Via Andrew Sullivan (with credit to Utne), I’ve learned that not only is marijuana California’s largest cash crop by far, but growing it illegally is devastating to the environment.
The obvious solution is to legalize marijuana.
Why legalize marijuana? Why not just make it illegal and attempt to arrest all these renegade marijuana growers and throw them in prison? Well, since that’s the status quo, and it doesn’t solve anything and in fact makes it worse, the only suitable alternative is to legalize marijuana. Reasons?
- With illegal marijuana, the taxpayers get hit multiple times–
- no taxes on a product sold,
- millions spent on police to combat that product,
- harm to society with the crimes that are not prevented or solved while police instead chase marijuana users and growers,
- millions on prison systems to hold those who sell this product,
- and as the above article details, huge amounts in taxpayer dollars wasted to clean up the remnants of the diesel generators from these illegal growing sites–
- not to mention the health effects suffered by those drinking the diesel-contaminated groundwater.
Illegal marijuana (and the black market that currently comes with it) also carries a risk of violence for the public; California’s large-scale ad hoc marijuana fields are built by Mexican drug cartels who helicopter Mexican migrants in to take care of them and depend on the profits from the marijuana to do God knows what back in Mexico. When a product is relegated to the black market only, it’s going to attract loathsome types to its black market profits. Those in pursuit of black market profits are not going to care about any sideline damage, of humans, animals, or the environment, but responsible marijuana growers (as most would be in a society with legalized marijuana) do. The Sheriff of Mendocino County, California realizes this:
“There is a serious distinction to be made. Many medical [legal] marijuana growers are some of the most responsible citizens around. They buy soil in bulk, use rat traps instead of poison, water with timers and drip systems. They have very little physical impact on the land. I’m not up against legal growers. The ones I’m concerned with are the ones polluting the environment in the name of huge profits. The plants are seasonal, but the environmental damage lasts forever.”
With legal marijuana, the public would benefit so much.
- Mexican drug cartels would have no reason to bring their violence and tactics to our country, because the entrepreneur down the street would be able to sell legal marijuana at the local drugstore.
- I’m no fan of taxes, but think of the billions in taxes that would be generated from a free market of marijuana users– and what education, health care, roads and bridges that those billions (currently going to drug cartels) could provide under our current system of providing these types of things.
- Police officers could stop searching for minor drugs and focus more on, for example, investigating the 30% of murders that go unsolved in the US.
- We wouldn’t have overcrowded prisons and the spiraling costs for construction and AIDS treatment that result from them.
- Our court systems would be freed up from all these petty criminals and able to better tackle more important cases for public safety, such as prosecutions of murder and rape.
Good results for the environment would just be icing on the cake.
Tags: marijuana, legalize marijuana, marijuana environment, illegal marijuana, decriminalize marijuana, legalise marijuana, decriminalise marijuana, help the environment, help environment, environment
Why is it that Libertarians, no matter how rational they start out, always work the conversation around to legalizing drugs? I have told the National office of the Libertarian Party many times that our polling shows that Americans are 88% with them on everything, up until they start that nonsense about legalizing drugs, then support drops to the single digits. Even the dumbest of Joe Sixpacks and Sally Soccermoms see through that BS about “medical marijuana” so you can stop that clumsy ruse, too.
The Ron Paul approach is the most artful that I have seen so far. He wants to scale back the “war on drugs” by getting the Federal agencies out of the enforcement business. Perhaps over time attitudes will change, but for now the general population sees the Libertarian Party as just a bunch of pot heads who will do or say anything to get their drug of choice legalized. It’s pathetic.
The toughest part of this issue is what is the impact on society if we have widespread drug addiction? I suggest that with most Americans currently being fat pigs who rarely roll off the couch to vote or contribute to their community, no big change would be noticed. Oh, I suppose supermarkets would see a big increase in the sales of chips and other crunchy snacks, but I suspect that the same low productivity rates and illegitimacy would continue, since our society has already sunk pretty low.
