Driving to the office on August 28th, I heard a conversation on the radio from a local talk show. The host was saying that legalizing marijuana was probably going to be inevitable; so, we should save our resources for some other battle. Opposing legalization of marijuana was simply not a hill worth dying on. Hopefully, Christians will disagree mightily and do whatever we can to prevent such a disastrous day from coming to pass. It has been only about a decade ago that Floridians turned down Medical Marijuana. But thanks to the media and Morgan & Morgan, whose slogan is something like “For the Stoned People,” the medical version is now legal. Now a bill has been offered to make recreational marijuana available. Wow! Who could have seen that one coming?
Republicans have control of Florida’s state government. The radio personality urged them to pass the bill in order to get “credit” for bringing weed to Florida. They won’t get any credit from this voter if they do so—or support for office, either. The host rambled on, “They should legalize it and use the tax revenues for education or the environment.” Oh, there’s an original thought. Every state in the nation has used that same appeal for allowing casinos and gambling to invade their cities. So many taxes on sins have been raised for education that our children should be the smartest kids in the universe. