The Grass Ain’t Greener: Part 1

Why Legalizing Recreational Cannabis Was a Terrible Idea—And Whose Terrible Idea It Was

The Apprentice is now streaming on Amazon Prime. Who’d have thought it possible five years ago? Symbolizing more than just the mainstream embracement (ok fine—tolerance) of President Trump, the addition of The Apprentice to America’s 2^nd largest streaming platform is certainly in line with Trump’s wish to return to the do-it-yourself, entrepreneurial spirit of yesteryear. Meanwhile, Black Lives Matter is being exposed as the divisive grift we always knew it was. Women’s sports are fair again. Old America is back!

But not quite.

Though we appear to be speeding away from the absurdism of the Obama years, vestiges of that era remain lodged in the arteries of our social and legal systems like slow-release cyanide capsules—leaching poison long after the circus responsible has left town. If we fail to address them, they’ll undermine any progress achieved by the current administration for years to come.

One such vestigial policy-shift that hasn’t yet been singled out for reform despite the dramatic and immediate impact it had on society is the legalization of recreational Cannabis. It’s a big one.

Now, before you call me a narc, let me assure you (without elaborating) I was once deeply familiar with the old Sneaky Parsley. This isn’t a crusade to vilify Marijuana users, nor to decry the substance as an unequivocal evil with no redeeming value. However, statistics and developing social trends indicate that things haven’t exactly gone to plan for the 24 states that have legalized it. Actually, it’s quickly becoming a national disaster.

But it gets worse. You may (but probably won’t) be surprised to learn the social shift toward embracing recreational Cannabis that occurred in the early 2000s was far from organic—it was an orchestrated effort involving advertising campaigns and millions of dollars of pro-weed propaganda.

The man responsible was none other than George Soros.

How It Started: Easy Skankin’

*For purposes of this article, “Cannabis” refers only to its psychoactive form (‘weed’). Non-psychoactive Cannabinoids like CBD and Hemp are excluded from the discussion.

Back in 2012, the buzz around legalizing Cannabis was quite real in places like Washington and Colorado—the first states to legalize it for recreational use. The idea was that a legal Cannabis industry would rake in billions in tax revenue, while undercutting black market and cartel-linked Cannabis sellers and reducing associated violence and arrests for possession. Legalization would also supposedly facilitate the regulation of Cannabis, encouraging safer products and state-specific age restrictions, thus framing legalization as a net positive for public health.

One of the more ridiculous claims from pro-Cannabis groups at the time was that legalization wouldn’t cause anyone who didn’t already use Cannabis to start using it—it would simply allow the government to regulate the market of existing users, without (somehow) encouraging any new users. If this had been true, it would’ve been remarkable as the only time in history that a state’s narcotics laws had absolutely no deterrent effect on its citizens.

**Many discussions around the legalization of recreational Cannabis involve its medicinal/therapeutic benefits, particularly for cancer patients. That argument is a red herring, since the legalization of medical Marijuana long pre-dates the widespread proliferation of the drug, which only came about with recreational legalization.

How It’s Going: Reefer Madness

To start with, none of the promises around legalizing recreational Cannabis have really come to fruition. Cannabis taxation brings in around $4 billion/year across all legalized states. This may sound impressive, but these profits have been largely offset by the ‘hidden costs’ of legalization. For example, one study estimated Cannabis legalization has resulted in a 15% increase in workplace absences and a large drop in productivity—costing employers billions in revenue. Drug test failures nearly doubled between 2015 and 2022—hitting the transportation industry and small businesses the hardest. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg—increases in road accidents and rises in healthcare expenditures correlate directly with increased cannabis use, not to mention the negative impact on the education system.

Contrary to ‘predictions,’ the Cannabis black market is alive and well, still accounting for over 70% of sales in states like California. Likewise, the Central and South American drug cartels have thrived in the years since legalization. But perhaps most troublingly, more Americans use Cannabis than ever before, and the number of daily Marijuana users has risen from 8.1 million in 2012 to 17.7 million in 2022—a 118% increase in a decade. In fact, the only pro-Cannabis promise that has come true is the reduction in Cannabis-related arrests. If that’s considered a ‘net good’ then let’s legalize murder—we’ll never have to prosecute a homicide case again.

