Poor President Obama. Every day someone new piles on him about marijuana and the war on drugs. First it was former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, then it was President Morales of Bolivia and former President Fox of Mexico. Now it’s Jimmy Kimmel and Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Meanwhile, the economic recovery is about as sluggish as Rush Limbaugh before the oxycontin kicks in.
The solution is simple. We just need to apply existing programs in unconventional ways.
For example, take the thousands of people in prison for marijuana cultivation. In California it costs over $45,000 a year to keep these industrious citizens confined. I propose that we apply the farm subsidy program to the problem. Turn them loose and pay them $35,000 a year to not grow marijuana. If it’s good enough for wheat and soybean and turnip farmers its good enough for pot farmers! The whole idea of the farm subsidy program is to maintain price supports for the farmer. From what I can see the only thing that 80 years of the War On Drugs (c) has accomplished is to inflate drug prices. This is a far more efficient means of accomplishing that end.
That brings us to the street level dealers. Most of them are in prison because they need money and trading in reefer futures provided an opportunity for personal advancement. Likewise the neighborhood pharmaceutical salesman. I say it makes more sense to give him that $45,000 as a small business loan and give him a chance to put those entrepreneurial skills to work in the marketplace! He has already proven that he can build an efficient marketing structure with little or no seed capital. Imagine what he could do with a little start-up money! Before you know it he could build another Goldman Sachs!
Finally, we have the meth cooks. They could be given jobs with Monsanto, if they don’t have ethical objections to working for that sort of company.
Be seeing you.
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