How to Cripple the Prison Industry
Legalize Marijuana and Watch the Prison Industry Crumble
I was sitting at my morning post in the kitchen, trying to decide which country to flee to should health care reform not pass. Canada was winning by a long shot when something from the television caught my attention.
The always sensible dope-heads in California are pushing hard for marijuana legalization. Expect to see up to three different measures on the 2010 ballot. Even the most conservative plan sounds like a clear winner, a ray of sunshine to a whole generation of rain.
It would allow any person over the age of 21 to posses up to an ounce on their person, which is more than enough for most occasions. It would also permit citizens to grow their own plants in an area up to 5 ft by 5 ft. Now that doesn’t sound like a very big space, but the fact that it’s legal makes all the difference in the world. Any half-wit with access to the internet could educate themselves enough to implement a rotating cannabis crop with good yields all year round.
California is always at the head of the pack when it comes to these progressive issues, or at least it seems that way to an outsider. Their emissions standards and plans for environmental focus are being adopted by the federal government, and with any luck the reformation of marijuana laws in California will have the same effect.
The obvious problem lies in the downfall of the prison industry, which has been propped up by non-violent drug offences and petty possession charges. If pot is legalized across the US, there is a strong possibility that many prisons will be forced to close their giant gates and tear down their razor wire fences. Of course, this wouldn’t be a problem at all if the prison industry wasn’t such a fantastic money maker. For almost a decade, financial experts have told us that private prisons are the best investment anyone with that kind of capital could possible make. And the people listened. We now hold the title of the country with the highest percentage of jailed citizens.
I say fuck the prison industry, they’ve never done anything for me. When I was very young, my dad was locked away for growing pot. My air-headed mother insisted several times that we go visit him, and as scared as I was, I followed her. I’ll tell you like I told her, that’s the last time I’ll ever set foot in that place.
We entered the sterile building, which immediately reminded me of the hospital–where I had just undergone the most horrifying experience of my young life–and I tailed my mom to a bizarre looking phone booth facing a thick wall of glass. I sat next to her with none of the usual childhood innocence, mine was taken away at a young age. I watched my father, humiliated and emotionally broken, shuffle his way over to the phone in front of us.
The conversation that followed between my parents had overtones of panic and dismay, though I can’t remember exactly what they said. I was too busy thinking “happy thought” about the tire swing in our yard or my new cat named Big Bob–who was freakishly huge for a cat, and had a bobbed tail. I couldn’t even look at my dad, and obviously he was embarrassed because he barely acknowledged my presence.
That strange half hour of my childhood stands out more clearly than any other memory I’ve managed to hold on to. My father is the guy who struck fear into the hearts of anyone who threatened his family. He was a big dude, and tough as nails. He had tattoos mocking the devil, and encouraging violence. On that day, he was defeated. The warrior sat in a chair, separated from his family by a clear border, hung his head, and slowly closed his eyes. I didn’t want to see it, but I recognized that look. It meant that this was a challenge he knew he couldn’t win.
Many children in our great nation of distorted family values are forced to endure the same memories, which sets them up for a lifetime of distrust and living “outside the law.” There’s nothing worse in this entire world than a child who’s lost all hope.
So fuck the prisons, legalize marijuana and watch them crumble. It’s inhumane to lock someone away for a plant, and extremely weak of our lame-ass government to fear a weed.
Source: The Sleepy Eagle Free Press
Copyright: 2009 The Sleepy Eagle Free Press
Contact: sleepyeagle707@gmail.com
Website: http://www.sleepyeagle.wordpress.com/
Author: John Lindley
