I love the title of this post. It flies in the face of most of the cultural norms I grew up with. For that matter, it flies in the face of the norms of most weed smokers I’ve known throughout my life. I know a lot of weedheads, burnouts, and dopeboys… but I’m not sure I’ve met someone I would call a “responsible weed smoker.” But that phrase is at the heart of a proposal floated today by Representative Barney Frank who apparently enjoys a quick puff, puff, pass as much as the next guy.
Frank’s proposed legislation would end federal penalties for people carrying less than 100 grams of marijuana. Since no none drug users (or none Canadians) know what 100 grams is, that’s a little less than a quarter-pound. Currently being caught with slightly less than a quarter-pound of weed would net you a felony possession with intent to distribute charge. Under Frank’s plan it would be treated like having an unopened bottle of wine in your car. A nod and maybe a quick recommendation to the officer on the variety that you favor. “Why yes officer, that is Mauwie Wauwie. It’s alright, but you really haven’t lived until you’ve tried Purple Haze.”
Representative Frank says that a little weed smoke is none of the government’s business. And as an openly gay lawmaker, he knows something of the government putting its nose into folks business. His supporters point out that the plan would essentially treat marijuana use like alcohol use. As long as you don’t overdue it, or try to drive, then you’ll remain on the right side of the law.
I don’t particularly have an opinion about his proposal. I don’t object to folks who smoke weed, but I also don’t object to folks who do object to it. The sentencing phase of the nation’s drug laws are absurd and greatly out of wack, but this legislation wouldn’t really impact that a great deal, no matter what Rep. Frank says.
However, I do have some pointed criticism for my favorite part of the program. It would legalize possession of what is a pretty good amount of weed. What it wouldn’t do is change any of the laws against growing, importing, exporting, or selling weed. So my question is… if we can’t grow it, import it, or sell it… then where exactly are all the people who will be carrying around quarter-pounds supposed to get them from?
Frank’s plan would permit the “nonprofit transfer” of up to an ounce, but unless Rep. Frank is much more intimately familiar with the drug trade than I am (and that would be unlikely), I think he is permitting something that has never once happened in the history of marijuana. “Here man, have some of my weed. No, no, keep your money. I’m a nonprofit dealer.” Not to mention, even the weed Frank envisions being nonprofitably transferred would have to have been either grown or imported which still remains illegal.
I think what Frank’s measure would do is decrease the distance between the real ruthless criminals who currently import marijuana by the AK-47 protected plane-load and the sorority girl who enjoys the occasional late-night joint. Right now, the marijuana in that sorority girls joint has to pass through a series of supply levels each less menacing than the last. By the time it gets to the Tri Delta house, the weed that started in the hands of a ruthless cartel boss with his own private army is delivered by Betty Blonde’s lab partner whose roommate knows a guy who sells dime bags out of his mom’s suburban town home.
Having known a few of the guys who traffic marijuana by the pounds, I can tell you one thing. Betty Blonde doesn’t want to meet them. By leaving the potential penalties for suppliers untouched, Rep. Frank’s proposal does nothing to reduce the unsavory and potentially deadly nature of the traffickers. By eliminating the penalties for possessing such a large amount of marijuana, it makes it that much more likely that customers will make their contacts a little higher in the supply chain to save substantial sums of money. After all, a quarter-pound all at once is much cheaper than buying its equivalent in a series of dime bag purchases. The economics of the situation mean more customers meeting the guys they really don’t ever need to meet.
I guess what I’m saying is that Barney Frank’s proposal needs a rethink, but not for any of the reasons you’ll hear in the evening news.
