Author: Nick Nam
What’s in vogue this season and has roots (no pun intended) in all venues of mainstream American culture including film, television, fashion and politics? No, my friends, not pants-less Lady Gaga, but a different diva who has remained a shining star in American culture for much longer: marijuana.
Current society and pop-culture have tried to decriminalize marijuana. Cannabis leaves can be seen on bus billboards advertising television shows like Showtime’s “Weeds,” and designers and high-end department stores look to Mary J for inspiration. For instance, Barneys New York in Beverly Hills introduced marijuana-scented candles. America is ready for the legalization of marijuana and legal action needs to happen now.
A survey done by the California Field Opinion Polls indicates that more than half of Californians voted for the legalization of marijuana. If this doesn’t spark initiative for policy makers to bring reform to current marijuana policies, then that’s an indication that they need to wake up and smell the Ganja.People don’t shy away from marijuana or feel too embarrassed about their personal usage anymore. Even President Barack Obama came clean about his past marijuana usage in his 1995 memoir, and this past drug usage hasn’t been sensationalized. After many decades of foggy uncertainty, cannabis culture in America has come out of the closet and has been mingling with mainstream culture.
The volume of pop-culture references to weed has drastically increased in the past few decades. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine studied 297 Billboard chart songs of 2005 and 86 percent of hit rap tunes had drug references.
Professor of television and pop culture at the University of Syracuse Robert Thompson said, “The people who are making movies and television shows, from the scriptwriters to the director and the producers – a very large chunk of those are probably people who grew up not only much more comfortable with marijuana’s presence in society, but probably as consumers themselves of it.”
The comedy of Cheech and Chong softened the public’s perception of marijuana use, and nowadays weed references are a cultural norm. References have been made in recent popular shows and movies such as “Entourage,” “True Blood,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Family Guy” and “Harold and Kumar go to White Castle.” Pop culture is not shy about its infatuation with weed, and neither are people today.
The smell of weed wafts freely along street curbs, passing cars and college dorm rooms. And why should this have to be taboo?
In the Netherlands, the government makes the use and taxation of marijuana work. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws say that regulating the sale and use of soft drugs results in less hard-drug addiction.
“If other countries followed our system, there would be less drug abuse in the world,” said Chairman of the Amsterdam Union of Coffee Shops Mark Jacobsen.
Our country has much to benefit from the legalization of marijuana. Not only would the number of drug abuses decline, but the legalization of marijuana would also stimulate the economy.
A study conducted by public policy analyst and former head of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws Jon Gettman finds that marijuana is now the nation’s biggest cash crop, exceeding the income of corn, soybeans or hay – America’s top three legal cash crops. The study estimated that the annual marijuana crop is worth $35 billion dollars. In today’s economic climate, marijuana legalization would provide an economic stimulus without the need for a New Deal type program.
America is more than ready for the legalization of pot, and action needs to occur now. The anti-supporters will one day see the light. Until then, yes we cannabis!
Nick Nam is an undeclared first-year. He can be reached at nam@oxy.edu.
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