Good news on the ganja front from California:
Yesterday, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill that downgrades the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana from a misdemeanor to a civil infraction.
One ounce? That's about 20 grams or 2 tolas.
But do we need Legislative limits like this?
After all, you can buy as much vodka as you desire. And I bet if you drink two bottles of vodka in one go you will definitely end up DEAD! I read the tragic story of a vodka-drinking competition in Moscow some years ago - the guy who won died shortly after.
No one is arrested for carrying a case of vodka.
Why should anyone be arrested for carrying a kilo of ganja?
And suppose you want to throw a ganja party for your friends - who number in the hundreds. What will you do with one ounce of ganja? Homoeopathy?
There are these silly limits on ganja possession everywhere, including Amsterdam. A hash cafe owner there told me that he can only stock 500 gms at a time. These limits make no sense whatsoever - and should be abolished.
Ganja should be free.
In California, there are other strange rules on ganja - smoking in public will still be a crime. Further, smoking in front of children will also be a crime.
What bloody nonsense!
At least, we in Indyeah don't need such rules from legislators.
Orissa is the only state in India where ganja is legal - because everyone smokes. There, it is quite common to find grandfather, son and grandson sharing a chillum together. And all smoking is in public. I smoked chillums with a few dozen blokes under a banyan tree in a little village. Quite normal.
But even in Orissa they have made silly rules - so ganja shops are licensed. License fees are steep. So the legal shops sell rubbish - and everyone buys from the freelancers.
Ultimately, what we really need is to do is institute a "private law society": no legislative interference in our lives by our "representatives." Public law should govern the arms of The State - not the people. I have written on this subject in a column you can find here.
So my song remains the same:
We don't need no legislation,
We don't need no man-made rules,
Property must be protected,
Liberty must be ours too.
Hey! MP!
Leave our spliffs alone!
All in all,
You're just another,
Prick in The House.
I can't help thinking that if we totally [no need even for licenses] legalised the cultivation of Opium Poppy throughout India - that there would be less strife in the Kashmir Valley.
ReplyDelete1. People would find an additional means of income without fear of being arrested. No licences should be required for any industry - especially herb cultivation which is in my opinion a cottage industry.
2. The Afghan Taliban and their allies would be deprived of a major source of income which keeps them free from farming and other mundane activities and instead lets them pursue their various Jihads. Thus they will have less time for training the Kashmiri separatists and less funds to contribute to their fellow religious fundamentalists.
3. How violent do you think a valley full of pleasure seekers will be ? Especially those who like to relax ?
@Code-Ishwaran: Kashmir grows excellent charas too. Bought it there and smoked it myself. Point is: NO LEGISLATION. Then, consumer preferences will decide what farmers will grow - hashish, ganja, opium, coca, magic mushrooms, mescaline, peyote.. whatever. Then, we the people will be really high, and they, The State, and their State Police, will be really low. Naturally, there will be peace, prosperity and justice for all.
ReplyDelete@Code-Ishwaran: Further to my comment above - you use the Gandhian Luddite expression "cottage industry" to describe your vision of freedom. Modern capitalism is mass production for mass consumption - big business. This means machine manufactured joints of standardized quality; it means contract farming on a big scale, and things like that. ITC Ltd., India's biggest cigarette manufacturer, is a blue-chip company on the stock exchange. There is no earthly reason why The Honourable Bhola Unlimited Company Ltd. cannot be a much bigger company. I daresy it might even make the Ambanis look small. So think big! Huge spliffs, mass manufactured. No more hand-rolling - as is still the practice in Amsterdam. This is Indyeah, my friend.
ReplyDelete