WHEREAS It is the right of all persons to be free, and
WHEREAS Government exists to protect that right, and
WHEREAS Freedom is all too often taken away for no good reason, and
WHEREAS When a crime has no ill effect on anyone besides the person who committed it, it should not be a crime, and
WHEREAS By now you probably realize that I am indeed talking about marijuana, and
WHEREAS I have never smoked and I never will, and
WHEREAS That is a personal choice, and
WHEREAS I should not make personal choices for people other than myself, and
WHEREAS The government definitely shouldn't make personal choices for anyone, and
WHEREAS I, or most people, have never been negatively impacted by someone else smoking marijuana, and
WHEREAS There is more reason to ban alcohol or cigarettes due to negative externalities than marijuana, and everyone agrees we shouldn't ban those, and
WHEREAS That is because when Prohibition was tried in the United States, it was an utter and spectacular failure that led to an increase in alcohol consumption and the rise of organized crime, and
WHEREAS We learned this lesson with alcohol, but few have seemed to learn that drug cartels are fueled by drug control laws, and
WHEREAS While drug laws don't succeed in stopping people from doing drugs or in stopping drug cartels, they do succeed in imprisoning thousands of people who didn't hurt anyone besides themselves, and in ensuring that now they will be unable to find a job after their release thanks to their criminal record, if you count that as success, which most people wouldn't, and
WHEREAS Even if you overlook the huge moral quandary that arises, it is still a huge waste of money, since the government has to pay to enforce the laws and imprison all of these people, and
WHEREAS That's not even considering all of the productivity lost when people are sitting around in jail for no good reason and then still can't work after their release, and
WHEREAS I started this string of WHEREAS es with high-minded language about liberty for multiple reasons, and
WHEREAS One reason was to show that support for cannabis legalization can be defended from base principles, and that not everyone who thinks it should be legalized is a stoner, and
WHEREAS Another reason is to show that you don't have to be "socially liberal" in the macro-political world to support this cause, and
WHEREAS It's not really a secret that I am generally more conservative in macro-politics than most Talossan citizens, and
WHEREAS Nonetheless I still strongly support cannabis legalization, and
WHEREAS Our Giant Friendly Neighbor continues to move in the right direction on this issue, and
WHEREAS Let's give them a nudge
THEREFORE subsection A.1.6, which currently reads:
1.6. Chapter 961 Controlled Substances
is amended to read:1.6 Chapter 961 Controlled Substances, subject to A.1.6.1
1.6.1 The possession, cultivation, manufacture, import, transport, export, and use of cannabis and related paraphernalia, medical or otherwise, shall be legal for all persons of at least eighteen years of age within the Kingdom of Talossa. The possession, cultivation, manufacture, import, transport, export, and use of medical cannabis and related medical paraphernalia shall be legal for all within the Kingdom of Talossa.
1.6.1.1 "Medical cannabis" shall be defined as cannabis prescribed by a licensed medical doctor to treat a malady.
1.6.1.2 If any person of at least eighteen years of age facilitates or otherwise encourages the non-medical possession, cultivation, manufacture, import, transport, export, or use of cannabis or related paraphernalia by any person under the age of eighteen, he or she shall be charged with a Class A misdemeanor.
1.6.1.3 A person under eighteen years of age shall only be penalized for the non-medical possession, cultivation, manufacture, import, transport, export, or use of cannabis or related paraphernalia, or the facilitation or other encouragement of the same by another person under the age of eighteen, if apprehended in flagrante delicto. In that case, the apprehending officer shall seize and destroy the contraband, and tell that person that "using cannabis other than for medical reasons is very bad for your health." No criminal charge nor entry on a criminal record shall be made under this provision.
Noi urent q'estadra så,
Sir Ian Plätschisch (MC-MRPT, Minister of the Interior)
Dien Tresplet (MC-FreeDems)