Somebody shut those stoners up
I suppose it’s understandable when people, such as Amanda Marcotte at Pandagon, look down their nose with disdain at all those potty-mouthed legalization advocates. I suppose it’s also understandable that she might, like me, be a bit uncomfortable with the antics of some legalization advocates. I have expressed misgivings about Marc Emery smoking up in front of police stations and showing off his gigantic bong in every photo opportunity that he gets. I sometimes wish that the face of the pro-legalization movement didn’t trigger all the prejudices of narrow-minded people. But you know what? At least they said and did something, unlike everybody else, who sat on their butts while the US incarceration rate sky-rocketed, while disproportionate numbers of poor and black people were targeted, while an incredibly useful plant was demonized and while no-knock raids of medical cannabis compassion clubs took place. If it wasn’t for those “stoners”, nobody would have done or said a thing.
Not only that, but the ridiculous prejudice against “stoners” by even so-called progressive liberal bloggers should give one pause. If they participate in the stigmatization of cannabis users themselves, are they really that progressive? Hmmm.
This train of thought is similar to the following:
“Poverty sucks but I sure can’t stand poor people. They smell so bad and never have any money and they are so uneducated. If only they would quit being poor and go away, things would be so much better!”
I say when you see a crowd of legalization advocates smoking up in public at a rally, you should understand why it’s a valuable action to take. If we decide to sit back and do nothing at all, nothing will ever change. People need to see that smoking pot is no big deal and nothing to freak out over. The more people see this relatively harmless action, the less likely they are to freak out about it.
If you do not use cannabis and never will, good for you. You should still care about this issue. Your tax dollars are being pissed away jailing producers sellers and consumers of a beneficial plant.
By the way, the Global Marijuana March is coming up. It will be a super swell time, full of people smoking up publicly and proudly.
