Debates have long been had about the legalization of marijuana. During the 60’s is when marijuana use began a momentum as white hippies puffed away as they rallied against war and the victimization of other countries by the US, in the 70’s it became the flower child for Rastafarians as Bob Marley posed frequently with red, yellow, and gold headdresses and a guitar, and in the 80’s and 90’s it seems it began to trend in Hip-Hop and the local hoods across the country. Now, marijuana has become an equal opportunity employer. With the onset of medicinal marijuana you can catch an 80 year white woman claiming cataracts with a spliff in her mouth chilling in her rocking chair with a picture of blue eyed Jesus in her peripheral.
It seems studies have shown that marijuana isn’t a leading factor of death, isn’t a leading factor of motor accidents as is alcohol and it isn’t a gateway drug as many have suspected it to be. So why the hype about making it legal?
Well, if you don’t understand neither does the ultra conservative Evangelist Pat Robertson. Yes, Pat Robertson. The guy who dawns your television screens every Sunday morning on his well known 700 CLUB and who has made multiple appearances on what I refer to as “the Christian channel” across the Nation spreading the ‘good news of Jesus.’
It seems Mr. Robertson addressed the issue in a previous episode and told the government to legalize the damn thing. Well, not in those words, but I’m sure his viewers got the message. His argument? The same argument people have using in debates when addressing the issues for years. Legalizing marijuana will reduce incarceration rates.
In his own words he says, “I believe in working with the hearts of people, and not locking them up.” Shocking I’m sure, true, most definitely.
It is a fact that some high percentage of black men will experience incarceration at some point in their lives. An alarming number of these men are jailed for the possession of marijuana (please check your local county jail website and review the charges that most African-American men are charged with upon arrival). Maybe there is something to what Pat Robertson has to say–well, what other African-Americans have been saying for years, but I guess now, with such a large following, Pat Robertson might be the one to make a change.
Mary Jane might just like being Christian. She already has the same name of Jesus’ mother. We’ll see how close of a bond she’ll make in the near future.
J. Prince, Princepality 19
Princepality 