I can only speak from my own experience, but I have to say this to all the guys who want legalization of marijuana. There are a number of things you haven't thought about. Technically it should be no big deal to legalize marijuana. There are so many Americans who are doing it already in spite of any laws or regulations, and the American prison population is the biggest in the world. The large number of marijuana "offenders" contributes a great deal to that. But as a whole, Americans pay very little attention to what their government does overseas. I won't go into all the atrocities and war crimes that have been committed by that same government because that's another subject entirely. At the same time it provides substance for what I said about paying attention. If Americans did pay attention they would be outraged and its their own fault that they don't pay attention.
I lived in Africa over 20 years and during that time the US gov made a lot of effort and spent money convincing everyone they must make it illegal too. Africa is made up of 36 different and distinct nations. The US gov brought things like sanctions to the table just for the purpose of convincing people to see things their way. We are talking about places where weed grows naturally and freely, with out anyone's help. In fields, at the sides of roadways, next to train tracks, on airport runways, and bird sanctuaries, just to name a few. During travels through South America and Asia, I noticed and the same kinds of programs were there too. Program is the wrong word to use because there wasn't any offical program that could be named, it appears like it was simply policy. Needless to say, the US gov was successful with its policy. If they had not been successful, Africa would very likely be the leading producer of all marijuana products in the world.
However, there is something very sinister about the way the US gov conducts its business overseas, especially in Afica, but isn't confined to Africa. After the Soviet Union pulled out and just before the illegal US led invasion of Afghanistan began, the Taliban had eradicated almost all of its poppy fields . During the ten year occupation by the world's most powerful military, Afghanistan is now the largest producer of opium in the world. Additionally Afghan hashish is avaialble again in Europe as well as places like New York City. Any sane person would ask the question, how is that possible? Unfortunately the people asking that question are not Americans themselves.
Most Americans know very little if anything about Africa itself. All the reports that get seen in the USA only cover a few subject matters giving the impression that Africa is a continent plagued by famine and poverty, and full of wildlife parks and retreats. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. Ask any random number of Americans about Africa and the response you get is limited and lacking in any serious substance. Most of them can't tell you the name of a single nation in Africa, much less the names of any of its 1000's of cities and towns, or even what the main languages spoken there are. Americans should be asking why is that? But the propaganda about Africa and the lack of any real information about it has been going on for so long and has been so powerful that it never dawns on anyone to ask that question.
If you try to research the subject on your own, you will find that its not easy. A person can go look at all the CIA documents, which are public and there to see for anyone who wants to. But its the same there as was stated before. The information is limited, and the only way to know what it is that you can't google is to either know beforehand what that info is, or else to run into it completely by accident. At the end of this I will give you a clear and distinct example of that.
There is something else about Africa that most people are unaware of. It was already stated that its made up of 36 different nations. However the fact that not a single one of those nations was created by Africans themselves should an alarming signal of a sorts. None of Afica's borders have any bearing on the realities of tribal boundaries. That explains why there have been incidents like Rwanda. Our own western culture would not, or could not exist if it wasn't for the resources we get from Africa. Iron, aluminum, copper, brass, rubber, silver, gold, diamonds, platinum, and even things like cobalt, come from Africa. If you aren't sure what cobalt gets used for then try parts for the engines of jet aircraft. If you want to see something really scary, do a search for Cobalt Bomb. Sure there are a few other places who have some of those things, but for the most part it comes from Africa. Things like Coca Cola would not exist if it wasn't for the Kola trees that are indigenous to Africa.
Yet Africa is the poorest continent in the world. Why is that? If the nations of Africa were to decide to go full time into marijuna production lets say, they would become the equivalent to marijuana that the middle east has become to oil. Yet even in its quasi legal condition in the USA, you rarely if ever get any strains with origins in Africa. For example in a nation like Senegal, which lies on the west coast of Africa, they have weed they call "YEMBA" I promise you its one of the most potent weeds I have ever personally consumed. It proliferates freely in the Senegalese countryside as well as in Gambia and Guinea. Its buds are dark red in color and bears some resemblance to what they used to grow in Lebanon to make red Lebanese hashish. By proliferates freely, that means it grows completely on its own without care from anyone. When the dry season hits and those buds begin to form and then dry on its own stalks, a person can literally go out there, grab one and roll joints out of it if they wanted to. One of its easily identifiable effects it has on the user is that it makes the whites of the eyes as red as red can be.
However, if you are caught using or selling yemba, you go straight to what they call a prison. No questions asked. That is a result of the USA's unwritten program in a place like Senegal. Do not forget that same policy is practiced through out Africa. There are cultures most people have never heard of In Africa, who's all time favorite thing is to smoke a pipeful of weed. For example there are the Hadza of Tanzania, not to be confused with Tasmania, in south east Africa. The Hadza have lived the way they do for 1000's of years. As a culture, the Hadza have the most varied diet on planet earth. They have never been threatened by any outbreak of disease. They do not raise any cattle nor do they grow any crops. They have no stress. They do not have a word for any number that's larger than 3. Their all time favorite pastime is to hang out and smoke a big stone pipe ful of weed. There is something about the Hadza that makes them unique in the world. They have no religion, none. Nor have they ever. No myths of immortal gods who do all the things that defy all of the laws of physics. No stories for children about eternal life or the existence of immortal beings. To be fair, there were many missionaries who tried to convert the Hadza. But the missionaries gave up because whenever the Hadza would see them they would break out into hysterical uncontrollable laughter. The Hadza know we live in a universe where nothing lasts forever, so that rules out any ideas of immortality or eternal life.
There is one other thing about the Hadza you should know. They have never waged any kind of war on anyone. If the meaning of what was said is eluding you, then let me rephrase it.
The only culture on earth who never had any religion is the same culture who never waged war on anyone.
But the Tanzanian government wishes to be a part of the global economy, and is embarrassed by the images of Hadza living freely in its countryside. The president of Tanzania made a speech last year declaring that the Hadza must be re-educated and forced to become a part of society. Society has no place for stoned people who are still living as though they are cavemen. As a result the Hadza are now looked down on with pity and disgust by other minorities in Tanzania. There was an incident recently where a local Tanzanian rancher had his cattle drinking from a well and would not allow any Hadza to drink until his cattle had their fill. This has a dreary sound of familiarity to it because we have seen this sort of thing before., and words like re education should be an alarm to the rest of the world. It makes me ashamed to be a human being because the Hadza never did anything to anyone.
So after all that's been put into writing, imagine you are the person who has to go to the United Nations general assembly and explain why the USA is going to change its mind about the use of marijuana. It has to rank as the all time most embarrassing and humiliating public experience anyone would have to ever endure, and who in their right mind is going to volunteer to do a job like that? I do not know what all the answers are, but the legalization of marijuana entails so much more than anyone may realize.
