The Devil Weed and Older Canadians
In the late 60s and early 70s, many of us allegedly smoked a bit of the marijuana. As an impressionable teenager (aren’t they all), I remember wondering:
why on earth smoking a plant was illegal
how could someone I didn’t even know tell me what I could or could not put in my own body?
what was with the hypocrisy of laws that prohibited one substance (pot), while supporting (and regulating) another which was demonstrably worse for individuals and society as a whole (alcohol)?
Ahh, the clarity of youth. Of course, it’s not that simple, is it? After all, you can’t just, you know, have a little puff whenever you want, because… well, that’s what was decided.
Turn’s out, it is that simple. Quelle surprise.
In the early 70s, I was heartened (and proud, as a Canadian) by the LeDain Commission. Many younger people today would be amazed that the Commission even existed, and that it in 1972, a Federal government commission recommended a policy of legal distribution of cannabis, with the provinces laying out rules and regulations for its use.
Yup, they sure did- 50 years ago.
So now, we’ve come full circle with the legalization of marijuana for recreational use by adults (as if adults ever needed permission in the first place). Never mind that over the last five decades, people’s lives have been derailed by paternalistic, antiquated and short-sighted laws, and never mind that some of the people who are now involved in the monetization of marijuana vigorously supported laws prohibiting its use just a few years ago. Love that hypocrisy.
Before legalization some people opined that the streets would be flooded with dopers weaving in and out of traffic, laying around stoned in parks (the nerve!) and generally inciting all kinds of social mayhem. Ya, sure. The only drug carnage these days comes from the fact that the feds didn’t go far enough to regulate all drugs, as Portugal has done to great success.
It’s telling that so many people in law enforcement have been advocating legalization for years; they’ve seen the sham that was the ‘war on drugs’ (an American initiative, but it sure sounded catchy, didn’t it?). They’ve seen first-hand the consequences of an active black market in drugs, and they know that harm-reduction works best if the sale and distribution of drugs is controlled. (The flip side of that coin is the perplexing police resistance to initiatives like safe-injection sites).
In 2018, as the legalizatrion ball was rolling, an editorial in The Ottawa Citizen suggested that all drugs be legalized (and regulated), which gee, kind of makes sense when you look at it from a macro perspective, and not the punitive, moralistic mindset that so many politicians have held. Interestingly, since legalization, that option seems to have gained more traction. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-canada-drugs-idUSKBN29Y2FM
That all drugs be decriminalized is almost certainly a bridge too far for a lot of people, but let’s hope we won’t have to wait another half century to come to our collective senses and let the (non-histrionic) adults in the room make the important decisions.
Speaking of adults in the room, older Canadians who might have had a bit of experience with the devil weed in their younger days may want to (re)acquaint themselves with it.
Here's an interesting take on the subject. It comes from the excellent Canadian health website HealthyDebate.ca. In an article titled Is marijuana and seniors a bad combination?, some doctors worry about potential side effects of cannabis use for older Canadians, including ‘cognitive effects’ (beyond the obvious) and an ‘increased risk of falling’.
Problem is, studies are hard to come by; one of the reasons for that is that our neighbours to the south have classed marijuana (federally), as a Schedule 1 narcotic, which limits potential research. (Here’s the utter goofiness of the marijuana classification in the U.S.: drugs such as cocaine, crystal meth, PCPs and fentanyl [an opioid] are classed Schedule 2 drugs, less harmful than pot).
Whatever the case, you owe it to yourself to do some homework on the subject. Pot is stronger than it was back in the day (although now that it’s finally regulated, you can control the potency), and importantly, you are older than you used to be. At least now, you won’t have to worry about the legality of the choices you make.
Addendum: Here's a related posting straight out of Bizarro World. Remember Brewer and Shipley's One Toke Over The Line? Well, the good folks on the Lawrence Welk Show thought that it might be a fine 'inspirational spiritual', presumably because it included the line 'Sweet Jesus'. Here is the Welk version, in all of its weird glory.
-Tom New 2021