In a new era of cannabis culture, the debate about what cannabis is rages on. For some, it’s a sleep aid, for others an integral part of pain management. Some use it purely for recreation. Paradoxically, cannabis may be a valuable tool in the fight against addiction and overdose. The applications seem varied, broad, and still being discovered. What does seem to be a growing area of common ground is not as much what cannabis is but what cannabis is not: crime. More and more people in a wider and wider swath of American culture, believe cannabis should be legal. A recent Newsweek poll found a whopping “91 of Americans support legal cannabis”. (Newsweek). On what do 91% of Americans agree? Vacations, puppies are cute, and pizza don’t poll at 91%. Additionally, in a stratified culture, shouldn’t we take any agreement where we can?
Last week saw “4/20”. What was previously thought of as a fringe culture holiday is going mainstream. Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer (D,NY) says he expects to introduce legislation for federal legalization “very soon” and he called 4/20, “a very unofficial American holiday”. Indeed, the times, they are a-changin.
While the culture of cannabis acceptance is moving forward, the laws are limping along, meaning there are still people getting ensnared in the web of the judicial system for simple possession charges. Apparently, logic need not apply but there are green buds on that barren branch and hope on the horizon.
Randall Woodfin is a young, dynamic mayor of Birmingham, Alabama. The home town son went off to Moorehouse and Law School, interning in city politics along the way and ultimately winning the mayors office with 58% of the vote. Known for progress politics in deeply red and conservative Alabama, Woodfin ran on a “people first” agenda, one that resonated with a population weary of nonsensical drug charges. Ben Franklin once said “better well done, than well said” wise words heeded by Mayor Woodfin. Last week the Mayor celebrated 4/20 by pardoning 15,000 possession charges from the records of the city of Birmingham. Clearly that doesn’t solve the problem but it certainly helps and sends a clear message: “Cannabis isn’t crime. People who use cannabis aren’t criminals”
Mayor Woodfin offers a fresh perspective on Jeff Sessions, another Alabama native son who said “good people don’t smoke marijuana”. The good mayor Woodfin disagrees and so does 90% of the American electorate.