Shaming cannabis culture

This is not yet another piece on why we should legalize weed.

That point has been driven home by many before me and, according to a March Pew Center research poll, 52 percent of Americans now agree.  

But even though over half of us favor legalization, in that same poll about half surveyed said they would still feel uncomfortable if someone around them used marijuana.

Opinions are changing in regards to allowing people access to marijuana, but discussing the recreational use of marijuana is still a huge taboo.

Try asking your boss in the office if instead of getting drinks at the bar, he or she would be down to smoke a bowl. The impropriety of a question like that would likely get you fired on the spot.

Popular culture has portrayed those who do use cannabis as the archetypal stoners: lazy, dirty, unambitious and singularly focused on weed. This is why even in a college town like Bloomington, finding out someone smokes weed changes your opinion of them, for better or for worse.

Consuming alcohol — even underage consumption — has to a large extent been normalized, especially in a college setting like IU. In college it’s almost expected that the majority of people will at some point drink, which is why revealing that to your family, friends or colleagues isn’t that big of a deal.

At least the Woodstock generation has to some extent liberalized our views on pot a bit more than other countries. Growing up in a Mexican household, there was no differentiation between drugs. Bottom line was, “All drugs are bad, stay away from them.”

But putting weed amongst the same category of other drugs, say meth, is obviously misguided, creating an unnecessary stigma for those who partake recreationally.

Over the years, an entire subculture has formed around the recreational use of marijuana. Shaming an entire group of people for doing something that’s less physically detrimental than drinking alcohol is wrong, pure and simple.  

Though I can respect anyone’s abstention from drinking or smoking, looking down upon those that do is intolerant.

Current attitudes toward weed do, however, have very real-world, tangible consequences that go beyond the morally puritanical stigma of being a “drug user.”

Each year countless students lose scholarships and financial aid for being in possession of marijuana — so many educational careers sidetracked, so much potential lost.

Just trying or using weed does not mean you’re a junkie, just as drinking alcohol does not make you an alcoholic.

Though laws are quickly changing in regards to access to weed, a more pressing area for change may be our attitudes toward it.

— edsalas@indiana.edu
Follow columnist Eduardo Salas on Twitter @seibbe.