From pain relief to pleasure

The overwhelming victory of California's medical marijuana initiative has opened the door for the legalization of pot

By SUSIE BRIGHT AND JON BAILIFF

I performed my civic duty yesterday at The Christian Life Center, which to my chagrin, is the local polling place in my neighborhood. The good ladies from the League of Voters who ran the polls were totally overwhelmed; they couldn't figure out why Santa Cruz county was having an unprecedented voter turnout — a record 90 percent, they estimated.

I think I know the reason, and it wasn't this year's thrilling presidential race. The reason so many people marched to the polls in Santa Cruz, and throughout much of California, was to vote yes on Proposition 215, which calls for the legalization of medical marijuana. The initiative swept to a "stunning" victory yesterday, winning by a lopsided 56 percent margin. But the only ones who were stunned were the politicians and pundits who have completely underestimated how fed up people have become with the hysteria and hypocrisy surrounding the beneficent herb.

Marijuana decriminalization has traditionally been a fight between stoners and the rest of the world. "Are you experienced?" could only be understood by those who had been there — but new visitors kept arriving. Time has witnessed the toking of America, and now, instead of "everybody must get stoned," everyone HAS, in one giant non-partisan effort.

Voting yes on 215 was a vote of outrage on several fronts. People are angry that the medical establishment has offered so little relief to people with AIDS and a host of other ailments that plague us. Medical marijuana has become a major component of the holistic health movement in America. How dare anyone tell us that we have to be in agony when there is no decent alternative except smoking weed?

I don't know if the advocates of Prop. 215 had this in mind when they developed their strategy, but the genius in this piece of legislation is that it took the pleasure aspect out of the marijuana stigma. Americans, even the fabled hedonistic Californians, are hard-pressed to vote for something simply because it "feels good," even if it is harmless. If a bill were ever sent to Congress that stated American citizens have the right to wake up in the morning and smile, I'm sure it would go down to defeat, because the God Squad would be on hand to prove that unearned smiles are the first step on a slippery slope to naughtiness and sloth.

Our countrymen are typically embarrassed to stick up for anything because it gives one joy, higher consciousness, relaxation, or a burst of imagination. However, if one deletes the pleasure element and simply says, "Let's stop suffering, let's stop being sadistic and have some compassion" — well, then we can all be saints about it, can't we?

Prop. 215's victory was also a protest against the criminal demonization of marijuana. Its opponents warned that the proposition was a wedge to introduce legal marijuana use for all. Well, of course it's a wedge, there NEEDS TO BE a wedge.

I don't want to have to explain to my kid that the bogeyman drug education she gets in school is riddled with lies and misinformation —and by the way, don't turn me in, honey. I don't want to be frightened that I could put my home and family at stake just because I want to smoke a joint in my own living room, watch "The Brady Bunch" and get the munchies. I'm sick of seeing my rural friends have their families broken up, reputations ruined, and livelihoods wiped out, because they happen to be professionally growing the last lucrative cash crop in this state.

And, finally I'm sick of watching marijuana laws be selectively enforced against the young and the poor. We have a two-tier justice system against drug users, where if you live on the right side of the tracks, with the right color skin, you can smoke and snort anything you want with minimal repercussions.

So, hooray for the Prop. 215 wedge! Medically legal pot is going to be a big foot in the door for marijuana decriminalization. And for this we owe a big debt of gratitude to the ailing people who launched this successful campaign. I never knew a depressed immune system could pack such a wallop. What we now must learn is that if pain relief is a human right, so is simple pleasure.

Susie Bright is the editor of "The Best American Erotica" series. Jon Bailiff is her partner.

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Is California's medical marijuana proposition the beginning of a larger decriminalization movement — and is that good or bad? Come to Table Talk, where the debate continues.