Recently, State Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino proposed an amendment to the New Mexico State Constitution (SJR4). Ostensibly, the purpose of this amendment is to make marijuana “legal,” so pot smokers will suffer less harassment from State, county and municipal law enforcement agencies here in New Mexico.
The more unscrupulous and gullible of those calling for more freedom on marijuana will say this amendment is a good one.
Ah, but the very title of SJR4 gives away the game —
In other words, marijuana only becomes “legal” under the NM Statutes Annotated IF the Legislature regulates and taxes the marijuana industry, then Taxation and Revenue puts the funds garnished from those taxes into the general kitty, for the Legislature to play with, hand out as legalized favors or bribes, or whatever.
Come on, folks — doesn’t government at all levels intrude into your lives too much already?
Do you really want to give the politicians and their pet bureaucrats MORE power to put their eyes, noses, fingers, and other appendages into your life?
Do you really want to hand over MORE cash to them so they can have the finer things in life, maybe things that YOU might aspire to have yourself?
Let’s face it — government intrusion into private industry is the legalized version of the plata o plomo (“silver or lead”) offer that the Colombian cocaine cartels would make, meaning “take the money (bribe) or I will take your life.” Basically, “play our way and get rich, or don’t and go to eat out of a dumpster.” Only in this case, the people who are supposed to be stopping criminal activity are the ones making it worse.
In the mean time, the “black” market in unregulated marijuana still continues to operate. Maybe with less profits than before, but it’s still there. Like untaxed cigarettes in New York City.
I can understand the desire for having your favorite stuff becoming less restricted, except it won’t really become less restricted for a large portion of the State — 63 percent of New Mexico’s land area is Federal property of one kind or another (military bases, BLM land, National Parks, Monuments, National Forests, etc.), and marijuana is still illegal at the Federal level of government. Thus you could still get arrested for possession, use, or distribution if you’re on Federal property, even in a state where it’s legal.
Blaze one up by the front doors of the BX at Kirtland, Cannon or Holloman if you think I’m joking. The SPs might not share that sense of humor.
(When the Founders put that clause about “Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings” into the U.S. Constitution, did they truly mean 63% of New Mexico, and 89% of Nevada?)
For those of you who are Democrats, did you seriously believe that Hillary Clinton was going to fight to make this better for you?!
I can just hear it now from those insisting that marijuana “must” be regulated by their favorite Political Classholes before it becomes legal again —
“If we don’t regulate it, someone will sell poisoned weed to kids!”
There’s that “we” again — that’s how the There-Oughta-Be-A-Law crazies rope you into signing on to their schemes.
And high schoolers across the country have been smoking illegal, unsanctioned weed (and trying all sorts of illegal, unsanctioned substances, too!) for fifty years now. How many of them have been demonstrably harmed by their smoking pot?
H/T to Kyle Bennett for the talky-ball meme!
NOTES
- Published at The Libertarian Enterprise — Number 956 – 14 January 2018
- Approximate reading level – 13.3
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