The Way Things Work

I am not a pot smoker, but I know many of them. This week I started work on a documentary about medical marijuana, it's importance and the way society is, well, having trouble dealing with the fight for legalization.

Here's how it works:

On the federal level, it's illegal. In California, it's legal with a valid prescription. In certain counties in California, it's still considerably illegal to be in possession of a controlled substance.

There are lawyers that are devoting their entire careers to marijuana law; there are doctors that are popping up across west Hollywood to open up clinics to be tested for medical marijuana; not to mention the rapid development of "dispensaries" around Los Angeles, where those with prescriptions can go to fill their prescriptions.

And how can you fill your prescriptions? Let me count the ways: candy bars, capsules, flavored joints, hydroponic kush, acapulco gold, maui wowie, willie nelson(the drug, not the singer)...the list goes on and on.

I've been spending the last two days reading the California State Health and Safety Code regarding marijuana and all of it is amended by the fact that if you have a valid prescription, you can legally possess and smoke cannabis sativa.

But if you're caught by a federal entity, like the DEA, you're screwed because they will prosecute you for a federal offense(if I'm correct, any of you lawyers out there can help me out).

Personally, I don't think it needs to be as much of a controlled substance as it has been for the last hundred years. It does about the same thing as copious amounts of alcohol, and it impairs your driving the same way. It's a huge commodity that isn't being taxed because it's a controlled substance. If it becomes legal, the government can control it and tax it and make some green off of it, just like tobacco or alcohol or firearms.

Isn't the promise of hundreds of millions of dollars a year enough to legalize something that is as harmful as alcohol? What about if Big Tobacco helped legalize cannabis? They could go on a rampage changing their tobacco fields to the wacky brand of tobacco. Or they could start marketing a whole line of Camel Spliffs or Marlboro Jazz, then they could be making money hand over fist hitting two huge groups of users(abusers) at the same time. With the marijuana, they don't need much processing(that I know of), nor do they need to add so many gross chemicals and deadly toxins.

And that might diminish all those half-lame anti-smoking advertisements that get a little too preachy or fake or gross or whatever.

So there you have it. Consider this the first of many entries regarding this issue of legalizing marijuana, as we have started pre-production on a documentary based on this subject. If you would like to be kept abreast of updates and goings-on behind the (hazy) scenes, subscribe to this blog! There are going to many many more stories, including some very interesting items that will definitely be flagged by the DEA, which I've been told are aware of this documentary. Stay tuned, stoners.