Medical marijuana sellers are becoming an important factor in American politics
Meanwhile, representatives of the rapidly growing cannabis industry are becoming increasingly prominent players in American politics.
Americans know well that anything can be expected from the authorities of Berkeley. The city, home to the University of California, has a firmly established reputation as a bastion of free thinkers. The Russian-language Wikipedia, in a rather short article about this locality, reports that Berkeley "is considered one of the most liberal cities in the country. It was this city that, in recent history, first legally recognized same-sex families, using the term 'domestic partnership'."
But the latest legislative initiative of the city administration is bold even by Berkeley's standards. Its essence is as follows: starting next August, low-income families (annual income not exceeding $32,000 per person or $46,000 per family) will be able to smoke weed for free. They will receive it absolutely legally at medical marijuana dispensaries, pursuant to a city council order requiring marijuana dealers to give away two percent of their product to the poor. Thus, even those who cannot afford the official price – $400 per ounce (just under 30 grams) – will still have the opportunity to ease their suffering with cannabis.
According to Mayor Tom Bates, the administration is simply trying to ensure equal access to medical marijuana for all residents. In particular, Bates believes this medicine is necessary for many cancer patients, but not all of them have enough money to buy legal marijuana.
This point of view, of course, has its opponents. "Instead of helping the poor escape poverty, the city administration tells them: 'Let's all get high together,'" believes John Lowell, representing the California Narcotic Officers Association (which engages in anti-drug propaganda). According to him, free marijuana kills the desire to look for work, he emphasizes. Moreover, weed "has never inspired anyone to get their butt off the couch." And that's not to mention that patients in need of money could sell the free marijuana on the black market, critics of the new policy remind us.
A little statistics
Despite the resistance of American conservatives, legalization advocates have achieved significant success in recent years. Currently, in 23 states, as well as in Washington, D.C., marijuana use is legal for medical or recreational purposes. And last fall, according to Gallup, American society reached a psychologically important milestone – more than half of respondents (58 percent) spoke in favor of cannabis legalization. For comparison, in 1969, when this survey was first conducted, the share of supporters of legalizing the drug did not exceed 12 percent. As is easy to guess, among Democrats, advocates of weed are much more numerous than in the Republican camp – 65 and 35 percent, respectively.
Another authoritative sociological organization – the Pew Research Center – confirms the data from their colleagues at Gallup. According to their information, in the spring of 2013, supporters of legalizing marijuana in the United States outnumbered opponents – 52 percent.
Notably, although the number of legalization advocates remained almost unchanged throughout the 1980s, and then steadily grew from the second half of the 1990s (with growth noticeably accelerating by the end of the 2000s), Americans did not start smoking more marijuana. According to the same Gallup Institute, over the past three decades, the proportion of those who have tried weed increased by only five percent: in 1985, 33 percent of respondents admitted to it, in 2013 – 38 percent. And only seven percent of U.S. citizens smoke marijuana regularly.
Smoked and inhaled
Why is the idea of legalization so popular in a country where fewer than 10 percent of citizens regularly engage with cannabis? The answer is simple: it is advocated by those whom Americans are accustomed to looking up to – show business stars and other celebrities. The list of those who have admitted to trying weed is too long to include in a single article.
Even the list of those who not only tried it but actively call for legalization is quite impressive. It includes actors Woody Harrelson, Elijah Wood, Danny DeVito, George Clooney, Morgan Freeman; actresses Jennifer Aniston, Pamela Anderson, and Megan Fox; musicians Carlos Santana, Sting, Snoop Dogg, and Justin Timberlake; country star Willie Nelson; writer Stephen King; and even billionaire George Soros, who donated a million dollars to the campaign for cannabis legalization.
Moreover, the United States has been ruled for three decades by people who know firsthand what it means to get high. When Bill Clinton admitted in 1992 that he had tried marijuana, it became a real bombshell. His phrase "I smoked, but I didn't inhale" turned into an enduring meme. And already in 2002, as he was about to leave the Oval Office, Clinton gave an interview to Rolling Stone magazine, in which he essentially called for legalization. "The use and possession of small amounts of marijuana in some countries is not considered illegal, and that is correct," he stated.
