At first, I was going to ignore this issue, but since it's been all over the press, I decided that now was a good time to bring up the subject of marijuana.
Last night, I accidentally caught a portion of the Sean Hannity show. The few minutes I watched was a good reminder of why I normally avoid him like the plague. The guy's an over-rated blow-hard, who gives true conservatism a bad name.
Anyways ... as I was flipping channels, I watched a segment of Sean Hannity because they were talking about Michael Phelps and the scandal over his smoking pot at a party.
Big frickin' deal! I mean ... who's life is so drab that they even concern themselves with this?
Of course, Sean Hannity in all his righteousness, was just appalled, "he's a role model" after all ... yakety, yak, yak ...
It's none of Hannity's (or anyone else's) business what Michael Phelps does in his private life in the first place. And you mean ... gasp! Michael isn't perfect?
Where are these mythical, infallible role models Hannity adores? Besides, who made Sean Hannity judge and jury? God?
Which brings me to 5 points of interest concerning marijuana (pot, mary jane, hemp, cannabis, etc.) and conservatism:
1) Sean Hannity is no conservative. That's right, I said it! Sean Hannity is a faux-conservative. A fake. A poser. Then again ... I define conservatism according to the man who defined it best - Barry Goldwater - who supported the 1996 medical-marijuana initiative in Arizona which passed by over 60%.
Another genuine conservative, William F. Buckley, and one of the most important economists in our time, Milton Friedman, supported marijuana legalization too.
Let's see ... a talking head (with bad hair), or Goldwater, Buckley and Friedman? You know my answer. What's yours?
2) Marijuana is a plant that grows in the ground. A plant that, as far as I know, has existed longer on Earth than humankind. Nobody makes it. There's no mad-scientist in a trailer park cooking it up with common poisons ... it just grows ... like roses, trees, and grass.
3) To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, Michael Phelps' smoking pot neither breaks your leg, nor picks your pocket. In other words, whether Phelps or your next door neighbor choose to smoke a joint, their choice in no way violates your liberty. So what gives you the right to infringe theirs?
4) In the days of the American Revolution, hemp (aka marijuana) was America's largest export. Virginia farmers were penalized if they didn't grow it. About half the clothes worn at the time were made of hemp. Thomas Jefferson and George Washington cultivated cannabis, and Betsy Ross' first American flags were made of hemp!
5) The medical possibilities of marijuana are real! I'm not going to bore you with glaucoma, nausea, and the stuff you hear about everyday. I'm going to talk about something much more close to home in my world.
My father has cancer. It's horrible! I can't even begin to describe the emotions ... despair, anger, sadness, loneliness, and everything else in between and beyond. The chemotherapy seems as bad as the disease itself, and it too often appears to be a hopeless situation.
As I've told my father, if it were me, I'd try anything I felt had a rational (even if slight) chance at helping me! Unfortunately, the authoritarian government keeps tight controls on scientific studies concerning marijuana. Since I don't have a crystal ball, I can't tell you what the true health costs of this control is, but some of the studies done, should at least open our minds to the possibilities.
A study done at Harvard University showed that THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) can reduce lunger cancer growth:
Researchers at Harvard University report that THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, reduces lung cancer tumor growth by at least 50%, and also reduces the ability of the lung cancer tumors to metastasize, or spread, to other areas. These findings are being reported at the current annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, in Los Angeles, CA.
Delta-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the key hallucinogenic compound in marijuana, was found to inhibit non-small cell lung cancer by targeting and binding to the cells' cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2.
The mythology and hysteria of Reefer Madness isn't worth my fathers life. Is it worth yours?
A Final Note to Christians:
I'm not speaking to all Christians here, but you'll know who I'm talking about ... or if it's you I'm addressing personally.
Maybe I've got a faulty copy of the Bible, I don't know ... but I can't find a passage anywhere in the Bible that gives us, mere humans, the right and authority to be judge and jury ... to damn or save.
One thing I know for certain though ... is you'd condemn, outlaw, and chastise with all your "righteous" might ... Jesus' hand-picked disciples. And since I believe Jesus is God ... I'll follow in His footsteps ... not yours.
