The Moral Ramifications of Keeping Marijuana Illegal

This blog is of course, my subjective opinion, and so here goes my thoughts today based on a recent article.

Marijuana should be legalized for economic AND moral reasons, but why?


In the early twentieth century Marijuana was harshly campaigned against, and politicians said that it induced a murderous rage in the most calm and moral of people when used.  It became a campaign position and was used to put candidates in the spotlight, gain public approval, and establish their candidacy as moral  guardians of the United States.

The reason Marijuana was so harshly criticized suddenly was, not surprisingly, for economic and political reasons.  Before the rise of the synthetics market (which of course is now a massive industry since synthetics are used in almost everything we consume today) the market was controlled primarily by hemp.  Hemp is from the same plant that THC heavy Marijuana comes from.

The synthetics market sought to demonize the hemp market, and politicians jumped on the bandwagon for financial backing for the suddenly booming industry.  Thus began the campaign the make Marijuana illegal.

Although in our recent lifetimes, illegal drug importation came primarily from Columbia, that is no more.  The biggest importation of drugs comes from Mexico.  Although other hard drugs such as cocaine and amphetamines are also imported from Mexico, the vast majority of importation is Marijuana.  If you've paid attention to the news of the last few years, Mexican drug cartels have gained control of most local governments and have corrupted local law enforcement, essentially rendering any resistance impossible.

These drug cartels are as organized as any modern government, but extremely vicious and responsible for the murder, rape, and torture of countless lives.  They also successfully control free speech in Mexico, and have even recently begun to control online dissent by tracking down bloggers and making an "example" of them.

"A CNN report describes a gruesome double murder in which two young people in their 20s were disemboweled, mutilated and hung publicly beneath a bridge for all to see—all after being extensively tortured. The dispatch notes the bodies were so brutalized, their innards were visibly hanging out. Why? To send a message: next to their bodies sat a crudely-drawn sign denouncing the pair's use of social media: "This is going to happen to all of those posting funny things on the Internet. You better (expletive) pay attention. I'm about to get you." The narcoterrorist poster board was signed with a Z, pointing to the notorious (and notoriously bloodthirsty) Zetas cartel." -Gizmodo

Americans who purchase illegal drugs are (inadvertently) funding terrorism.

In the US, Marijuana related arrests are massive, and are a large contributor to overcrowding in prisons and a large chunk of tax payer money that goes into the arrest, trial, and jail time for these 'criminals.'

So what is most likely to happen if the United States legalizes Marijuana and taxes it properly?

The tax revenue from taxing Marijuana will be quite substantial, alleviating some of our debt crisis.  Marijuana will become regulated, and therefor be much safer.  The rise in price and loss of excitement will most likely reduce Marijuana use as a result.

In actuality, anyone who has ever smoked Marijuana or been around users know that it is a relatively safe drug, and arguably much safer then alcohol consumption.

More importantly however, is that since the US is the biggest consumer of illegal drugs in Mexico, is that making it legalized would decimate the amount of control and power drug cartels have in Mexico, and therefor begin to dismantle the corrupt cartel government and save countless lives and allow Mexicans to have much greater control of their freedoms and basic human rights.

So my opinion, based on statistical assumptions and a lack of concrete information on the black market, legalizing Marijuana would be a massive step in the right direction, morally and economically.  Unfortunately, politicians and moral assumptions by the public forbid this from happening so far.  Although there is hope, as legalized medical Marijuana is a step in the right direction, and this country seems to be becoming more and more understanding of the actual positives and negatives of keeping Marijuana illegal versus legalizing it.

Gizmodo Article: Mexican Drug Terrorists Torture and Murder Online Critics

We'd Be Better Off Blind

I'm not even sure where to begin.

But this comes from a lot of frustration with myself and society, and all the individuals that make it up.  And it all starts at day one.  The day children are indoctrinated with notion that beauty is what makes people care about you, what makes people love you.  Often the first words out of any parent or bystander's mouth when they see a new child born, "(S)he's beautiful!".

Granted, there's really nothing else to say about a brand new baby, since there's yet to be a discernible personality or uniqueness.  In my honest opinion babies all look the same anyways (small aliens), but that's not the point.

For the years following day one the first thing adults say to children upon meeting them is how adorable, beautiful, cute, and handsome they are.  Many parents make it their personal goal to dress their children up, fix their hair, keep them clean, and assimilate them into beautiful society as quickly and smoothly as possible.

