Concerns over marijuana rebutted

I knew there would be some concerns about the legalization of marijuana in the CNMI and I was glad there were virtually no public bashing attacks, which speaks volumes of the support for legalization and the mindset of the silent majority. I would like to believe that most people are using their common sense and deliberating over the issue objectively with an open mind. I also truly appreciate those who do have an open mind and even support the legalization of marijuana, especially those in the comment section. But there was the ever present cyber rats in the comment section with unfounded concerns, so I will address their concerns for the sport of it.

Just to show readers the ridiculous excuses and rationale: Complaints about my writing, really! FYI, I incorporate my officially recognized language of Ebonics in my letters and if you don’t like capital words meant to accentuate and the terms “for true,” “heller,” and others, that is your personal problem—not the general public’s. Concerns about what we need to do before legalization is literally putting the horse behind our cart as we already have the experiences of two states to know what to do and do it even better, which includes the best practices for control, the necessary education on drugs with stricter and appropriate child protection laws and the sale of marijuana only in state stores. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel when we have two good examples! There are also no “ifs” for the CNMI as two states have done it with no plans to stop selling legalized marijuana. FYI, Colorado experienced over 8,000 marijuana arrests the year before legalization but only a little over 1,000 after it was legalized. Marijuana crime actually went down 700 percent, allowing law enforcement to chase down the real drugs and criminals.

As for the complaint that money is not everything, well, money is the only thing that is going to pay the retirees and take care of the needs of our government, put food on our tables, pay the bills and all the other things we need in our capitalistic society. Is she/he crazy? I guess this person wants us to barter our way out of this economic mess. The only legitimate concern was for federal law and federal intervention but I don’t think this person did their homework because the feds didn’t do one thing or take any adverse actions on the two states of Washington and Colorado and I guess the gesture by the President that we should move forward with marijuana reforms didn’t ring a single bell! Finally, there was a person frivolously babbling that took the issue overboard, which doesn’t even warrant a response because people are not going to go crazy just because it’s legal. Their concerns were of no value to the people’s decision process and, to make it worse, not one alternative solution to fixing our economy.

I would like to believe the average reader who actually uses their common sense and is looking at this objectively would rather follow the examples of two state legislatures, two governors, and the President’s suggestion than to follow people like the cyber rats and their information based on a blog. Anyway, it is common knowledge that the CNMI is slow to change but we only get this chance once to be out front in the race for economic prosperity from the sale of legalized marijuana—a chance to ride an economic wave that we can’t afford to miss literally.

P.S.: There is nothing to fear but fear itself. After all, on Tuesday the Washington D.C. City Council passed a measure—approved by a vote of 11-1—that would move the District of Columbia one step closer to decriminalizing marijuana for private use in most cases. So I must ask, if the capital of our nation is decriminalizing, are we really going to be dead last in America again or one of the first?