Unsolicited observation inbound....
16 states have legalized cannabis outright, Oregon decriminalized all drugs, and as of December 2nd, 2020, the world has officially recognized the medical utility of cannabis. It is unacceptable to continue letting the losers set precedent, drafting laws that negatively impact otherwise law abiding citizens. In fact this behavior is corrosive, and damages the credibility of the individuals and organizations who want/need to be taken seriously.
For example, I'll pick on my home state of Arizona… In 1996 California passed legislation legalizing the use of medical cannabis in the state, everyone knows this. What many don’t remember, is that Arizona was right there with them in that historic year. Our citizens voted to legalize the medicinal use of cannabis also, but were overruled by a fanatic, overzealous political class.
There are plenty of people who will be shocked by this fact, but they shouldn’t be. Arizona came into the Union as one of the most progressive states, so much so that we had to scrap our initial constitution because it was too progressive. The drafters of our state constitution included the ability of voters to recall federal judges, and it didn’t sit well with President Taft. So they were told to try again, and in 1912 Arizona was granted statehood.
However, as soon as the federal powers recognized our status within the Union, voters went right back and added the right of citizens to recall federal judges. We are independent minded, and don’t take kindly to being told what to do. Which really does make one wonder just how the Republican party has been able to keep the state in a stranglehold of ignorance for as long as it has.
Coming back to 1996, and the voter initiative that was approved legalizing the medicinal use of cannabis. When the bill passed in Arizona, it sent the career politicians and prohibitionists into a frenzy, they immediately overturned the vote, and the will of the people, maintaining the status quo of prohibition. Which brings us right back to that pesky voter initiative, and the independent “don’t tell me what to do” attitude of Arizona citizens.
In 1998 voters passed a bill restricting the ability of biased politicians to kill, or render ineffectual, voter passed legislation. Now, it takes a super majority to even amend a voter initiative, what’s more, those amendments need to be in furtherance of the initiative in question. In other words, politicians are handcuffed from overturning the will of the people. It took twelve years before Arizona citizens passed their next voter initiative legalizing medical cannabis in the state.
The fight for cannabis reform is not for the faint of heart. There are a number of people and organizations who have devoted themselves completely to the eradication of the medical cannabis program, not just in Arizona, but across the country. These people refuse to acknowledge any scientific data unless it lends credibility to their empty rhetoric and propaganda.
In and of itself, that’s fine, if they choose to remain willfully ignorant of the medical utility of cannabis. They have that right. What is not alright, is to rig the system, pontificate, and disenfranchise people who do not agree with them, based on the evidence they are provided, their lived experience, or traditional beliefs.
The debate over medical cannabis is over, yet the losers persist. Any and all attempts by politicians, law enforcement, or others to continue dismissing, persecuting, extorting and imprisoning sick, disabled, and dying Americans is an affront to everything we purport to stand for as a nation. Simply put, it is a crime against humanity.
*Remarks complete.
-Rico