Do users in states where recreational cannabis is legal have different motivations than that of users in states where the practice is still considered taboo? Moreover, does legalization remove the status and prestige gained in certain social circles after it is legal? In the country of Portugal, following the decriminalization of drugs usage in many categories decreased. Likewise, HIV and Hepatitis B & C transmissions and drug related mortality have decreased as well . This is likely due to the fact that drug users have the ability to seek out treatment and clean needles without fear of arrest and prosecution. Many years ago, a professor I knew contended that if cannabis were legal we would see a drop in its use. He claimed that only a small percentage of people who use cannabis do so because they enjoy the high. He claimed that the vast majority of people who use cannabis do so because it is illegal and that removing the “forbidden fruit” aspect of the plant will make it less attractive. As documented throughout this dissertation, the motivations for cannabis use are varied. Many users and sellers claimed they used it for the purpose of “balling” and status. It is likely that legalization would remove that form of social prestige from the endeavor.Additionally, future research needs to look at the consequences of cannabis legalization, regulation and taxation and its impact on various social institutions. For example, the majority of research on legal recreational cannabis has pointed to the profound positive effects of cannabis legalization such as increases in state tax revenue, decreases in the arrest rates and easing the financial burden of the criminal justice system. In addition to this narrow focus, I believe it is imperative to study other aspects, both good and bad of legalization such as; money flows to legitimate organizations instead of gangs and organized crime, grow bench product quality and safety, wider access for medicinal users, increased personal freedom and reduced systemic violence related to the sale of cannabis.
Likewise, we should also study some of the negative unintended consequences of cannabis legalization to create safeguards against them. Some of these negative unintended consequences of cannabis legalization that we have seen so far are cannabis addiction, children being unintentionally exposed to cannabis products such as edibles and soft drinks, second hand smoke, respiratory issues, heart issues and triggering schizophrenia and depression for individuals that are predisposed.Adequately studying the positive and negative effects of cannabis legalization can help to shape cannabis policy in the future. For example, mandating that bud containers, edibles and other types of THC infused products contain an appropriate label such as the surgeon general warnings required by alcohol and cigarettes will do much to reduce some of the negative health consequences of cannabis. Likewise, adequate labels and correct information can inform and educate people about the health consequences of cannabis and suggest alternative routes of administration which are both safer than smoking it for the individual and for those around her/him. I wrote correct information because the anti-drug propaganda in the U.S. is so incorrect and laden with misinformation that many users do not seriously consider its information. And lastly, future research needs to consider how cannabis legalization may pave the way for the legalization of other drugs. One may not consider legalization of hard drugs to be a top priority. Yet it is important to understand how the racial and class politics of the criminal justice system and the war on drugs applies to all drugs, and even more so to the harder drugs. Drug prohibition much like alcohol prohibition and cannabis prohibition has been a failure of immense proportion. As of today, approximately fifty percent of inmates in federal prisons are serving time because of drug related offenses, and approximately fifty percent of those prisoners are non-violent offenders.
About three quarters of drug offenders were black of African American 39%, Latinos accounted for 37% and whites accounted for 22% approximately . Moreover, draconian three strike laws have created a situation where many prisoners are serving lifetime prison sentences for nothing other than a lifetime of untreated drug addiction.The first national drug law , was implemented over 100 years ago and after 100 years of drug prohibition the U.S. is the most imprisoning country in the world with only 5% of the world’s population and 25% of the world’s prison population . Moreover, the war on drugs and imprisonment has tremendous societal effects beyond locking away non-violent offenders. For one, as Alexander pointed out, released prisoners are relegated to a life as a second-class citizen. Offenders accused of felony are not allowed to vote, and can be legally denied access to jobs, housing, public benefits and education. This along with the fact that countless you black and Latino children will grow up in socially disadvantaged neighborhoods without a positive male role model and father figure in their lives. As addressed earlier, a breakdown in the family and neighborhood structure breeds anti-social and criminal tendencies in inner-city communities. Rather than solving the problem of crime and interpersonal violence, mass imprisonment and the war on drugs exacerbates this problem. The U.S. currently spends approximately fifteen billion dollars each year on drug law enforcement both domestic and internationally and another fourteen and a half billion for demand reduction including both treatment and prevention services . And, after a 100 years of drug prohibition, after billions of dollars spent each year and after millions of lives destroyed by drug prohibition, drugs are more widely available than ever before, they are more potent than ever before, and with changes in technology, communication and transportation, are more readily accessible than ever before. It is important to understand the racial and class politics of the war on drugs, in terms of both its intent and its function. The war on drugs has never, and will never, be about the drugs. The drugs are irrelevant. They are simply plants and substances that produce altered states of consciousness.
