A Better World?

After all of the talk and hype, the Second Coming has finally arrived! With apologies to the faithful, I’m referring to the declaration of a “Better World,” starting Wednesday! Until now, I was unaware that true salvation lies within the retail pot industry. A central coast pot purveyor recently stated “a world with cannabis is a better world,” a revelation I hadn’t considered since Monsanto Corporation adopted the slogan that “Life itself would be impossible without chemicals.”

Californians have been able to purchase, possess, and use pot with impunity since the mid-1990s. While it’s true that the FDA has left it as a “Schedule 1” drug, based on no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse, possession and use in amounts deemed “personal” have been allowed. So why the big deal now? Why the blatant hucksterism? Why is this the greatest thing since Gleem put “GL7” in toothpaste?

A majority voted to approve the adult recreational use and licensed sale of the product. That happened through the initiative process. The consequences of Prop. 64 allowed the transition from the ruse of “medical pot” to recreational pot, which, in turn, lit the fuse for so many municipalities to lick their collective chops over potential tax revenue. While revenues have indeed been produced, all agencies have fallen short of the hyped revenues originally promised. The politicians that advocated for this based on an exciting new revenue source have thrown their constituents under the bus.

Don’t get me wrong, have your pot and all the Cheetos you can eat. It’s none of my business. However, like alcohol and tobacco, pot is addictive, and multiple peer reviewed studies have linked pot use with psychosis and schizophrenia. Has anyone noticed an increase in mass shootings?

Stop promoting and blatantly advertising pot. Stop making false medicinal claims. It may be part of your life, I simply ask you not to make it part of my children and grandchildren’s lives.

Remember the following on International Overdose Awareness Day this Saturday August 31: The vast majority of the 200 young people we lose every day started their journey to oblivion with stinking, no better than alcohol, pot.