Right now, we’re on the verge of a major economic boom. States from across the country are legalizing medical marijuana, and the effects have proven to be excellent. Heavily taxed pot has made Colorado’s state budget as smoothly running as can be. Oregon, Washington, and other “green” states have noticed a massive uptick in tourism.
New Jersey is a strange state in this sense. Most people here are very much for legalizing marijuana, but our government has been dragging its feet—even when it comes to the medical side of things.
Like others in our beautiful Garden State, I’m all for legalizing weed. In fact, I believe that we should legalize it recreationally, too. If you look at the history behind cannabis’s illegalization, you’ll realize that it should never have been banned at all.
Marijuana was a plant that was a victim of a smear campaign. It was vilified and illegalized as a way to give cops a reason to arrest minorities. If you take a look at the video above, you’ll see one of the most well-known examples of anti-cannabis propaganda ever made: Reefer Madness. This ridiculous movie is what our politicians want us to believe, and sadly, is also the kind of garbage we’ve based our policies on.
While Reefer Madness may seem like something funny to you, it’s really not. It’s a sign that we have a corrupt government that’s okay to lie to us in order to keep people suffering. It’s a sign that Uncle Sam is more interested in jailing people than keeping a healthy economy filled with tax money and happy tourists intact.
I don’t know about you, but that seems very unethical to me. So, maybe it’s time we change things up. Maybe it’s time we learn to live and let live—and welcome back Mary Jane into society once and for all.