Cannabis Chronicles

The following perspective, discussing the current state of the war on drugs, was originally sourced from the Hawaii Tribune-Herald.

Why isn’t pot legal in U.S.?
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
By Gloria Baraquio

When I first moved here, I thought marijuana was illegal. And then after living here a few years, I realized that everyone and their mom either smokes it, buys it, grows it, or sells it. So then I thought weed wasn’t illegal. But then in the past few weeks, I’ve been hearing about these drug busts and house raids and farms getting shut down, which has made me start to think, once again, that marijuana is in fact illegal.

I grew up thinking weed was BAD. Just say no to drugs. Marijuana is a gateway drug. It’s addictive, and it’ll get you hooked on harder drugs like ice and cocaine. Somewhere, somehow this was ingrained in me.

But then I started going to public school, and a lot of my friends were smoking it. They made special brownies, and they ate them in class … and they always got good grades! When I went to college in California, everyone in the dorms smoked it — all the time. And many of them were honor students. I found the same thing happening when I studied in England. Those Brits love their pot. They actually roll their marijuana with tobacco so they don’t smoke it all one time — weed is hard to come by in those areas. But when I visited Amsterdam, I found pot on every corner. I remember walking into a coffee shop there and being absolutely astounded with their menu. Right next to their coffee list was a list of marijuana strains! They even had complementary pipes and hookahs for free samples of the herb.

When I worked as a professional on Oahu, I found that a lot of business owners and all these rich, white guys smoked weed for recreation. That was a little shocking for me.

But then I moved here, and nothing really shocked me anymore. Everyone — young and old, rich and poor, local and haole — was smoking it.

And it made sense to me. For one, the lifestyle here is so laid back. Everything is chill, and the marijuana high seems to complement that. And two, the farmland and weather conditions here are prime for cannabis. You don’t have to do anything to the plant. Just throw it in the ground and it grows. And three, there aren’t many other jobs or sources of income on this island (yet) to sustain everyone who wants to live here.

In my time here, listening to different people’s stories, I’ve learned that marijuana is sacred and natural, that it can expand the mind and take you to higher states of consciousness. That would explain why some of the kindest and wisest people I’ve met are advocates of the herb. And I don’t really have to say this because it’s so obvious, but smokers of marijuana are way more peaceful, loving, and conscious than most alcohol drinkers out there. And yet, somehow, alcohol is totally a legal drug (and a multibillion-dollar industry in the U.S.).

I was reading the forums online regarding the pot busts on this island, and different people have their different beliefs.

Some people think weed is a danger to society and to the youth. Some people think it should be taxed and controlled. Some people think cannabis is still illegal because it’s a threat to big industries like pharmaceuticals, tobacco, cotton and oil. Many believe that criminalizing it is a way to simply control the masses.

But there seems to be no disagreement about this: marijuana frees the mind.

The main reason people love the herb is the same reason other people fear it. If everyone smoked weed, this world might be happy, healthy, peaceful, and free. People might actually quit their jobs and start doing what they love. Society, as we know it, would come tumbling down.

Bob Marley once said, “The more people smoke herb, the more Babylon fall.”

Babylon is falling.

Gloria Marie Baraquio is a host, writer and producer for the TV Series “Living Local with the Baraquios” on OC16. Her column appears Wednesdays in the Tribune-Herald.

It’s a nice little piece of writing that seems to capture both the prevalence of pot in today’s society, as well as the fear and paranoia that endless government propaganda can create in the uninformed. What makes it doubly interesting, is that Gloria Marie’s column the next week also focused on the debate surrounding marijuana, and to our eyes, the tone seems a bit different.

When will this (marijuana) war ever end?
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
By Gloria Baraquio

I think the only thing anyone ever talked to me about this week was marijuana. Since last week’s column printed, I haven’t been able to get away from the topic.

Should cannabis be legal?

Why is it illegal?

Why are people being criminalized?

Why are we being invaded?

Can weed actually heal you?

WARNING: marijuana is a very emotional subject to discuss. Please don’t bring it up at any fun, lighthearted gatherings — unless you don’t mind people getting not so fun and lighthearted.

In the past week, I think I’ve heard practically every perspective on the issue. People have talked broadly; they’ve talked personally. They shared their pros; they shared their cons. They discussed legalization; they discussed criminalization. Overall, people were concerned about society’s safety, freedom, and well-being as a whole.

Some debated on whether or not weed fried people’s brains, led them to harder drugs, simply mellowed people out, or healed people’s ailments. Some disagreed on weed’s effects because it’s really hard to say how any chemical will affect any individual. From alcohol to caffeine, from salt to sugar, from meats to carbs, some people are just predisposed to certain intolerances and/or addictions.

So some will say it’s good, and some will say it’s bad.

When people argued about the legal aspect, some said that if it were legal, the government could make money off of taxes, and marijuana prices would go down, which would make it less of a commodity. Others argued that more crime and theft would ensue on people’s marijuana farms. They also said that legalizing it would lead to the legalization of harder drugs, like ice and cocaine…and that would not be good.

But the bottom line to all of this is that people smoke marijuana anyway. So how do we deal with that?

Others who didn’t seem to have any answers were simply perplexed at how law enforcement has been handling marijuana busts.

“Why not focus on the ice problem first”? many have asked.

“Why not put more time and money towards education instead of incarceration”? Some think that pot offenders are taking up space in prisons that could be used for rapists, murderers, and crackheads instead. Others are fed up with the noise and invasion of helicopters hovering over their neighborhoods, and no one can figure out if Green Harvest has been terminated or not. Another burning question seems to be, “Where do all the marijuana plants go after they’re seized?”

And what the community is really disturbed about are the unannounced, illegal, violent house raids, which include merciless abuse of pet animals and ruthless vandalism of private property. People have become frightened to be in their own homes…and they sound like they’re tired of it.

This is what I read recently on a posted flier:

‘PEACE THROUGH ACTION’

“The Big Island community for over 20 years has had to tolerate burglars, armed robbery by organized crime organizations in Hawaii, and unlawful police raids. Peace through doing nothing has not worked.

“This is why hundreds of Big Island community members are joined together to see it stop! PEACE through action wants PEACE!!!!

“We want to live in ‘peace and harmony’ with our entire extended Big Island ohana! We want our families to live without fear of robbers, rapists, or law enforcement unlawfully coming with guns in hand, invading our homes.”

The flier says that some of their actions will include the use of weapons, alarms and foghorns, radio communication, camera surveillance, private detectives and military tactics.

Sounds intense.

But I guess people are serious about finally stopping this marijuana war.

I’m just afraid to see how it’s gonna end.

Yes indeed, Babylon is falling!