Kansas legalizing marijuana would be a good thing

Opinion/Marijuana - 13 minute read

Senate Bill 135 was introduced to the Kansas Senate on Wednesday, February 1, 2023, and referred to Committee on Federal and State Affairs the following day. This bill, known as the medicinal cannabis regulation act, would regulate the cultivation, processing, distribution, sale and use of medical marijuana. Despite Kansas finally having a bill to legalize marijuana at some level, the bill has drawn criticism from those that support the legalization of marijuana, going so far as calling it a “joke” as the bill is too restrictive. With this bill, the smoking or vaping of marijuana would still be criminalized. The 78-page bill is a laundry list of restrictions including how a marijuana product can be advertised.

The criminalization of marijuana is in large part a Republican talking point, and as someone with a largely conservative platform, I want to make the argument for why the legalization of marijuana in Kansas would actually be a good thing.

History of the criminalization of marijuana in the U.S.

Originally being used to create rope, clothing, sails, and other materials, the production of hemp (a form of the plant that is low in THC) would become so popular in America that it would replace cotton as the major cash crop by 1890 in southern states. Marijuana would become a popular ingredient in many medicinal products in the late nineteenth century and public pharmacies openly sold it. By 1906, the Pure Food and Drug Act would require over-the-counter remedies to be labeled if the product contained any cannabis.

By 1910 Mexican immigrants began flooding into the U.S. following the Mexican Revolution. It was during this time that the newly immigrated civilians would introduce recreational use of marijuana to American culture. Marijuana became linked to the Spanish-speaking newcomers, of which many people felt fear and prejudice toward. Anti-drug campaigners warned against the “Marijuana Menace” and marijuana and the Mexican people who used it were attributed to horrible crimes.

California would be the first state to pass a marijuana prohibition law in 1913 despite the fact that there was no indication that cannabis was a problem prior to the law’s passage. The law was passed as an obscure technical amendment by the State Board of Pharmacy, which was leading one of the earliest and most aggressive anti-narcotics campaign in the country. The following year, Utah would outlaw marijuana along with other common vices that were a part of Mormon religious prohibitions enacted into law.

As the Great Depression drove massive unemployment, the public began resenting and fearing Mexican immigrants even more which would drive public and governmental concern about marijuana. By 1930, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) would be created with the first commissioner being Harry J. Anslinger. By the following year, a total of 29 states would outlaw marijuana.

The 1920s saw the prohibition of alcohol and prior to his appointment at the FBN, Anslinger claimed that cannabis did not pose a threat to people, being on the record as calling the danger of marijuana “laughable” and any idea of it leading to madness or violent behavior an “absurd fallacy”. However, in 1933, just three years into Anslinger’s appointment, prohibition was repealed, leaving the FBN limited to going after narcotics like cocaine and heroin—drugs used by a small percentage of the population. No longer able to find fame and glory in his work, and hungry for power and a larger department budget, Anslinger decided to make it his mission to put an end to all drugs including cannabis.

In the 1930s, a flood of research began linking marijuana with violence, crime and other socially deviant behaviors, primarily by the “racially inferior” or underclass communities. The 1930s also saw a rise in anti-marijuana propaganda, informing people that by smoking the plant they would experience crazy orgies, have conversations with the devil, experience permanent insanity, or even start killing people. Even the word, “marijuana” is propaganda. In America, it had been called “cannabis” but in Mexico, it was called “marihuana”. It was a push from Anslinger to start referring to cannabis as marijuana so more people would link the drug to the Latino people that they felt so negatively about, and in turn, feel negative toward the drug.

The Uniform State Narcotic Act would be adopted in 1932, expanding government as strongly suggested by the FBN. By 1936, French director Louis Gasnier would come out with the most infamous anti-marijuana propaganda “Reefer Madness”, and the Motion Pictures Association of America banned showing any narcotics on film. With all the propaganda, Congress would go on to pass the Marijuana Tax Act a year later. This act effectively criminalized marijuana, restricting its use to those who paid an excise tax for certain authorized medical and industrial uses.

Despite all the fear mongering over the drug, a 1944 study issued by the New York Academy of Medicine released an extensively researched report suggesting that violence, insanity, sex crimes, addiction or being a gateway drug was not linked to marijuana usage. This all happened a year after 375,000 acres of hemp was farmed by American farmers registered in the “Hemp for Victory” program after imports of hemp and other materials crucial for producing marine cordage, parachutes, and other military necessities became scarce during WWII.

