Marijuana's negative impact will someday rear its ugly head: Self-interest always promotes benefits in the short run, but ultimately, what is best for all is the long run
Whoever said, "Everything is reducible to the motive of self-interest," was dead right. Doubters need only consider the numerous economic woes now beleaguering the taxpaying public that have their roots in the efforts of special interest groups whose mouthpieces are slick-tongued politicians willing to speak in their behalf, provided hefty sums of money grease their greedy palms.
These economic woes derive from hyping policies beneficial to society as a whole --which may be true in the short run--that are disastrous in the long run.
This process is analogous to the initial indulgence of recreational drug users. That first experiment may be delightful, but when repeated use leads to addiction, recreational indulgence becomes destructive.
Consider marijuana legalization. Many so-called brilliant economists, thinkers who supposedly possess vision far superior to everyone else's, trot out statistics proving that nationwide marijuana legalization would go a long way toward replacing the country's deficit with a surplus. (Here one should recall Benjamin Disraeli's comment: "There are three types of lies--lies, damned lies, and statistics."). These economists, all having card-swipe mentalities, ignore the long-term ruinous effects of legalizing pot.
In my teenage years billboards advertising cigarettes lined highways. Their messages were seductively successful, and millions took up the habit, ensuring that billions would pour into government coffers.
Thirty years later, hospitals and nursing homes were flooding over with patients suffering with lung cancer, emphysema, and heart disease. A painful lesson jolted the nation. Exorbitantly expensive long-term effects followed the short-term skyrocketing of tax revenues. The fact that smoking in public places has been banned all across the country is a tacit admission of the error.
Marijuana's negative impact will someday rear its ugly head, as was the case with cigarettes. As a college teacher, I'm convinced that the drug deteriorates students' mental acuity. On examinations, those whom I suspect of being regular users demonstrate an inability to maintain a logical thought process; their critical thinking ability seems diminished.
Sadly, some students boast that they are daily users, and even go so far as to claim that a joint in the morning enlarges their minds and help them to get more out of classroom lectures, and that a joint at night makes studying more effective. What a tragedy!
And yet, those espousing short-term benefits continue to look for ways to proselytize those who don't condone legalized marijuana use. They whine that first-time marijuana offenders should receive only a slap on the wrist. After all, they are just innocent youngsters who shouldn't be threatened with fines and incarceration.
Baloney! When did removing deterrence against wrongful acts ever lead to rightful acts? If the threat of punitive action is removed, the short-term benefit is obvious: Jail populations will drop, thereby benefiting taxpayers. But the long-term result could very well be a Pandora's box containing poor workplace performance and health miseries, including a rise in the birth of handicapped children.
Self-interest always promotes benefits in the short run, but ultimately, what is best for all is the long run.
Jimmy Reed is an Oxford, Mississippi resident, Ole Miss and Delta State University alumnus, Vietnam Era Army Veteran, former Mississippi Delta cotton farmer and ginner, author, and retired college teacher.
This story is a selection from Jimmy Reed’s latest book, entitled The Jaybird Tales.
Copies, including personalized autographs, can be reserved by notifying the author via email (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)).
