Thursday, December 19, 2013

Is it time to retire the “Drug Warrior” moniker?


A famous story describes a short conversation with Mother Teresa and an activist who implored her to join her in attending an anti-war rally. The nun said no, she would not attend an anti-war rally however she would attend a peace rally.
At first this response might seem a little pedantic, but upon reflection it makes a very important point. When we fight against someone or something it is an aggressive act. We’re highlighting our differences and defining our “opposition” as an enemy. The natural response to this is to push back and defend. In effect, when we declare war against an “enemy” we’re giving them energy and defining their reaction as a “defense”. The problem is, when we act as a warrior we militarize the opposition and harden their position.
 Hopefully, this concept has tweaked your perspective about dealing with our current situation regarding the re-legalization progress in this country. I think it’s important to concentrate now on our common interests with our “opposition”. Many of these people who want to maintain the criminalization of marijuana are not evil, stupid, intolerant, (fill in your favorite description). They’re our countrymen, our neighbors and, sometimes, even our friends. They’ve lived a different life from ours with different experiences than we had. They typically have good reasons (they think) to oppose the legislative changes we’re striving for.
My point is simple, let’s concentrate on our points of agreement with respect and the intention of moving forward to accomplish common goals. We have more points of agreement than not I’ll bet.
  • ·         It is important to protect our children. Our current laws enable children to be removed from safe and loving homes due to a parent's medical cannabis use. They enable no-knock warrants. People die in these raids, many times innocent people, and even family pets, are killed or terrorized.
  • ·         It is important to protect our citizens from criminalization for a commonly accepted behavior approved of by the majority of our peers.
  • ·         Our government is not representing the interests of the majority of its citizenry. It is in fact openly and obviously trying to subvert the will of the people in many issues.
  • ·         Prohibition causes an unimaginable amount of damage to our society in many ways. i.e. disrespect of police, corruption of law enforcement, gang activity and turf wars, more dangerous drugs created in labs. Innumerable and incalculable.
  • ·         It is better to generate revenue and control drugs than waste money and encourage illegal activity.
  • ·         People should be able to grow plants and herbs to maintain their wellbeing.
  • ·         A doctor should be able to speak freely and recommend or prescribe anything that they feel will help their patient
To sum up my rambling, as one who has “fought the good fight” in the “drug war” since day one, It’s time to redefine ourselves and reflect on Mother Teresa’s words. It’s time to be inclusive not divisive. It’s time to make friends of old adversaries, we need to make it easy to those who opposed us over the years to “move to a common ground” instead of having to “surrender”.