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THE ECONOMICS OF LEGALIZING POT

When the subject of legalizing marijuana comes up, there seems to be plenty of mixed emotions, clashing of opinion and even ambivalence of tolerance in our society.  We generally disdain excessive use of alcohol and nicotine as anodynes - painkilling drugs or medicines - but a rigid line is drawn between hedonistic marijuana use and an almost Calvinistic condemnation of the drug.

Currently, we understand that 25 states, including Ohio, allow the use of marijuana for the relief of chronic pain, and just four states for "recreational" escape.

At the same time, the federal government is considering the drug for the easing of veterans' post-traumatic stress.  The line of demarcation between "opiate" and "medicine" becomes less exact in legal and moral terms.

Also, according to the June 1, 2016, edition of The Progressive Populist, the Texas legislature recently allowed for marijuana to be used in the treatment of epileptic seizures.

As with Prohibition and campaigns against tobacco, economics will ultimately decide the question, and the legal commercialization of the substance will be ours to deal with as best we're able.

Just as it was with pornography, gambling and lofty moral principles, the drug will be absorbed into the social fabric - only one more imperfection in an imperfect world.

William Dauenhauer

Willowick