Californians are polling against the Proposition to legalize marijuana, with 49% saying they’ll vote against it. The majority of naysayers are over 39 — the generation that started a few political movements and trends with a little help from our leafy friend. What’s goin’ on?
I can only guess, and I’m guessing it’s the old Do As I Say, Not As I Do syndrome: now parents, the Boomers don’t want their kids to smoke pot. I’m always hearing and reading confessions by these people about how they lied when their kids asked them if they used to get high.
It’s the same syndrome as having their erotic videos sent wrapped in plain brown paper, or telling the kids they’re looking for something lost in the sheets when they get “caught.”
Obviously I think all this is thoroughly reprehensible, and don’t need to explain, or to lecture, because the truth is self-evident, and I’m weary of my own soap box. Just for the record, though, I for one am thrilled I’ll be able to vote for legalization of marijuana in my lifetime, after all those years when I was a criminal, worrying I’d be thrown into jail. Of course, that was part of the whole experience: I remember my first few highs, imagining the newspaper headlines:
“MOTHER OF TODDLERS CAUGHT SMOKING POT: NEGLECTED CHILDREN ASLEEP UPSTAIRS!!”
Maybe that’s the real reason people are Just Saying No: they don’t want to deprive their kids of the full marijuana experience. Sure.
November 4th Addendum: I read in the SF Chron today that the growers opposed legalization because they don’t want their prices to go down. Ah, Greed! Greed is Good? Also, some are paranoid and wary of government regs. I don’t like it.