My Poor, Poor, Beautiful Face

Okay. Unfortunately Wikipedia's entry on the subject is surprisingly thin (or not surprisingly, maybe, given the subject matter) and I'm not about to do any real research, but I did see a documentary once, and I think I remember some of it.

We're talking about the legalization of Marijuana, or wacky terbacky, as it's known on the streets. The history of its criminalization is a strange one, and what I read on Wikipedia doesn't jibe 100% with what was on the documentary, but basically, Congress (sorry, Latte, but you'll have to do you own research into His or Her Majesty's reasons for criminalizing the stuff) passed something called the Marihuana Tax Act in 1937, largely because William Randolph Hearst's papers got everybody up in arms by claiming that Mexicans bring it across the border with them, smoke it, and become deranged. The echoes very strongly the rationale behind criminalizing cocaine (which was banned alongside heroin, opium, etc. in 1914); again, I have no reference here besides my memory, but there was some hubbub over cocaine being a drug that provoked violent behavior in negroes). The Wikipedia article suggests that Hearst sought the ban of weed because of his interests in the timber industry (and also that DuPont was involved because they
saw hemp as a major threat, what with it being the all-purpose wonder fiber that would shake the world to its foundations were the People ever able to learn of its true potential), for whatever that's worth. Anyway, I've done a shitty job here, but you should track down a good history of it, because it really is a strange and depressing story.

That aside, beloved commenter Mr. Latte presented numerous inarguable reasons for decriminalization (sorry, but we use Zs over here, because we bow down before no monarch), so I just wanted to clarify my position. Yes, legalize pot, please. It would do nothing but good (except, you know, make it more accessible to people who are probably ultimately served by not having a steady, reliable source). I just think that if we look at the big picture, the potential for benefitting society is far less than in the case of decriminalizing the sort of drugs that people kill each other over. That's all I'm saying. I've never even been around heroin (though I sure know some people who have), and apart from rubbing a tiny amount on my gums one time after my friends got all hyped up and dashed off to "shoot some hoops" and left my alone in their house with a mirror full of the stuff, I've made it one of my missions in life to simultaneously loathe and avoid cocaine. Maybe one needs to experience it to fully understand it, but from what I've seen, cocaine turns good people--at least momentarily--into assholes. I trust nothing that fills people with instant confidence. It's a disturbing thing to watch. So, in a nutshell, yes, but also no.

What else? Just back from a week visiting my parents. Last Monday, I went to the dentist. They found two cavities, one basically in between my two front teeth, the other in one of my bottom wisdom teeth. Which meant, after probably a decade of putting it off, I finally acknowledged it was time to get the fuckers yanked out. The oral surgeon, as luck would have it, was able to fit me in the next day. That pretty much the story right there. Not a lot to add to it except the following picture. Laugh while you can, jerks.