This instills a sense in children that something or someone's aesthetic appeal as defined by collective society as the primary way in which to judge and categorize something.  It's easy for me to recall as a child being highly self conscious all the way back to early elementary school on how I looked, the way I dressed, how I gelled my hair, the way my pictures came out, and correspondingly how the people around me measured up to these standards.  Even as a young child 'cool' is synonymous with 'beauty' and I ranked myself not only on how I looked, but on how socially attractive my friends were.  Granted, these categories were ill defined as a child, but easily noticeable when looking back.  The girls I wanted to spend time we're stereotypically blonde, tiny, wore dresses, and looked like miniature models of women in the 1950's (which their parents no doubt had much pride in creating such an appeal).  Even my guy friends were chosen with the ones I believed looked the coolest, and I modeled my own sense of style and haircut after, aspiring to be more attractive like my friends.  Remember, this is all long before even middle school.

By the time children enter middle school (the only time in which the majority of both girls and boys are going through puberty, girls on the tail end, boys just beginning) they already have a very strong understanding of how attractive they are, and where they fall in line with greater society.  Even though aesthetically children change rapidly through these years, it is easy to see which children were found 'beautiful' in elementary school and those that were not.  The clothes they were, and the confidence in their appearance doesn't necessarily correspond to how aesthetically pleasing they would be considered in society, because they can no longer properly judge themselves, their opinions have already been defined and instilled in them.  Go to any middle or high school and you can see bountiful examples of this.  Some boys and girls may be less 'attractive' as defined by society then they were when they were younger, but they exude a confidence and wear all the latest fashion even at a young age.  Contrastingly it is easy to find boys and girls who have become more recently 'attractive' but lack the inherent confidence the other students do, and do not dress as hip and modern as them.

It's easy to understand where the inferiority complexes, unhealthy visual perspectives, and unrealistic expectations students place on themselves come from at this point.  For many of them it no longer matters where they would realistically rank in society and in relation to their peers.  Some are beautiful in their own minds, where as others are hideous in their own minds.

Many now would assume that the students who are 'beautiful' in their own minds, whether or not society would agree, are better off.  This is completely untrue.  Both categories of students have fallen victim to a life long shallow understanding of the world, and will continue to reinforce it in their children, their adult peers, and the younger generations they interact with.

I recently found this image on Tumblr, and enjoy its' point, but would also like to redirect this blog in a new direction based on the inadequate answer this image gives: society.  It's easy to carelessly throw this word around (which I have done quite repeatedly above) and not accept the responsibility we face in using this word.  Society is a man-made category, and does not inherently exist in the world.  It simply defines the culture and collective perspective of individuals.  Of us.  We are society, it's not some distant intangible force we can't understand or define.  Society is when us guys are sitting around a table discussing how someone looks.  Its when we're watching a movie and commenting on how attractive the lead role is or isn't.  It's when were talking about how cute some child is, or how attractive or unattractive our professor or boss or coworker is.  That's when society is defined, determined, and enacted.  Society is every one of our interactions, opinions, thoughts, assumptions, and the way we categorize the world when we're with other people.

Pop-culture is just a reflection of ourselves.  What we choose to watch, be entertained by, listen to, subscribe to, wear, go, read, appreciate, and condemn.  Every action, decision, thought, and word we say or make reinforces the status of pop-culture and society.

We can say that we don't believe beauty is what's important, yet when we are told how beautiful or handsome we are, we appreciate it.  We allow it to define how we feel about the person who said it, we allow it to define how we feel about ourselves.  Then we go and say these words to other people and continue to reinforce beauty as important.  We repeatedly reblog pictures on Tumblr of what society sees as beautiful.  We buy magazines and watch television and listen to music that emphasizes the over-arching importance of beauty.

So what do we do?  We redefine society and pop-culture by redefining what we believe is important, and what we say to others.  If we want a future where kindness, intelligence, forward-thinking, empathy, and selflessness are the dominant categories that people strive for, then we must change what we say and the questions we ask, starting with the youngest of our world.

We should stop telling children they're beautiful, and start challenging them.  Ask them about what they're reading, what they think of current affairs, what's important to them in friendship, what they think makes a strong and positive relationship.  Compliment them on their kindness, their intuitive thinking, their confidence, their empathetic understanding, their ability to be selfless.

Now back to that image mentioned earlier.  The correct answer?  Love on the two indiscriminately.  Love on children indiscriminately.  Love on your peers indiscriminately.  Compliment and be proud of your friends, family, and lover on those attributes that are truly important.  You might even manage to love on yourself indiscriminately a result.  The standards we hold others to are also the standards we hold ourselves to.

P.S.
Here's to all the people I've objectified in my life.  I am truly sorry.  Just know that I objectified myself, and mistreated my heart the same as yours.

Who Knows,

What this blog is about.  It will probably include technology, feelings, news, passions, religion, politics, and all the things in between.  It'll probably be where I say what I'm feeling and thinking and can't discuss anywhere else.  Because of some image I have to upkeep.