The Fresno County Supervisors passed an ordinance on Tuesday banning outdoor growing of medicinal marijuana. They did this because there have been recent shootings as a result of people attempting to steal outdoor plants. One man was killed when he was shot by a property owner after the plants were taken. The District Attorney has filed criminal charges for the man responsible for the shooting. Oh, and there’s the fact that the ordinance started becoming enforceable immediately after the meeting.
What can I say about this "decision" by the County Board of Supervisors other than "Really?"
Does this mean that the next time there’s a shooting during a liquor store robbery that we will shut down the liquor stores? Or how about designating Fresno a "No Christmas Zone" since during the holidays so many citizens of Fresno are robbed of their gifts as they leave the stores? You see that I could go on and on with other examples which follow the same "logic" as the Supervisors used on this "emergency decision".
What other situation can you imagine where criminals in the process of committing a crime were shot at and the result was punishing the victims of the crime? Go ahead, I’ll wait…
Isn’t it time we started demanding reason and honesty from our officials? Do they even know the facts or do they simply refuse to see them? This is not about protecting anyone. This is about the irrational and illogical fear of marijuana. Here are some COLD HARD FACTS for you to consider…marijuana has caused ZERO deaths in all of recorded history, while alcohol kills around 100,000 deaths annually, tobacco in the range of 400,000 and deaths related to prescription medications hovers around 100,000.
Marijuana is not a "gateway drug", in fact, it’s not a drug at all, it’s just a plant that grows in the ground. Smoking marijuana does not lead to violent or criminal behavior. And get ready for this one… Marijuana is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man.
Yes, really.
And what about the fact that California already voted to approve medical marijuana use? And what about how Fresno authorities are constantly working to close down dispensaries or not let them operate at all, even though the Federal Government has stated they will no longer pursue such businesses based on the federal law they don’t even care to enforce anymore?
Really? Is this the way we’re going to continue to operate in this country? Are we so comforted by our mythologies and cliché’s that we simply don’t see a reason to start thinking rationally? Marijuana is dangerous? There’s absolutely no evidence to support that, in fact, the opposite is true. Gay Marriage is a threat? There’s absolutely no evidence of that, in fact the opposite is true. Prostitution ruins people’s lives? Only if it’s illegal. In Nevada, where it’s legal, there’s no problem. In fact, the entire Drug War is by all accounts a massive failure. Legalize everything and regulate it the way we do liquor and cigarettes. Come on, does it really take a lot of in depth thought to figure this stuff out?
Evolution is a funny thing. In the physical sense, it will happen regardless of what we do. But our mental evolution? The evolution of our thoughts and decisions, the fact of whether we choose to live by the truth or by mythology, that’s something else. That could be the difference between a safer, more equal world or a world where we’ll continue to restrict other’s rights, stall medical research, and battle and kill each other. That’s something we have a great deal of control over. And we’re failing over and over again.
Or maybe you’re one of the ones who thinks Obama is a Muslim. Or you think that Mosques are okay as long as they don’t go up at Ground Zero, despite the fact that it was never going to placed at Ground Zero and that there are rebellions against Mosques all across the nation, not just in New York.
Go smoke some pot, you might feel better.
