What’s going on?
We all remember the Harold and Kumar movies, right? The classics about two more or less brilliant potheads that go on wonderful trips filled with action and excitement while constantly stoned, and have a knack for bumping into Neil Patrick Harris? They caused some controversy due to how lightly it portrayed drug abuse, and some groups called it immoral and evil.
The actor that played Kumar, Kalpen Suresh Modi, also known as Kal Penn, is going to be working for President Obama, as a sort of reward for having labored for him during the election campaign. As opposed to other known figures who simply talked on his behalf, Kal also did practical work at the events. Working for Obama he is going to “keep the president in contact with certain groups in Asia and the pacific, as well as certain art groups.” To me that sounds like a bogus job. Either it’s just as a symbolic reward, or it’s a sort of gateway into something else.
So why bother to write about it?
Naturally, anti prohibitionists such as myself are going to speculate, does this have something to do with prohibition? It’s a pretty far stretch, and probably belongs in my friend’s conspiracy blog, but the Stoners are already on the move, so what can you do. The reason why people think that a legalization act is on it’s way is that Obama already seemed to go out of his way to inform the public that he had smoked marijuana. I will not delve too deeply into the matter, but I feel that I must touch upon it in order to justify my opinion.
Why marijuana needs to be legalized
Before talking about why it should be legalized, one should analyze the arguments that were used in the first place i order to illegalize it. Claim: Marijuana is a dangerous drug, and works as a gateway drug. First off, it isn’t a drug, it’s a plant. Secondly, if you look at any serious study you will notice that the real gateway drugs are nicotine and alcohol. Stoners stick to marijuana. Thirdly, no one ever illegalized anything because it was dangerous. Bullets and alcohol anyone? Fact: No one has ever died from marijuana. Marijuana has medical uses, nicotine and bullets do not.
So why did they illegalize it? It’s a political reason. They didn’t want people trading with Mexicans or Cubans. It’s really a very new law, passed on state level around the 1920s, and it was a measure to keep the foreigners at bay, make no mistake, the laws against marijuana are racist laws, perpetrated by corrupt politicians and overzealous puritans. The arguments for illegalizing marijuana are few and terrible compared to those for illegalizing cigarettes, which do nothing but kill you, and by legalizing and regulating trade you not only kill a lot of crime, but you open up a brand new market for trade and taxing at the same time.
I’ll be quite honest, I have no idea what role Kal Penn could possibly play in all of this, but when the public thinks of him, they think of marijuana most of the time, and I am the public, and that is why I wrote this entry.
You can read a norwegian article about it here.
Song of the Blog: Because I Got High
Sincerely
Bjørn