Despite the 40s seeming to be a more progressive time for the plant, the 50s would come with vengeance in the form of two new federal laws. The first was the Boggs Act in 1952, and four years later came the Narcotics Control Act. These laws set mandatory sentences for drug related offenses with a first-time offense for marijuana possession being 2-10 years in prison with up to a $20,000 fine.

As American culture began to change in the 60s, the use of the drug became widespread among the White upper middle class. Reports commissioned by Presidents Kennedy and Johnson found that marijuana did not cause violence or lead to heavier drug usage. It was in this decade that policies toward marijuana began to change, involving considerations for treatment as well as criminal penalties.

Anslinger would cease being commissioner of the FBN in 1962 and by 1968 the FBN would merge with the Bureau of Dangerous Drugs of the Food and Drug Administration, creating the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.

1970 would be a big year for marijuana freedom. For one, Congress began repealing most mandatory penalties for drug-related offenses created in the 50s as they were way too harsh and did nothing to eliminate the drug culture of the 60s which embraced marijuana usage. The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act separated marijuana from other narcotics and possession of small amounts of the drug were no longer punishable with federal sentences. Finally, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) was founded.

The bipartisan Shaffer Commission determined personal use of marijuana should be decriminalized in 1972, but President Nixon rejected the recommendation, declaring a “war on drugs” the year prior. Nevertheless, throughout the 70s, eleven states would go on to decriminalize marijuana while most others reduced their penalties. By 1973, the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD) and the Office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement (ODALE) merged together to create the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

The magazine “High Times” was founded in 1974 with the goal of being the number one resource for cannabis news, culture, brands, and marijuana legalization laws.

In 1976, conservative parents began to ban together, lobbying for stricter regulations on marijuana. With support from the DEA and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), some of these parent groups rose to power and became instrumental in changing public attitudes.

Nancy Reagan launched her “Just Say No” anti-drug campaign in 1984, and two years later, her husband, President Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, making sentences for drug-related crimes mandatory. This new law, along with the 1984 Comprehensive Crime Control Act, raised federal penalties for marijuana possession and dealing. A “three strikes and you’re out” policy was later amended to the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, making repeat offenders serve life sentences with “drug kingpins” getting the death penalty. This act appropriated $1.7 billion and increasingly gets criticized for promoting racial disparities in the prison population. Furthermore, incarceration rates skyrocketed for drug crimes by 1100 percent since 1980 going from 40,000 to 500,000 people incarcerated in prison or jail.

In a national televised speech in 1989, President George W. H. Bush also declared a national “War on Drugs”. Despite this, 40 years after Reagans “War on Drugs”, the Global Commission on Drug Policy released a report saying the war on drugs has basically done nothing but waste taxpayer dollars and destroy lives, concluding in the report, “Arresting and incarcerating tens of millions of these people in recent decades has filled prisons and destroyed lives and families without reducing the availability of illicit drugs or the power of criminal organizations.”

In 2021, research from the University of Pennsylvania found that over a trillion taxpayer dollars have been spent on the war on drugs. Not only this, but in a November 2022 report from the Associated Press, a former DEA agent admitted to skimming millions of dollars from drug money laundering stings along with dozens of other federal agents, prosecutors, informants and in some cases cartel smugglers themselves.

“We had free access to do whatever we wanted,” the 48-year-old Irizarry told the AP in a series of interviews before beginning a 12-year federal prison sentence. “We would generate money pick-ups in places we wanted to go. And once we got there it was about drinking and girls.”

The reason behind this? “A crushing realization among DEA agents around the world that there’s nothing they can do to make a dent in the drug war anyway.”

“You can’t win an unwinnable war. DEA knows this and the agents know this,” Irizarry said. “There’s so much dope leaving Colombia. And there’s so much money. We know we’re not making a difference.”

Reasons why legalizing marijuana in Kansas is a good thing

Strengthening Freedom and Traditional Values

If you are a Republican in Kansas, you might be subscribed to the Kansas Truth Caucus newsletter. I am a big fan of this newsletter simply because I think they do a good job at giving a quick summary of what bills have been introduced each week. With that being said, I do consider some of their stances to be a bit too far-right for my taste. If you do receive their newsletter, you’ve probably read something along the lines of, “Legalizing marijuana in any form has the potential to expand government, limit individual liberty, and destroy traditional values.” They don’t go into further detail on how legalizing marijuana does any of these three things, and that’s because they can’t. They might call themselves the “truth caucus” but that doesn’t mean they don’t lie.

