By Mansfield Frazier
Both 60 Minutes and Newsweek (full disclosure: I semi-regularly write for the combined Daily Beast/Newsweek organization) recently did major stories on the medical marijuana industry currently flourishing in Colorado. Not for nothing is Denver known as “The Mile-High City.” With over 200 legal (at least legal by state — if not federal — law) pot dispensaries in Denver alone, the number of locations citizens armed with prescriptions from their doctors… a script that’s easily attainable for virtually anything that ails you… can purchase a dizzying array of pot products is three times the number of Starbucks and McDonald’s outlets combined.
Matt Cook, a former narcotics officer who wrote and enforces the strict marijuana laws in Colorado, was featured in the 60 Minutes segment saying the pot industry has created a decent-sized economic boom in Denver, with over a million square feet of commercial space being leased to growing operations, and have created tax revenues in excess of $20 million. Couple that revenue with the savings accrued by not having to waste police manpower arresting users and the multiplier effect kicks in.
The subject is of national interest due (in large part) to the fact Colorado, Washington and Oregon all have marijuana legalization bills on the ballot this year. And proponents are not couching their support in medical terms… these laws seek to approve pot for recreational use. If the measures pass in these states, the wins will further signal the beginning of the end of our decades-long national nightmare known as “the War on Drugs.” And ending this stupid war is one of the surest ways to bring down the number of killings in poor neighborhoods in cities like Chicago, Detroit, and yes, Cleveland.
But it’s somewhat ironic the State of Colorado is leading the charge against nonsensical — and highly destructive to citizens and families — marijuana laws. A red state (that appears to be turning somewhat blue), it probably has the highest percentage of retired military of any state in the union. This, on the other hand, indeed might explain the things going on weed-wise in the state.
The military in this country is overwhelmingly right wing, which also means ex-service members are more inclined to stand up to the government than the rest of the citizenry; they consider it a patriotic duty, and their familiarity with raw, naked power make them less afraid of it. And, while I find little ideological common-ground with Tea Partiers, I do admire their broad independent streak, distrust of the heavy hand of government, and determination not to become “sheeple” (a combination of the words “sheep” and “people”).
For Americans to lock away fellow citizens at the astoundingly high rate we’ve sustained over the last 40+ years in large part because of government propaganda in the area of drugs (marijuana is still considered as dangerous as heroin and cocaine by the DEA) proves that we indeed have become “sheeple.” But it was not always this way.
During Prohibition there were large pockets of resistance to the wrongheaded laws against the manufacture and consumption of alcohol. In the hills and hollers of Kentucky and Tennessee distilleries operated almost openly. Indeed, because of the smoke created in the whiskey-making process it was exceptionally easy for the hated government “revenueers” to spot stills, but getting convictions for violating the 18th Amendment was entirely another matter. Juries simply nullified the government’s charges by returning “not guilty” verdicts in case after case… no matter the evidence.
In the 60 Minutes segment, Steve Kroft interviews Boulder County District attorney Stan Garnett who said, “… it’s virtually impossible to impanel a jury on a marijuana case here, let alone get a conviction. What we deal with is what prosecutors call jury nullification, where juries say, ‘I know what the law is, but I’m not going to follow it.’ This community has made it very clear that criminal enforcement of marijuana is not something they want me to spend any time on.”
Steve Kroft then asked, “It is really an issue here?”
To which Stan Garnett replied: “It’s really not an issue.”
So, in spite of federal laws against marijuana, folks in Colorado have wisely found a way to bring the huge underground marijuana economy above ground and turn it into a profitable (and taxable) industry. Can this kind of wise, grassroots public policy be accomplished in other locales around the country? Sure, just as long as the people haven’t already been turned into “sheeples.”
Occasionally you hear rumblings that Peter B. Lewis (the head of Progressive Insurance of Mayfield Village, who allegedly is a pot smoker) is going to attempt to gather signatures to put a marijuana initiative on the ballot in Ohio that, if passed, would bring our state into the 21st century. But I can understand his trepidation: the level of intelligence (or courage) among our state’s electorate leaves quite a bit to be desired. While we in Ohio might not be quite as backwards as the residents of some of the states below the Cotton Curtain, we’re pretty damn close. But what if we here in Cuyahoga County for once became leaders instead of being content to just be followers?
According to the Newsweek article by Tony Dokoupil, “The number of regular pot users is up by 3 million in the past five years, and the rate of high-school experimentation is at a 30-year high. When a kid first lights up at about age 16, it’s usually not with a cigarette. Twelve states now treat a personal stash like a minor traffic offense, 17 allow medical marijuana.”
Similar to Prohibition, our drug laws are doing more damage to society than good. Cuyahoga County residents could send a clear signal to Peter B. Lewis that we are indeed enlightened and progressive citizens by refusing to continue to go along with the prosecution of pot heads and the like. We too can engage in jury nullification when those charged with petty drug crimes take their cases to trial. This might encourage Mr. Lewis to go forward with his statewide ballot initiative to legalize pot.
We could then tax it and use the revenue to offer real treatment options to those addicted to the real dangerous drugs: heroin and meth. All we have to do is quit being “sheeple.”
From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://www.neighborhoodsolutionsinc.com.