Up In Smoke

You can never know what the future holds, but you can get a pretty darned good idea if you read enough history and keep your eyes open. Society as we know it is about to change, and with it some things are going to happen for the first time in American history. The indicators are there, but what they mean is open to interpretation. For example, California is starving and their government has shown its ability to be creative. Hello, Proposition 19. Not only has it started to gain momentum, it has started other states thinking about the same. What will happen when pot becomes legal? Forget about the fine line between decriminalization and fully legal, it's just a matter of time.

As more states sink into debt, they may be a little more inclined to listen to the people, who are willing to pay for their pot even if the utilities go off or the fridge is empty. As people begin to buckle under long-term stress, they will look for relief where they can find it. The raging success of drugs like K2 show that people will go to great lengths to pass a drug test while getting what they want. By golly, slap some sales tax on that and you have a thriving business. Legalizing pot won't put California in the black, but it might keep enough money flowing to save a few programs that are keeping people in their homes and fed. If they make a successful run of it, other states will follow.

One last thought. Has anyone considered how the dealers are going to react? I'm just saying, if Prohibition taught us anything, it's that we don't screw around with the guys that have all the money and machine guns. Much like our millionaire families of today are often descended from liquor runners, one has to wonder what effect this will have on the next generation's Capone. It might weaken gangs and free up the legal system. It could backfire and make things worse. For better or worse, the war on drugs will be forever changed.

Food for thought. Or maybe that's just the munchies kicking in.

Bon