Up in smoke

Sen. Barack Obama smoked pot. President George W. Bush has essentially admitted to it. So have Sen. John Kerry and former President Bill Clinton. Political leanings don’t make any difference: arch-conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards both tried pot. New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg tried it and “enjoyed it.”\nFor none of these men did cannabis use become an obstacle on their paths to success. Yet for hundreds of thousands of Americans arrested for marijuana possession every year, a puff has become a path to handcuffs. What separates them from the approximately 97 million Americans, probably including plenty of prominent politicians, scientists, artists and businessmen, who have tried marijuana in their lifetimes? The mere act of getting caught.\nCan we please end this charade? Marijuana is certainly the drug we treat most casually, yet it has become the biggest front of America’s War on Drugs. Despite the fact that we now shrug off its use among our leaders, we continue to condemn those unfortunate and unlucky enough to get caught.\nAnd that’s just how we treat the incarcerated pothead in America – “unfortunate” – as if the circumstances dictated the treatment of cannabis users and not our own hypocritical policies. We gleefully consume news about the latest big pot bust and celebrate smokers like Willie Nelson at the same time, indulging in both sides of the story without thinking about the human consequences. We must realize that the victims of the drug war have filled our prisons because of our “tough on drugs” laws, not because of “unfortunate” circumstances.\nWhen our politicians admit their own marijuana use so readily, they often back off, saying that they don’t want to be a bad influence. President Bush went so far as to refuse to answer questions on the subject because “I don’t want any kid doing what I tried to do 30 years ago.” That’s honorable, but perhaps the litany of admissions from politicians of pot use should serve as a guide instead of as a policy that more accurately reflects reality. If any of these politicians had a conviction for felony pot possession that they would receive in the state of Indiana, they could find themselves having trouble voting in some states, let alone running for office. \nAlmost every single one of the pot-smoking politicians I cited has said that they don’t support decriminalization of marijuana. Even Obama, who once told a crowd that he believed pot should be legal, has since changed his mind. As I stated earlier, the only thing separating these role models of American leadership from ex-felons is a roll of the dice. \nI don’t care if these politicians don’t support marijuana decriminalization. That’s fine. They can hold whatever positions they want. But when they stand on the bully pulpit and exploit drug users by promising to be tough on drugs with further crackdowns, they should ask themselves whether the world would be a better place if they had been busted. My guess is that their answers would be “No.”