The war on drugs is not a war on drugs, but a war on the people that use and sell drugs and a system of racial, class and political control. The decriminalization of drugs in Portugal are starting show the amazing social benefits that drug legalization has societal wide in health, taxation, safety and regulation . Since Portugal’s decriminalization in 2001, drug usage has decreased in almost every category of drug, the number of reported HIV and AIDS cases among drug addicts has declined substantially and drug related mortality rates have decreased from 400 in 1999 to 290 in 2006. Moreover, the reduction in the amount of drug users arrested is astounding as well. In 2000 there were approximately 14,000 people arrested for drug-related crimes. Since decriminalization, the number has dropped to, and stay relatively consistent at about 6,000 per year. . These should be considered overwhelmingly positive social effects.Criminological and sociological understandings of drug using behavior have been tarnished by the ethnocentric and overly moralistic attitudes of American society. Considering the widespread use of mind-altering substances in both antiquity and modern society, and the widespread use of consciousness altering substances the world over, it is inappropriate to see mind-altering substance use as simply a product of biological addiction or deviance resulting from a corrupt social structure. Rather, plant nursery benches in order to understand mind-altering substance use, it is imperative to understand the viewpoints of the users themselves. My research has finds that individuals attach different meanings to their drug related behaviors. Unlike the general mainstream society that views drug use as a scourge of man, this group sees cannabis as a guide to spiritual enlightenment and meditation. This is in line with many other religious and spiritual groups throughout history. It is a common line of reasoning, however ethnocentric it may be, to believe that ancient primitive societies that utilized mind-altering substances for religious and spiritual journeys are, or were, unknowledgeable about the true nature of drugs. They claim that cultures like these were primitive and superstitious, and that our “modern” culture with its anti-drug stance is correct. This, I contend, is a wildly ethnocentric and Eurocentric view with no objective basis in reality. In fact, when one considers the historical and social significance that mind-altering substances have played in both antiquity and our own culture, we see that there is significant reason to reexamine our own perceptions of these substances. From a cultural standpoint, it is relevant to understand drug use as a social bonding ritual amongst the group members. As stated earlier, each member of the Kings understood that the consumption of cannabis was as much about the interaction amongst their friends as it was about the consumption of cannabis itself. TBC for example, explained that one of the main reasons to smoke cannabis was to “kick it with the homies.” He also expounded how cannabis smoking was an act that the group could doindividually and collectively without the physical ramifications that the consumption of alcohol and other substances produced. Likewise, Natty told me on more than one occasion, that High-C was a violent drunk and that they will not hangout with him if he drinks. Thus, while the manifest functions of cannabis use was for the group, to smoke and meditate about the world, smoking also served the purpose of maintaining group cohesion and solidarity. In addition to serving as a site of social bonding rituals, cannabis usage also served as a dramaturgical status symbol.
As previously discussed, smoking with the most people and growing the best cannabis were valued and fostered status within the group. This status may be linked to the semi-illicit nature of the drug in California. In states where medical marijuana use is legal, marijuana use in youth has decreased . Many theorists believe the reduction in teen use could be attributable to the “forbidden fruit” effect in which teens participate in illegal acts because their illegal nature makes them more desirable. The Kings themselves appear to echo this sentiment when discussing their early motivations for cannabis use and selling. Likewise, the Kings frequently claim that the feeling of being high is sometimes note pleasurable. Yet, “handling the trip” and being able to “hang” is considered a status symbol within the group. Likewise, the group illustrates Johnson’s subcultural deviance theory. Johnson acknowledges that there is a competition for prestige and status within peer groups and that status and prestige are attained by engaging in activities that depart from the normative demands of mainstream society. What is particularly relevant to this dramaturgical perspective is how the Kings frequently referred to “the trip” as uncomfortable. As a reflexive practice, the group uses the plant as a guide during meditation and critical thought. Although many in our society view the hallucination as nothing more than a stoner’s trip, the historical importance altered states of consciousness advises against such a belief. As was discussed in the history section, many cultures and religious denominations have used cannabis in some form or another for religious and spiritual mind-altering visions. Cannabis use in India for spiritual, religious and meditation purpose spans back thousands of years . In ancient China, cannabis was used as a form of medicine . Even in what we consider a strict religion like Islam, the Sufi mystics used cannabis for spiritual communion . The Rastafarians in Jamaica smoke cannabis as a religious communion and the American hippies use cannabis as an inward journey into oneself . The common themes among all these cultures and a common theme among the group I studied was the link made between drug use and a deep sense of communion with the divine and a belief in asceticism. As Natty explained, “Babylon always thinks about logic. A plus B equals C. But they can never get to the why and how we are here because the true nature of the world is beyond what they can see with their eyes.” The commonality of these different cultures as seeing cannabis as a path to spiritual enlightenment to me indicates a profound connection between the plant and spirituality. Although it may appear that this dissertation was an outright defense of drug use in American society, it is important to clarify that it is not my intention to promote drug abuse. Rather, the historical, cultural, and medical significance of drugs is that they engender altered states of consciousness and can promote health and stimulate feelings of spirituality.