Stew on This

But even if reality were different—and the legalization of Cannabis yielded the promised pecuniary and public safety benefits—it still should have remained illegal.

Why? Well, think of society as a stew or jambalaya, if you will. The stewy output is only as good as the quality of the ingredients used—the societal values, laws, social practices, health and diet, among other things. Facilitating widespread Cannabis use has introduced a new ingredient. Can we really say, in good faith, this new ingredient is likely to yield a better-adjusted, more cohesive, more productive society? The statistics say otherwise.

Firstly, chronic Cannabis use is known to result in a dramatic reduction in executive functioning, motivation, short-term, episodic, and short-term memory. (yes that was intentional) And the effects don’t necessarily evaporate with continued abstinence, especially among adolescents, for whom it permanently damages the part of the brain responsible for decision-making, impulse control, and memory. Not to mention the myriad studies linking Cannabis use with spikes in Major Depressive Disorder and Schizophrenia.

America was founded on bold, productive entrepreneurialism and strength in adversity. Legalizing recreational Cannabis is directly contrary to these values (no matter how creative you think it makes you). But it is highly consistent with the 21^st century Woke mentality of succumbing to and then medicating your problems —rather than defying and overcoming them. The COVID-19 response was a prime example, but there are countless others. Don’t like your gender? Pump yourself full of hormones! Unhappy with your life? That’s OK—spark up a J and nullify it!

It all fits together so perfectly… Far too perfectly to be accidental.

George Soros’ Not-So-Brave New World

Between 2005 and 2013, public support for legalizing recreational Cannabis rose from 36% to 58%—a 22% jump in just 8 years. Society just doesn’t change that quickly without someone pulling the strings.

Just prior to that time period, George Soros formed the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), sitting on its board of directors and contributing millions in funding each year. The DPA engineered legalization efforts in multiple states, sponsoring massive media campaigns and pro-weed mobilization efforts. Sickeningly, Soros’ funding accounted for the majority of the pro-legalization campaign budgets in both Colorado and Washington (e.g., 68% of the funding for Washington’s ‘New Approach’ legalization campaign).

Even more devilishly, Soros’ Open Society Foundation financed ‘studies’ and ‘reports’ that highlighted the economic benefits and social justice arguments for legalization. These studies, which drastically altered public perception of the substance, championed many of the pro-Cannabis arguments mentioned previously, which have now been conclusively disproven.

In all, Soros has spent hundreds of millions on incremental, pro-Cannabis societal manipulation tactics, dating all the way back to the early 90s. Now, why would he care so deeply? To achieve the same result as all the other ‘missions’ that he funds (which include free speech censorship, pro-criminal prosecutors, and America’s open border policy). That is, to sow chaos and end America as we know it.

Time to End the ‘Green’ New Deal

Marijuana has long been framed as the ‘harmless’ drug—alcohol’s happier cousin. Pro-Cannabis activists argue “no one ever overdosed on weed” and “weed never made a husband beat his wife.” Both statements are true. However, they’re examining the issue from the wrong angle. The societal detriment posed by legalizing Cannabis isn’t initially that obvious—it won’t be visible in domestic violence or overdose stats. But that doesn’t make it any less real. No, it’s not as harmful as cocaine, heroin, or other hard drugs. But that’s the point. If a poison pill were concocted to slowly cripple and de-potentiate society, it would need to be relatively harmless (or even beneficial) on its face, or it would be rejected outright.

Cannabis has been around for thousands of years—and our society was built on a mentality that frowned upon its widespread, legal use. In keeping with the recent trend of re-discovering everything we’ve already learned over the past 2000 years (gender is non-negotiable, free speech is good, etc.), we need to return to that mentality. Technology may have changed—we have not.

Gee, aren’t we lucky the issue is confined to states that have legalized it, right? Wrong. Due to legal ‘loopholes’ exploited by the Cannabis industry, Cannabis products are legally available for purchase in 42 states—including many where the drug remains ‘illegal.’ We’ll explain how that’s possible in Part 2, and how we might be able to fix it.