CAN MARIJUANA SOLVE THE RECESSION?

My best friend's mom is a Bruce Springsteen-loving fourth grade art
teacher at a local elementary school in the suburbs, while my
boyfriend from high school worshiped rap and started up his own
fraternity at his top-10 party school college. Other than knowing me,
their only real similarity is that they both habitually smoke
marijuana - and they'll both be affected if the drug is legalized in
what would essentially be our biggest government bailout yet.

According to a 2006 study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, my
friend's mom and my ex-boyfriend are two among 14.8 million Americans
aged 12 and over - almost one in 20 people living in the U.S. - that
have ever smoked marijuana. Statistics and personal experience have
me convinced that marijuana use is not only widespread, but is
enjoyed among a diverse crowd.

From personally observing friends use both, I find that alcohol
tends to land people in dangerous situations more often than
marijuana does. We could all share embarrassing drinking stories, and
while many are humorous, the underlying implications about alcohol
use are worrisome. In contrast, my pot-smoking friends are usually
too fixated on whatever Seth Rogen DVD is playing to get in an
accident or a fight - though they may or may not eat that whole box
of Samoas you were saving.

Considering the widespread use of the drug, many find it confusing
that consumption and possession are now both illegal when the plant
has been used relatively safely and legally for spiritual and
cultural purposes for multiple millennia - especially while alcohol
and tobacco, frequently cited to be more damaging to one's health, are legal.

Interestingly, the recent economic situation seems to have provided
the much-needed prod for the government to re-evaluate our nation's
drug laws. California especially, now facing budget deficits for the
upcoming fiscal year, is seriously discussing legalizing its
number-one cash crop for the sake of securing fiscally sound tax
revenues from the plant.

Decriminalization is a logical and rational move. According to a
recent column by TIME columnist Joe Klein, 47.5 percent of all
arrests are marijuana-related. These petty possession cases pose an
unnecessary burden on our legal system, detract from larger issues
that need attention and of course impose costs as well. $68 billion
is spent annually for those serving time to undergo corrections, and
a large chunk of these corrections are for those in nonviolent
marijuana-related cases.

Not to mention, it seems patently ridiculous that people who have few
other major blights on their character or record are getting turned
down from jobs as a result of a criminal history that involves a
crime as insignificant as possession under a few grams, while the
minimum sentence for a crime as heinous as rape isn't even five years
in many states.

But while decriminalization makes sense right now (and really, always
has), it is just as crucial that the government exercise the utmost
caution with this issue. Though marijuana is arguably safer than
other widely-available drugs like alcohol, it still poses the dangers
inherent with any drug. Risks associated with using marijuana,
including increased susceptibility to respiratory diseases, show that
stringent punishments for abuse of the drug are still necessary.

The economic benefits of such an action are readily apparent:
California tax collectors, to cite one of many examples, have
estimated that legalizing the drug would alleviate the need for
various costs and reductions by providing $1.3 billion dollars in tax
revenues. However salient of a concept, though, the government would
be forgoing its ethical integrity if it were to quickly legalize
marijuana for the sole purpose of yanking the country out of the
recession, instead of addressing the issue in a more neutral way.
There are many factors that require careful consideration - how more
widespread marijuana use would affect the dynamics of society; what
the impact on Mexican border violence would be - for our government
to rush the process for financial motives.

Legalization is a process that, when it does happen - and in all
likelihood, it will - should proceed with extreme caution, in a slow
process that is regulated carefully and reevaluated often, like its
medical counterpart. A strict age limit is obviously necessary (if
for no other reason than that no one wants to see more arrogance in
those 13-year-old punks that frequent Little 5 Points after school).
And once it happens, people need to use responsibly to facilitate the process.

It is reassuring that our government is progressive (and well,
desperate) enough to consider revising the nation's archaic drug
laws, but if it has any ethical integrity remaining, the process will
take more than just a few months of contemplation and discussion. So
pot-smokers of the nation, be hopeful and be active. But in the
meantime, don't throw out your Febreze Air just yet.