The reality is the opposite is true for all three claims. “Expanding government” and “limiting individual liberty”? Really? Sure, you can make a case that government is going to tax marijuana, and they’re going to put a bunch of ridiculous restrictions on it, but that isn’t a government expanding, that is a tyrannical government desperately trying to hold onto as much power as it can as people advocate for more individual liberty. If you read the brief history above, you can understand how big the government grew by criminalizing it in the first place. The reality is if government can take your property away and send you to prison despite you having done nothing wrong except own your property, the government can’t expand anymore.

Furthermore, as far as traditional values go, I’m sure they mean “traditional Christian values”, but when it comes to government I’m more interested in traditional American values, which would apply to everyone in Kansas, not just a select group. Afterall, traditional American values are the ones that tell the government to buzz off so We the People can do what we feel is best for ourselves, because that is what it means to have individual liberty.

Anti-marijuana is a losing battle

Being against the legalization of marijuana continues to be a losing battle more and more, even in Kansas. In a poll of 757,640 Kansans 69 percent said they support the legalization of marijuana. In another poll, they found that 46 percent of Republicans even approve of the legalization of marijuana. Not only this, but in a poll of 33.6 million people, 70 percent—nearly 24 million—said they were in favor of legalizing marijuana. To be anti-marijuana is barely popular on the right and extremely unpopular as a whole, so we need to just stop with the government tyranny here and let people enjoy their brownies and blunts.

Legalizing marijuana actually strengthens capitalism

This is an argument for marijuana I don’t ever hear, but that may be because the left, who tends to be in favor of legalizing marijuana, also tends to hate capitalism. However, it’s true, the legalization of marijuana would actually strengthen capitalism. Number one, government should have no business telling people what they are allowed to sell as that is straight up big government tyranny and not capitalism at all. Second, marijuana, when introduced into the market as a way to ease pain, headaches, fatigue, etc., all of a sudden, drug companies that create a product to relieve those issues have to compete with medical marijuana products. This is a good thing for both those who want to use medical marijuana and those who don’t because those who want to use medical marijuana can, and those who don’t (or simply don’t care what they use, be it marijuana or not) could see lower prices as a way for companies to stay competitive.

Criminalizing marijuana protects violent criminals and hurts peaceful users

Here’s a question for you: Who would you rather see in prison, a college student with a bag of grass or a thug who beat and mugged him? The reality is, people are increasingly distrustful of the police, and if they have marijuana on them, they aren’t going to want to talk to the police if they become the victim of a violent crime. This means they are less likely to report crimes, allowing more criminals who are actually dangerous to go around and hurt more innocent people.  

Instead, the people who are getting hurt in Kansas for terrible drug laws are people like Greg Bretz, a 69-year-old cancer patient in Hays who made international news in December 2022, all because of how he chose to help himself feel better as he dies of cancer.

A booming Kansas economy

One big argument for the legalization of marijuana is that, if the government doesn’t overtax it and drive people to look elsewhere, it has the potential to provide a lot of tax revenue. A chart by Tax Foundation shows each states potential for recreational marijuana excise tax revenue as well as the actual revenue for fiscal year 2020 for the states that did legalize. For Kansas, they estimated a potential $42,058,743 in tax revenue.

With surrounding states having legalized marijuana in one form or another, people are happily going the distance to get the marijuana products that they want. So, why not capitalize on marijuana products and strengthen the Kansas economy?

Young officers don’t arrest marijuana users anyway

Many people think that because I’m a journalist my education is in journalism, but that isn’t the case. My educational background is actually in forensic investigations, and as part of my degree, I had to do so many ride-alongs. During these ride-alongs, I found that many of the younger officers didn’t care to arrest or even ticket people they find under the influence or in possession of marijuana, in some cases confiscating the drug and in others just letting them go with nothing more than a warning. They would mention that it needs to be legalized and how their time is not worth taking someone to jail over the drug.    

Conclusion

Kansas is lagging behind when it comes to the freedom of marijuana usage. Through the use of racism, fear mongering and big government tyranny, our country has created a history of taking innocent people’s property and locking them away for simply owning a plant. It is time that we do better as a state so that our government must loosen its oppressive reigns on We the People to focus on more serious crimes that cause real harm in society. It is time that Kansas legalizes marijuana.