Dear Soccer Moms and Little League Dads,
I am writing you in hopes of having an honest an open discussion about weed. I have been looking at the recent polling for legalization measures on the ballot in Washington, oregon, and Colorado. I have been dismayed to see that my generation, 35-49 year old people, are polling at such low numbers. The only explanation is that this generation is knee deep in raising their children and are somehow worried that their kid will get weed if it is legalized.
For the record, weed is everywhere right now and easier to get than ever before. It is easier to get because it is illegal, and there are zero restrictions on who sells it to who when and where. That makes for easy access for your precious baby. Far easier than trying to score some booze or cigarettes. So let us lose the myth that somehow if you vote against legalization you will better protect your babies. You will NOT.
What you will do is vote to continue the status quo, where the criminal black market for weed creates more crime in your streets and create an underworld that could more easily suck your precious Jimmy in to a world of crime and punishment. Are you rich? Well, if you are not, then you should really worry. Why? Because poor people go to jail for weed at alarming rates. Your kid could be the next victim of a system designed to suck up the poor and disadvantaged in our society and put them in slave labor prisons for long mandatory sentences because they sold a little weed.
Yes..you heard that right. Your kid can go to prison for a decade for making a bad decision about weed. There, in his new privately-owned prison home, they will be subjected to violence and criminal behavior much worse than ever found selling weed out of the garage. They will be forced to do hard labor for 30 cents per hour and their privatized prison masters will see their stock prices rise by keeping your baby in prison for his “crimes.” If you do not think it can happen to you, or to your precious baby, you are naive and just not paying attention.
We have created a system designed to repress the most vulnerable in our society, and we have made health issues into hard crimes. Is that what you are voting to uphold by voting against legalizing weed? That is incredibly short-sighted and, well, STUPID.
I am begging you, Soccer Mom and Little League Dad, PULL YOUR HEAD OUTR OF YOUR ASSES! When you make your vote on election day either for or against weed, make that decision based on what is right for society and the good of our fellow man. Do not think that you have some moral obligation to “just say no” and continue this bullshit of locking up poor people at alarming rates.
You do realize that every penny spent on locking up non-violent drug offenders is money not spent on education infrastructure, and actual public safety, right? We have seen our economy ruined and budgets slashed, while we continue to lock up 5x the amount of people as the rest of the world. Let that set in…we have 25% of the world’s prison population but only 5% of the actual population. Does anyone see a major problem with that? You should.
It is no longer okay to assume that those folks will not be you, or your kids. Chances are they very well could be. So when you vote to continue to lock up people for weed, just remember, that could be your baby you are locking up for a safe, enjoyable, helpful, and mostly benign plant.
The good news is that you can still do the right thing. Vote yes for weed and no for prison. It is your duty as a citizen, as a human being, and as a parent. I am counting on you to make the right choice.
Sincerely, Weed Activist