I have never smoked marijuana. I never will. I don’t encourage others to use it. Still, it’s time to legalize recreational marijuana in North Dakota. Residents of the state should vote yes on Measure 5.
I fail to see the harm in allowing someone to smoke marijuana in his or her own home. Seeing how we allow people to drink alcohol at home, then we should allow them to use marijuana.
In fact, alcohol is far more dangerous than marijuana. It makes people more violent or unruly, and can cause damage to the brain and liver. Tens of thousands of people die every year in the U.S. from alcohol-related deaths. Nobody has ever died from overdosing on pot.
Even President Richard Nixon, who launched a war on drugs, said pot was “not particularly dangerous.”
For that matter, many prescription drugs are far more dangerous than marijuana. Also, there is no firm evidence that smoking marijuana leads to taking other drugs, such as heroin or cocaine.
Under this measure, there are lots of important restrictions. For example, smoking marijuana would be illegal in all indoor and outdoor public places, and cannot be consumed while driving. Also, employers can fire or discipline employees who come to work high.
Only people 21 or older could use marijuana at home. They would be allowed to possess up to 1 ounce of cannabis, 4 grams of concentrate, 300 milligrams of edibles, three plants per person or six plants per household. That’s very reasonable, and those limits are roughly half of what’s allowed in Minnesota.
There would also be necessary limits on where to buy it. There would only be seven cannabis manufacturers and 18 recreational cannabis dispensaries in the state.
Legalized recreational marijuana would also help the many people in North Dakota who are in chronic pain, but for one reason or another can’t get a medical marijuana card. They wouldn’t need a card.
Currently, North Dakota law enforcement officers are wasting too much time on marijuana cases. Legalizing recreational marijuana would give police more time to devote to more serious crimes.
On the flip side, too many people have had their lives ruined for simply smoking marijuana. They can’t get jobs, apartments or loans. That unfairness would change.
Meantime, more jobs would be created, and North Dakota would take in tens of millions of dollars a year in badly needed tax revenue.
Recreational marijuana has worked well in the half of the country where it is legal. Many North Dakotans are going to smoke marijuana whether it’s legal or not. So, let’s regulate it, make some money off it, and give our law enforcement officers a break.
Don’t fall for the scare tactics about this measure. It’s way past time to make recreational marijuana legal in North Dakota. Vote yes on Measure 5.
“I fail to see the harm in allowing someone to smoke marijuana in his or her own home. Seeing how we allow people to drink alcohol at home, then we should allow them to use marijuana,” the columnist writes Read More