Thank You for Inhaling: The Lessons of Ohio's Failure in Trying to Legalize Recreational Marijuana

Not the new buckeye

Ohio's attempt to legalize recreational marijuana went down to  defeat on election day. It was beaten quite soundly. I do not think that Ohio's Issue 3 was a good law, it was a terrible law. Bad law or not, it was much better than the archaic laws we have right now. Our very own Kirk Aug goes as far to say the marijuana laws are flat out racist. I tend to agree with this sentiment. Because Issue 3 did not pass, using and possessing Marijuana is still highly illegal in Ohio. Doctors can not prescribe it. Users are considered criminals. People who sell it will go to jail. Marijuana is still illegal because of greedy investors, bad politicians, and out of date political thought. Marijuana is still illegal in Ohio because my home state refuses to face the present.

What is the saying that applies here? Perfect is the enemy of the good. Many of my pot supporting friends, let's call them pot smokers, would tell me that they were hesitant to support issue 3. Why would illegal pot smokers not back a legalization measure. One simple word - monopoly.  They were uncomfortable with the fact that issue 3 gave a monopoly to a few well connected donors. I also had the same reservations, yet I still supported the initiative because it made marijuana legal. I am not a pot smoker, but I believe in legal weed. I constantly found myself arguing about the true definition of a monopoly, and what a good law compared to a perfect law even means. I was having these arguments with supporters of legalization. I had trouble convincing them of voting for Issue 3. Lose your most loyal supporters and things will not turn out well on election day.

The word monopoly is where Responsible Ohio lost the legalization battle. The ballot initiative itself had the word monopoly in it. There is another aphorism in politics that says if you are defending, you are losing. Issue 3 was on the defense from day one. I kept seeing commercials on tv with plenty of attractive white people espousing the benefits of legal weed. At the end of each commercial the fine white folk, usually Nick Lachey, would tell me to vote yes on 3 and no on 2. The commercials would always reference the opponents, and opposition arguments, of legal marijuana. In there own commercials Responsible Ohio was making the oppositions case. They were defending, therefore they were losing.

The biggest failure of Ohio's attempt at marijuana legalization was not the defeat of Issue 3, it was the victory of Issue 2. The Ohio legislature put Issue 2 on the ballot as a way to protect the good citizens of Ohio from groups creating a monopoly on new state businesses. The wording of Issue 2 is intentionally vague, and many experts have said the law could stop citizens from trying to move Ohio into the future. The new law passed by issue 2 would add another political layer of bureaucracy to the referendum process. If there is a citizen movement to change the government in Ohio, you better hope the non-partisan committee who is reviewing your request is politically on your side. Marijuana legalization did not just lose this year, due to the passage of issue 2, legalization may have been lost in Ohio for a generation.

 Another failure of the pro-legalization movement is how Responsible Ohio used the idea of progress to hide their greed. The Issue 3 ballot initiative was not launched until the general public was frozen out of any business opportunity associated with future marijuana business in the state. The Ohio legislature used the anti-monopoly idea as a way to hide their reach for more power. All of Ohio lost when Issue 3 was defeated and issue 2 was victorious. The Buckeye state lost needed tax revenue, lost resources being tied up by the moronic War on Drugs, and lost the chance to be at the front of the line of an inevitable part of future society. Ohio also lost the ability for citizens to try and create progress in their state. 

If you want legal weed be truthful with the voters, know that greed will drive your most loyal supporters away, and believe in your message. I for one was looking forward to visiting my local legal marijuana dealership, owned partly by Oscar Robertson. I was going to give this whole smoking marijuana thing another go. But alas there will be no legal way for me to get my weed.

Where the hell do I go now?

RD Kulik

RD is the Head editor for SeedSing. Without marijuana he will just continue to drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes. Those are way safer. Tell him your solution to America's problems by writing for SeedSing.

Cloves and Fedoras: The War on Drugs is examined in the book "Chasing the Scream"

The Seed Sing team would like to welcome Kirk Aug to our little part of the internet world. Kirk will be looking at expanding your knowledge of books, science, technology, and anything else he sees fit to have in electronic print.

Cloves and Fedoras is Seed Sings reviews for little known pieces of pop culture (or older pieces).  Feel free to contact us with your own submissions of undiscovered gems that must be known. 

Chasing the Scream by Johann Hari is the story of the War on Drugs driven by America and spread to the rest of the world under the fear of retaliation from America. The wage of war began in the 1930s and is alive and well today. Hari begins his book by painting a picture of what it was like before the engagement of this long since failed crusade. You could go to any American pharmacy and buy products made from the same ingredients as heroin and cocaine. The most popular cough mixtures in the United States contained opiates, a new soft drink called Coca­Cola was made from the same plant as snortable cocaine, and over in Britain, the classiest department stores sold heroin tins for society women. In the book we follow the story of so many who were caught up in the drug war starting with the man behind it, Harry Anslinger. He was appointed head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics which was a new role for the people who ran the Department of Prohibition which had recently been abolished. It was apparent to many that this bureau was due to be a part of history at any time. We also learn about Billie Holiday and how the drug war killed her. Anslinger personally saw to it as he made sure she was forbade adequate care to survive her addiction. There was also Arnold Rothstein, the top gangster who immediately saw the benefit of the drug war. Just as prohibition opened up a black market for alcohol, the drug war would do the same for narcotics. Rothstein was all too ready to benefit. And although he was eventually anonymously murdered for his stranglehold on the market, many more rapidly emerged to take his place. Hari then turns to the climate of the drug war today by following a retired police officer who is now fighting to legalize drugs after what she had seen for many years on the force. A New York City street dealer who embodies the modern day Rothstein selling crack on the corner and leading a gang to keep his turf his not because he wants to, but out of necessity. A woman who lost her daughter to a man mixed up in the war in Juarez, Mexico, who marched to her state capitol only to be murdered by the drug cartels who have bought the state right on the front steps for anyone and everyone to see. And so many other victims of the this failed policy intended to remove drugs from society. It quickly becomes more than clear that our prescribed solution to the drug problem is monumentally more of a problem that drug addiction is alone. The author also goes to a few places where things are turning around thanks to a change in policy. Leaving drug prohibition and criminalization behind and focusing on compassion and education seems to be working for places like Vancouver, Switzerland, and Portugal. These places are trying new approaches which seem to be reducing most of the negative side effects that been left in the stain of the drug war leaving us with hope for ways to spread this change of tide.

Kirk Aug

Kirk is the new guy around here at Seed Sing.  We are still evaluating his personality and will let you know some interesting facts soon. In the meantime give Kirk a follow on twitter @kirkaug