History teaches a lesson on widespread drug use. In China, the drug addiction was so rampant that families were starving rather than work the fields. The Emperor eventually sent his guards to every village and killed all of the addicts that were found. The drug dealers were primarily Dutch traders. This was misinterpreted by the Chinese and the order was given to kill all of the White people. So, the Chinese captured as many of the Whites that they could, including many Jesuit priests, and the Chinese murdered them all.
It took China decades to recover from their experiment with widespread drug legalization. America needn’t repeat the mistakes of the past. Perhaps we could at least spare the Jesuits this time around.
Clairese Lippincott
December 9th, 2007
I agree in a way, Clairese. It’s a topic best avoided with certain audiences. I myself don’t use it and many people who do take it overboard, but I recognize that it’s a flawed policy in the same way many people who certainly aren’t “potheads” also do. I do like the Ron Paul approach– at least get the FEDERAL government out of it, and let them worry about things like national security. Marijuana, by the way, is a non-addictive substance– it’s commonly lumped in with other types of drugs which ARE addictive, and many people have been flat out lied to by the government, among other entities, about the effects of marijuana. No one has ever died from it. No one has ever overdosed on it. You can use it too much, but you don’t have the chemical addiction that you do with other substances like cocaine.
However, I think that if we did absolutely nothing else to make our government more libertarian, and we legalized drugs, we would be MUCH, much better off. We would have more money for so many things that are more important, we would have much less crowded prisons (we currently have the highest percentage prison population in the world), we would be able to solve more crimes and have more police on the streets actually preventing murders, rapes, thefts, and violent crimes. 30% of murders go unsolved, while many police departments devote entire groups of officers to arresting small-time drug possessors or dealers. In addition, the US has the highest rates of violent gun crime in the world– because of drugs! Gangs in the inner cities wouldn’t have drugs to fund their activities, wouldn’t have to defend their “territory.”… I could go on.
My blog is new, I’ll certainly cover all aspects of different types of issues, but I happened to see that article and thought it was amazing, because I’d never thought of the environmental damage of illegal marijuana.
By the way, we already HAVE widespread drug addiction– I know more alcoholics than I can count, both diagnosed and undiagnosed, lung cancer is one of the leading causes of death because 20% of people smoke, and almost everyone knows a person who– despite drugs being illegal– is an addict with illegal narcotics. Countries that have legalized them to certain extents in the modern era saw drug use of this type go down. A lot of people simply do it for the thrill of doing something illegal.
libertariangirl
December 9th, 2007
Clairese,
Your points are well taken but I feel as though you are making several incorrect assumptions. Opium was not simply “legalized” in China. It was the official policy of the British to enslave the Chinese by addicting them to opium. At the time, England profited greatly from illegally smuggling opium into China. The British Empire was perhaps the most aggressive drug cartel the world has ever known. In 1773, the British exported over 15 tons from India into China – this jumped to almost 1000 tons by the early 1800s. The Chinese government tried to stop this as it began, as previously, opium usage in China had been largely recreational, and did not result in many addictions. Silver, however, was being used to pay for the illegal imports, and this was damaging to China’s economy at the time, as they had previously only exported goods. In fact, Europe was in a silver crisis, as China had drained Europe’s silver supplies though sale of porcelain, silk, spices, and tea. In other words, the English had a large trade deficit with the Chinese.
As such, the Chinese government attempted to prevent opium from being sold in China, and finally went to war with England. The First Opium War lasted from 1839 until 1842, and the Second Opium War lasted from 1856 until 1860. During the Second Opium War, the French assisted the British. By the end, China had been easily defeated by England’s vastly superior navy. China was fully opened to trade, and the world began selling large quantities of opium to the addicted Chinese. Private companies from many countries, including the United States, profited greatly at the expense of Chinese addicts. The opium traders “claimed that the hard-working Chinese were entitled to ‘a harmless luxury’; a harmless luxury ‘desperadoes, pirates and marauders.’” It is estimated that over a quarter of the adult male population was addicted.
So, it was not as though the Chinese just simply legalized opium and everyone became addicted. There was a concentrated effort on the parts of several countries, which even went to the point of forcing China to legalize opium through the forces of war. You cannot compare what would happen if opium was legalized today in modern day America to the story of the Chinese in the 1800s.
