When Pennsylvania legalizes recreational marijuana, the pool of pot smokers in the state will increase, as will fatal car crashes.
Hand it state Sen. Daylin Leach, D-#MeToo; his prediction a year ago that Pennsylvania would allow “medical” marijuana in leaf form by April 17, 2018, came true. On Monday, April 16, we got bud.
State Health Secretary Rachel Levine took a state advisory panel’s recommendation to allow “medical” marijuana to be sold in leaf form, sometimes called “flower,” because the flower is the part of the plant that’s smoked to get stoned.
By law, we Pennsylvanians still can’t smoke “medical” marijuana. We’re only allowed to ingest the stuff through vaporization. Bummer.
“We anticipate dry leaf will be available in dispensaries later this summer,” Levine told reporters in Harrisburg. The reason for loosening the law is that leafy weed is more easily produced and way cheaper than the state’s marijuana oils, pills, vape concentrates, tinctures and ointments.
It’s all about health care, of course. As weed advocates say, “You can’t spell health care without THC.” Haha.
It’s a ruse, of course. What happened this week is just another step toward legalizing recreational marijuana. Then Big Weed opens its seedy, chain-style head shops — Starbuds? Planet Hollyweed? — in older, first ring suburbs like Levittown. (You don’t think the finer ZIP codes of Bucks County will permit such establishments on their turf, do you?)
A year ago, Sen. Leach said the commonwealth will be the next to legalize pot for personal use, joining eight other states and the District of Columbia.
Places like Falls, Bristol and Middletown townships know it. It’s why they adopted weed shop ordinances before the Bongs ‘R’ Us stores start popping up on every corner like Wawas, and your kids and grandkids get hooked.
Which is really just one consequence of legalizing fun weed. Others include sliding through that gateway to harder stuff, more crime, and more highway carnage. Let’s consider the coming carnage, since our lawmakers aren’t.
Pro-legalization types are fond of repeating the chestnut, “Drunk drivers kill. Potheads miss their exits.” That’s mostly true, for now. But when recreational weed is legalized for the masses, the highway death tolls will spike.
That’s because the number of recreational weed smokers in Pennsylvania is small, compared to what it will be when the recreational pot is legal.
Veteran weed smokers, those willing to risk breaking the law to “take the edge off,” can ably handle their weed. They have jobs, families and responsibilities. Like some people “drink socially,” they “smoke socially.” They know their limit, don’t go over it or, if they do go over it, don’t get into a car to buy munchies and a six-pack while texting all the way. Potheads can’t handle their weed. It’s why they are potheads.
When Big Weed comes for the masses, the number of pot smokers in Pennsylvania will increase, and in those ranks will surely be people who can’t handle their smoke, either because it affects them weirdly or because they are non-smokers and are trying it for the first time. These are the people who will wreak havoc on the roads.
So, what to do? Simple. Decriminalize, don’t legalize.
So a harmless toker wants to “take the edge off” after work, and is nabbed with an ounce of weed by the cops. Why ruin his life, maybe cost him his job, with an arrest, court hearing and maybe immortalized on Mugshots.com, if there are priors.
So many otherwise decent young men have had their lives wrecked over small amounts of weed.
So legalize, right? No. Just look at Colorado, whose playbook for legalization is being followed by Pennsylvania. First, Colorado legalized weed for “medical” use. Then a few years later it legalized for recreational use, and Big Weed cashed in.
November 2017 marked five years since Colorado legalized fun weed, and the highway numbers are grim.
The Denver Post, examining state and federal highway fatal automobile accidents, found that in 2016 some 20 percent of drivers tested positive for marijuana, while pre-legalization it was 10 percent. There was also a spike in drivers involved in fatal crashes who tested positive for nothing but marijuana. In 2014 it was 52 percent. Two years later, it was 69 percent. These newbies are the ones who can’t handle their weed.
Despite these stats, the pro-weed Denver Post felt compelled to include this nutty line: “Colorado transportation and public safety officials, however, say the rising number of pot-related traffic fatalities cannot be definitively linked to legalized marijuana.”
Good grief.
Pennsylvania — decriminalize, don’t legalize. How hard is that? Just doob it.
Credit: www.buckscountycouriertimes.com
