This fall Californians will be able to vote to completely legalize the herb commonly called “marijuana”. NBC Los Angeles reports the “California Chamber of Commerce on Thursday released a legal analysis that claims Proposition 19 would lead to more workplace accidents by forcing employers to let workers smoke pot on the job.” The California Chamber of Commerce website states, “If this measure were approved, employers, including the State of California, would be faced with the burden of proving that an employee who tests positive for marijuana is “actually impaired” from performing the job before taking any adverse action against the employee. This process would delay disciplinary actions used to protect workplace safety and drive up costs due to increased litigation.”
The Chamber is under the impression that employers would not be able to implement “drug free” workplace policies. I have to wonder if the California Chamber of Commerce is also worried about workers going to work intoxicated or under the influence of over-the-counter sleeping pills? I’m sure someone can create a test to determine how much THC is in someone’s system, similar to a test showing how much alcohol is in someone’s system.
DrugWarRANT.com writes on the history of marijuana, “For most of human history, marijuana has been completely legal. It’s not a recently discovered plant, nor is it a long-standing law. Marijuana has been illegal for less than 1% of the time that it’s been in use. Its known uses go back further than 7,000 B.C. and it was legal as recently as when Ronald Reagan was a boy.
The marijuana (hemp) plant, of course, has an incredible number of uses. The earliest known woven fabric was apparently of hemp, and over the centuries the plant was used for food, incense, cloth, rope, and much more. This adds to some of the confusion over its introduction in the United States, as the plant was well known from the early 1600′s, but did not reach public awareness as a recreational drug until the early 1900′s.
William Randolph Hearst used “yellow journalism” to smear cannabis and cannabis users, with articles stating:
“Users of marijuana become STIMULATED as they inhale the drug and are LIKELY TO DO ANYTHING. Most crimes of violence in this section, especially in country districts are laid to users of that drug.”
“Was it marijuana, the new Mexican drug, that nerved the murderous arm of Clara Phillips when she hammered out her victim’s life in Los Angeles?… THREE-FOURTHS OF THE CRIMES of violence in this country today are committed by DOPE SLAVES — that is a matter of cold record.”
DrugWarRANT.com further explains that Hearst was “then supported by Dupont chemical company and various pharmaceutical companies in the effort to outlaw cannabis. Dupont had patented nylon, and wanted hemp removed as competition. The pharmaceutical companies could neither identify nor standardize cannabis dosages, and besides, with cannabis, folks could grow their own medicine and not have to purchase it from large companies.”
Marijuana became illegal because of false-fear and to help a small group of powerful men retain power and control. The truth is, regardless if cannabis (marijuana) is legal or illegal people will still use it. However, by keeping it illegal, the “authorities” are forcing a dangerous black market, the exact opposite of their desired intentions.
If you believe that you and you alone own yourself and you are responsible for your actions; you must also acknowledge that neither you nor any group of people have the right or authority to tell someone (without their consent) what they can or cannot do that does not harm another person. If you believe in freedom and live in California, don’t listen to the smear campaign and support Prop 19. If you live elsewhere, call and write your “representative” asking them to introduce similar legislation. In the absence of these laws, feel free to practice “civil disobedience” but be aware of the consequences.