(Long Island, NY) Before you start shouting: I have no evidence whatsoever that New York officials are thinking about joining California in considering making marijuana legal and taxable. That notion as it applies to New York is, shall we say, a pipe dream. Sorry.
But the question remains. In an age where state after state is eying big money problems, can ANY state afford to ignore the potential of legalizing, regulating and taxing a recreational substance that’s just as harmless as beer?
I’d like to point out that vast revenue streams await the state of New York simply from busting non-compliant citizens. Look at our byzantine parking laws. You can park here, but not there. You can park there unless it’s a Tuesday and you’re wearing socks. You can’t park in this space unless you have a sticker, or if you have a sticker you can ONLY park in this space. Unless you’re wearing socks.
Now imagine the regulatory stew that would come from a set of strictly enforced marijuana laws. Here’s what it could look like: You can’t smoke marijuana within 100 feet of any school or religious institution. You can’t smoke pot within 100 feet of a day care center or hospital. You can’t smoke in a public place like an outdoor sports arena or concert.
You can purchase and use marijuana, but only from a licensed vendor. You can’t purchase between certain hours, you can’t transport without a license. You can’t transport without specially approved containers licensed by the state. In short, all the liquor laws would apply to this, plus smoking codes and fire marshal policies.
It would be so easy to incur a fine–the same way it is with drinking and smoking–that it might actually be easier on the pot smokers to keep the current drug laws in place. The utter hassle of buying and consuming marijuana legally will probably send most people screaming back to the liquor store to get a six pack instead.
Those anti-pot hysterical types have no idea that they are actually making it easier to smoke marijuana by keeping things as they are. I can’t imagine anything worse for the average dope-smoking Grateful Dead loving four-decades-too-late hippies than legalizing and regulating this stuff.
So please, New York, keep it illegal. The last thing we need is a bunch of drunken hippies lurching about the place complaining that it’s easier to “score” a 12-pack of Newcastle Brown Ale than it is to deal with all the hassle of legally buying and consuming state-sponsored pot. When they’re stoned, they are nice and peaceful and just want to go to Dairy Queen. Drunk, they are VERY annoying.
To mutilate that Bob Marley song, please “Illegalize It”.
Well, it’s already illegal, but you know what I mean. Trust me, New York REALLY NEEDS to avoid the spectacle of all those inebriated Woodstock lovers. Let them have their illicit fun and the rest of the world can live in peace. Besides which, if ordinary people start smoking legal marijuana, who knows where it will end? We might all take up recycling and quit being such angry drivers.
And we can’t very well have a world without road rage, now can we?
