Too bad old Blue Eyes isn't around after the 2016 election that legalized marijuana for recreational purposes in Nevada. Frank Sinatra would probably have composed a song about the plant comparable to his hit recording, 'Fly Me To the Moon.'
The over-50 crowd probably remembers the lyrics: 'Fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars, let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars.'
Voters in Nevada spoke during the election and despite a $3.5 million anti-marijuana campaign headed by casino owner Sheldon Adelson voted overwhelmingly in favor of marijuana. They joined a growing number of states -- eight at last count -- where either medicinal or recreational marijuana is now permitted.
My personal opinion: it's past time that this harmless little plant was taken off the banned list.
The real question, of course, is when will the federal government follow suit and stop arresting, fining and imprisoning people for smoking a plant that relaxes them and puts them into a mellow mood about life?
Nevada bureaucrats will spend the next six months to a year fighting over rules and regulations over where you can purchase the marijuana, where you can smoke it, when you can drive a car after smoking it and similar questions. But that's to be expected.
Marijuana sales will definitely improve Nevada's economy through taxes. It may also lower the murder and violent crime rate. Unlike alcohol, which often makes an imbiber want to harm or even kill somebody, marijuana makes you want to love them to death.
Some years ago I interviewed Willie Nelson in Phoenix, AZ. The interview took place before a concert at the Arizona Coliseum where Nelson was to perform with his sidekick Waylon Jennings, who happened to be a friend of mine.
During the interview, Willie, a long time promoter of recreational marijuana, told me the plant saved his life.
'I was literally drinking myself to death,' he said. 'To gear myself up for a show, I'd put away a couple fifths of tequila or something else and then go out on stage. My daughter told me, 'Daddy, you're killing yourself. Why not try marijuana to get yourself in the mood to perform?'
Willie smoked marijuana with his daughter and friends and said it changed his life. He kicked his drinking habit, turned to 'the blessed herb' as islanders in the Caribbean call it, and his life changed dramatically. His health improved, he eliminated hangovers, and the plant even made him more creative when it came to writing songs.
Similar stories about the benefits of marijuana were told to me by Johnny Cash and B.B. King. I suspect a lot more top celebrities would reveal their appreciation for the plant if there was not a stigma attached to smoking it.
Anyone familiar with the history of marijuana has to realize it was a serious law enforcement mistake to include marijuana to the list of banned illegal drugs like heroin, cocaine, PCP, crack and other illegal addictive drugs.
Around the world, governments are also reconsidering the ban on marijuana. Jamaica has already legalized the plant and expects it to add about $5 billion a year to the island's tourism industry. St. Kitts, another Caribbean island, is considering making the plant legal for tourists and its citizens.
Marijuana is simply one of the world's greatest cash crops. I suspect many of my readers have tried it as I have and will agree with me.
In five years, I predict the furor over making this euphoria-producing product legal will die down and people as well as law enforcement will recognize it as simply a God-given plant that makes the world smile and crave munchies.
Geno
7 years ago
Zuga is absolutely correct about alcohol and it's just one more reason why this relatively harmless plant should not be criminalized.
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Geno
7 years ago
Lipstick, I love your comment. I agree with you about Frank Sinatra's singing. Maybe we can meet at the Aria or The Orleans for that proverbial drink and share a few stories. Smiles...
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zuga
7 years ago
fact : zero ppl dies coz of marijuna "abuse" . How many ppl dies because of alcohol or smoking related issues each year? Nuff said!
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Lipstick
7 years ago
Geno - I don't know, have i told you lately .......no i won't going into Lionel Richie but something much more fitting.....when somebody loves you, its not love unless they love you ALLLLL THE WAYYY and I love you as a writer with incredible stories! This one inparticular caught my eye cuz adore the Chairman of the board....
Geno - I don't know, have i told you lately .......no i won't going into Lionel Richie but something much more fitting.....when somebody loves you, its not love unless they love you ALLLLL THE WAYYY and I love you as a writer with incredible stories! This one inparticular caught my eye cuz adore the Chairman of the board. His music was romance at its best.
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Geno
7 years ago
The true druggies will always take a legitimate product and add something to it to make it more powerful and more dangerous. In the 1960s and '70s, including today, it might be PCP or cocaine. The cure is for a major tobacco manufacturer -- one of the cigarette companies perhaps -- to grow their own moderate plant and...
The true druggies will always take a legitimate product and add something to it to make it more powerful and more dangerous. In the 1960s and '70s, including today, it might be PCP or cocaine. The cure is for a major tobacco manufacturer -- one of the cigarette companies perhaps -- to grow their own moderate plant and package marijuana in a pack of cigarettes, say three, five or 10, and then sell it to adults. Thanks for your comment, OOPaloo.
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Vanenhox
7 years ago
Two contrary thoughts immediately come to mind in relation to the legalization of marijuana. Do not misunderstand me I am not a prohibitionist, however, the marijuana of today is so much more potent, in terms of THC content, that it really does not resemble the stuff the hippies smoked and popularized back in the sixties...
Two contrary thoughts immediately come to mind in relation to the legalization of marijuana. Do not misunderstand me I am not a prohibitionist, however, the marijuana of today is so much more potent, in terms of THC content, that it really does not resemble the stuff the hippies smoked and popularized back in the sixties and seventies. The second related point is that for people with a predisposition to mental illness this powerful substance can be the factor that drives them over the edge into psychosis or depression. These points should be taken into account by public health and policy authorities in terms of public education and awareness campaigns when legalizing the good, green herb; which is born from the synergistic power of warm, glowing sunlight and the dark, fertile soil of mother Earth. Or does the evil weed come from often illegal and clandestine indoor grow rooms? The plants springing from hydroponic units without soil, under the harsh electric glare of powerful halogen grow lamps? While the watchful eyes of daring young entrepreneurs--who have continuously developed more and more potent, high THC content, marijuana strains--gleam with the lust for profit; the not so organic green of the almighty dollar? Life is a mixed bag I suppose. Should Bob Marley, rather than Frank Sinatra, music be played whenever possible in all public service announcements on TV and/or in other education campaigns after legalization? Will the net result of legalization be positive or negative for society?
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