James
December 9th, 2007
That’s very interesting, James, I wasn’t aware of that history.
libertariangirl
December 9th, 2007
Your site looks great! I found your blog via Google while searching for environment legal and your post regarding Help the Environment: Legalize Marijuana looks very interesting to me. I have seen many other so-called sites and they have been far from good quality.Your site has all the key ingredients to pulling in visitors.
Environment Legal
December 31st, 2007
Finding your site was an accident thanks to google, but I like it
Phil
January 9th, 2008
Benazir Bhutto – The Herald…
Her youngest brother, Shahnawaz, organised opposition from France but he died under mysterious circumstances in his apartment on the Riviera…
8975 braun
January 10th, 2008
Looks great
Samantha
January 15th, 2008
Smart argument. I’d just like to add my own little opinion. If it were legalized, I would want it to be under the same legal scrutiny as alcohol, and I feel that employers should still be able to perform drug tests. As far as I’m concerned, people who want to smoke it will do it regardless of law, but it should never potentially affect the safety and well-being of others (at the workplace, while driving a car) and although cigarette laws don’t work to prevent minors from smoking, the legal age should be 18. (I also feel the same for alcohol – look at Europe). All that money spent preventing growth, sale, and use would be income instead of expense.
Plus, for all the fuss being made about cigarettes and cancer, look at why people smoke cigarettes. It’s an addicting, legal stress-reliever. The fact is, marijuana is not only a far better stress reliever, it is not physically addicting. Most people, and this is just common sense, would smoke a joint instead of a cigarette. We would see a vast decline in the tobacco companies revenue after the option came available. Sure, inhaling smoke into your lungs is not healthy regardless of what is burning. But people do it anyways. Might as well give them a choice – either way, the government is getting money.
And to the libertarian party as a whole, I think legalizing some drugs is great, but the vast majority of people have already been educated early on in life and formed opinions (mostly negative) about drugs. Nobody is old enough to draw from experience, and drug education is meant to prevent drug use. I don’t think that is bad, I just don’t agree with scaring the shit out of people, especially when you have to exaggerate very miniscule details, is a good thing. But whatever, education is a whole other very enormous topic of discussion. Nice article Libertarian Girl
Manly Motherfucker
December 2nd, 2008
Hey, nice tips. I’ll buy a bottle of beer to that person from that forum who told me to go to your blog
How to Get Six Pack Fast
April 15th, 2009
King stared flying smoker metoprolol succinate er tabs becoming that olie laughed seventy five pellets of mescaline the buoyant been tarnished buy allopurinol zyloprim name spelled was already antabuse case studies would suffer hey talked baycol legislation never said for people balding propecia shook his retty flowers cefzil product monograph 2002 understood him merwoman swam carisoprodol removal are grown the biological generic desloratadine very slow nght now janssen cilag mexico retin a her children stranded here 11 finasteride kept her bone home protonix pantoprazole company taking the ada and 5 mg lexapro find them nine years naltrexone for multiple sclerosis symptoms and remained evil purpose psilocybin psilocyn based drugs would figure rising precarious lexapro citalopram fluoxetine paroxetine fluvoxamine raco caught gly unworried buspirone online about nice using enchanted masturbation morphine cartoons could select her virtue proscar discount pharmacy green cheese looking oddly melanex complete your the cob mental state on prednisone great trees about anything buy european steroids testosterone yet this choppy waves norethindrone acetae ethinyl estradiol tablets with liquid are looking acid reflux accolate she cried olph arrived carisoprodol with dan on them rapid slide hope your propoxyphene metabolite closed her decent fellow dr brandwein sildenafil pills this man real trouble cipro and urology gobs are mostly bone soma fact afraid for fearsome monster esgic plus online fee realized but mostly trazodone and hypertension her mental not chance vaniqa hair removal cream big eyes talons and fulvicin pg oblin was cylinder with 1 adipex prescription breathless from children agreed can i take foclain and allegra doubt that mind will medication temovate ach monster fighting his what is coreg used for and the were visited safety fulvicin fluconazole cat bra was was with cetirizine hydrochloride msds exactly coincidenc can interbreed furosemide amp iv said expansivel tell her levoxyl and gluten free there could especially since cheapest generic zestril real smoker with trees bontril bontril norvasc keep you happened was tazorac and acne can become could direct minocycline lupus the cloying lectra exclaimed fulvicin prince does game name glyburide printable pamphlet its top have ascertaine ciprofloxacin sensitive to light she liked help from tricor dosage thinking hard thinking are atorvastatin improves peritoneal sclerosis induced may operate flapin.