George W. Bush, who succeeded Clinton as president, is better known for his addiction to alcohol. Religion helped him overcome his unhealthy craving for alcohol. “Goodbye Jack, hello Jesus,” proclaimed the future 43rd president of the United States in 1986, forever renouncing his favorite whiskey, Jack Daniel’s. Bush did not elaborate on his relationship with pot. But in 2005, he indirectly admitted that he had tried this drug in the past, saying: “I'm not going to answer the marijuana question. You know why? Because I don't want little children doing what I tried. I want to be president. I want to lead. Would you want your child to say, 'Daddy, President Bush tried marijuana, and I'm going to try it, too'?”
As for the current American leader, he is not evasive. Barack Obama wrote in his book 'Dreams from My Father,' published in 1995, that in his youth he often used marijuana and that it helped him.
“As is known, I smoked pot as a teenager. I consider it a bad habit and a vice similar to smoking cigarettes. I smoked cigarettes in my youth and for a long period of my adult life,” Barack Obama told The New Yorker magazine in January of this year. “I don't think marijuana is more dangerous than alcohol,” he added.
Interesting details about young Obama's habits can be found in the book 'Barack Obama: The Story' by the renowned journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner David Maraniss. In particular, the author claims that in his youth, Barack was an active member of the 'Choom Gang.' If Clinton 'smoked but didn't inhale,' then members of the aforementioned 'club of interest' punished anyone who did so: one who did not fully inhale the smoke lost the right to the next hit. The author of this rule was the future 44th president of the United States. Another idea of Obama's: getting high in a car with the windows closed so that even after the joint was finished, one could inhale the remaining smoke inside the car. The book testifies that Barack loved pot so much that he would cut in line when the joint was passed around.
To complete the picture, it can be added that even now, when Obama has become president, there are plenty of people in his inner circle who are not shy about admitting to marijuana use. For example, Secretary of State John Kerry, during a debate organized by Rock the Vote in November 2003, answered 'yes' to the question of whether he had tried pot.
The Big Politics Factor
Marijuana is gradually becoming a political factor in the United States, and this is quite natural. It is not even that the Democratic Party must take into account the views of its electorate not only on the issue of abortion or taxes, but also on the legalization of cannabis. The burgeoning cannabis industry is an important source of funds needed for election campaigns.
“Everyone knows that the cannabis industry has money to share,” Associated Press correspondent Kristen Wyatt quotes Tripp Keber, the head of Dixie Elixirs & Edibles, a company that produces drinks, food products and lotions with marijuana. Keber gave the interview at a fundraising event for Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper. This politician opposed the legalization of marijuana in 2012 but promised to take voters' wishes on the issue into account in the future. “It was amusing to watch his evolution. I told him that there would be a hundred people in the hall ready to make the maximum donation (the state law limit is 1100 dollars per person - note by Lenta.ru),” Keber said. And after some time, he himself launched a fundraiser for Hickenlooper in Denver, aiming to raise 16 thousand dollars. The result exceeded the cannabis industry worker's expectations - his supporters donated 40 thousand dollars.
Of course, this is not charity. Donors expect that their candidate, if reelected, will defend the interests of legal marijuana sellers. For example, they may achieve a tax reduction for their product or help open new marijuana dispensaries. “This industry generates revenue, and we invest in politics. Not a week goes by without some political donation,” Kerber asserts.
It becomes clear how much money can be raised by exploiting the legalization theme when looking at donation data from campaigns preceding the legalization of marijuana use in various states. In Alaska – 850 thousand dollars, in Oregon – 2.3 million, and in Florida as much as about six million.
It is clear that American politicians concerned with fundraising can no longer shyly look away from this industry, even if they themselves are not among the ardent supporters of loosening anti-cannabis legislation. “Those who used to refuse to accept checks from marijuana-related organizations no longer do so,” states Ethan Nadelmann, head of the Drug Policy Alliance, an organization fighting for open discussion of drug-related issues.
Artyom KOBZEV.
Lenta.Ru