Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Up in Smoke

Since Illinois is now allowing for the sale of recreational marijuana (effective January 1), the dispensaries have been doing a brisk business. Business has been so brisk that some sellers have sold out and they've been forced to shut their doors due to a lack of supply for recreational users. Did they not anticipate the crowds that would come for this? Apparently not. I have issues with the legalization of marijuana for a couple of reasons. One, marijuana is a gateway drug. I've witnessed someone in my own family go from being a recreational pot smoker to being a crack smoker. It happens, people! Two, marijuana use can devastate already vulnerable people. For example, I knew someone, again, who was a recreational pot smoker for years. But she worked in a medical environment (not as a medical professional like a doctor or nurse) and when a new company took over her place of employment and required drug testing for its employees, she tried to use her daughter's drug-free urine to pass the test, was caught, and lost a job she'd had for more than ten years. This wasn't someone who was in a financial situation that enabled her to take a hit (no pun intended) like this. She wasn't wealthy. (Clearly, she had enough cash for weed, but still.) This woman lost her job because of marijuana use. It's not a harmless drug!

I'm all for people having civil liberties, but there's a dark side to marijuana use and I think a lot of folks who advocate for the legalization of weed don't see this. Illinois is broke and becoming the legal weedman allows the state to rack in a ton of cash quickly to cover costs. I saw a story on the news last week that $100 worth of legal weed in Chicago will set you back another $28 in taxes. That's almost 30% in taxes! That didn't stop folks from lining up in the cold for hours to get their legal weed on and after January 1.

Another thing that bothers me about the legal weed is that these dispensaries deal in cash only. That's a recipe for disaster! Banks don't want to deal with marijuana transactions, so the dispensaries have to deal in cash, but those places are sitting ducks for thieves. One dispensary was robbed recently and I heard on the news the thieves didn't even take any of the weed! They went straight for the cash. Better security is needed for the dispensaries and for the people visiting them.

No comments:

Post a Comment