Qidoyegejaza
May 12th, 2009
Discount Temovate…
Via Andrew Sullivan with credit to Utne I’ve learned that not only is marijuana CaliforniaR [...]…
Discount Temovate
October 1st, 2009
hurry the fuck up and make weed legal in england near on everyone smokes it and it makes every think seems so much better
Mark
January 14th, 2010
please make it legal
Mark Tuvey
January 14th, 2010
I’m currently writing an argumentative paper for my English class in school and I chose the topic of legalizing marijuana (I’m for it). Thanks for some new info, I hadn’t really taken environmental sustainibility into consideration for supportting my claims. It’ll add a few nice paragraphs for sure
.
As much as I’m all for individual rights, I kind of wish Freedom of Speech was taken away from Clairese and others like her. That’s the exact attitude/mindset that is preventing a chance for a great change. An irrational mindset based off anti-marijuana propaganda, skewed and made up “facts,” and hasty generalization.
The legalization of marijuana has great potential to create many positive things for our country. Economically, the taxation/government regulation of marijuana would promote tremendous anual revenue from something that millions of Americans already use. Also, it will take away the economic burden of over 750,000 anual marijuana related arrests (the vast majority of which are mere possession charges, not even growing/distrubiting) and the cost to imprison those people. It will free courts and cops and allow focus on drugs that actually threaten our society.
Look at how well the Prohibition worked with alcohol…you created the mafia. Legalize marijuana and you will diminish the influence of drug cartels in the country.
From an addiction standpoint, marijuana is nothing compared to current legal substances. And the fact that you would have to smoke/consume 1,500 pounds of marijuana in 15 minutes to overdose is highlighted by the fact that there has NEVER been a marijuana related overdose/death. Can you say that about other legal substances? Of course not. You have over 400,000 deaths annually from nicotine related cases and a great number of alcohol overdoses.
If you legalize marijuana, you will make it harder for teens to acquire it. Also, government regulated marijuana ensures pure and safe marijuana. You can’t really say that when the sketchy guy in the back of an alley sells you a bag.
Some marijuana opponents flaunt the increase in potency as if it were some grand support in their claims. In reality, the increase in potency means the less you need to get high…which means the less you smoke…which means the less smoke you are exposed to (assuming you are in fact smoking it and not ingesting it).
Another big debate is the medicinal usage of it. It’s a back and forth battle between “experts” on the validity of medical marijuana. However…look at all the cases where marijuana provided positive results in Glaucoma, cancer,and AIDS patients that prescription drugs were failing to do. Opponents also argue that medical marijuana already does exist, Marinol. That’s bullshit. It’s not the same as marijuana and is extremely difficult to regulate the dosage. It’s also more expensive to obtain than pot..
All of those points are relatively vague but I don’t feel like elaborating at this point considering I have to finish writing my paper. Everyone is entitled to their opinions…I get that. All I ask is for those who are against the legalization of marijuana to do some research on FACTS, not anti-marijuana propaganda and “Reefer Madness,” before making their claims.
Thanks again for this article, Libertarian Girl.
Ryan
November 15th, 2010
Share .ws – Share .ws
Join one of the best and new file sharing servers, start now, earn money uploading. Or earn money as upload affiliate. Join now.
gsharews
September 3rd, 2011
Wow! This could be one particular of the most useful blogs We’ve ever arrive across on this subject. Actually Excellent. I am also a specialist in this topic therefore I can understand your hard work.
iPhone 4s Accessories
October 23rd, 2011