Pot bill an education for this man’s daughter
Thursday, March 20th, 2008 at 3:01 am | By: Radical Russ
New Hampshire’s House passing a decrim measure has sent shockwaves through the state. While the editors at the Union-Leader newspaper tremble at the notion, over at the Nashua Telegraph a man uses the debate over the bill as a teachable moment for his daughters.
Nashuatelegraph.com: Pot bill an education for this man’s daughter
Although the House of Representatives has taken the bold step of passing the measure, it is already being called dead on arrival in the Senate. If it passes that hurdle, the governor will surely uncap his veto pen because he feels that relaxing penalties for simple possession of marijuana “sends absolutely the wrong message to New Hampshire’s young people about the very real dangers of drug use.”My older daughter raises a brow. Her confusion is understandable, since as home-schoolers, they get their messages not from the government but from responsible parents and mentors.
Marijuana is but one of many temptations she and her sister will face along the way – temptations that warrant their staunch rejection, at the very least, until they have physically matured. Once they reach adulthood, they will be free to make reasoned decisions about what substances they may put in their bodies. Or will they? As adults in America, they will be free to get themselves hopelessly addicted to tobacco, and they will be free to poison themselves with alcohol.
But as an adult citizen, if they use cannabis tincture to quell premenstrual discomfort the way Queen Victoria did, they will risk losing their rights and freedoms.
My daughters know that last year we spent over $40 billion fighting the war on cannabis and that over 800,000 Americans were arrested for the victimless crime of simple possession. They also know that although no one has died from an overdose, cannabis is not a substance children should experiment with.
