the "less intelligent" of society, I've realized that this is something used more by the intellectual elite of a society. Allow me to break it down.
I am in a student group on campus, and the issue of marijuana in the group has come under intense fire of late. As it stands, there are about 1/3 of the members that smoke regularly, 1/3 that does it occasionally, and 1/3 that refuses to touch it. The case against the use of cannabis that was constantly used was that it made you lazy and stupid. So, for a case study I took all the GPA's of the third that smoke and all the GPA's of the third that refuse. The results were much as I predicted with the GPA of the smoking population being about 3.25 and that of the non smoking population to be about 2.43. Almost an entire grade point, quite a difference.
One of the main reasons that marijuana became so intolerable during the 1960's was because it made people think, and thinking people tend to question the government. The Nixon administration was so frustrated with the youth movement against the government that they cracked down on its use. The youth were smoking and talking about the Vietnam war, not a good thing. When I smoke with the people that I do, there is a similar effect to what was seen in the 1960's. We often end up discussing topical issues such as the media's role in fear mongering, to the effectiveness of a "War on Terror". I think this is a result of being given a different prespective while thinking. When high, I am able to see different sides of an issue, which helps to give meaning and context to a topic. Perhaps the effects are based on the user: if an intelligent person smokes, perhaps they think more intelligently while high, while at the same time a generally lazy person would become more lazy, something of an amplifying effect. Those of you who smoke might be able to get my meaning, those of you who do not might have trouble understanding. Conversely, the people that refuse to smoke are the ones that take the laws at face value, and generally more concerned with playing xbox (keep in mind, this is what I experience day-to-day, not meant to be a generalization, and is not meant as an attack in any way). Perhaps the people that smoke are generally the ones who are willing to challenge authority, and it comes out in talking with them. Alternatively, maybe after smoking you begin to challenge authority due to the discovery of the propaganda you received while growing up. I know for me, as an example, I've begun to question things in society, and it has led to the maturation of the way I think.
Now, enough back story and on to the meat and potatoes. I can only use my own personal experience to relate to, so if what I've described is a microcosm for society as a whole, the question is what will the effect on society be? If marijuana does indeed help you to think (usually in what would be considered a "liberal" way), and help people to understand issues facing the public, and more importantly care about whats happening outside of just TV, what will the results be? If marijuana became as widely used as alcohol, what would the consequences be for society? What if the CEO of ExxonMobil had a joint every once in a while? What if Maddoff smoked once in a while? Or Enron, or Bush/Cheney or any list of people. Maybe they wouldn't be doing or have done what they have (this, or course, being my opinion that they haven't been the most moral). I believe that it is a successful society that does, and is able to, question the government without fear. I believe that is what the American founding fathers believed when they wrote the American constitution. So my question to you is what will be the long term effects of marijuana on the consciousness of the people in a society? Will they as whole begin to question industries like Wal-Mart, Big Oil, Big Pharma, the government etc etc. Or, conversely, will it dumb down the population? Or will nothing change, and society will generally stay the same?
As a side note, lets not forget the other industry that comes along with that of legalizing marijuana: Hemp. Hemp is such a versatile product that can grow anywhere and supply many products. Hemp is used to make better quality paper than trees, and thus fights deforestation. Hemp can be used for a stronger, softer clothing material than cotton. Hemp seeds can be eaten, and are very high in protein. Henry Fords first car ran on Hemp-seed oil, and there are thousand of other uses for this versatile crop. This is something that was called the worlds first billion dollar crop back in the 30's. I think it has the potential to vastly change global economics, and shake up a lot of industries.
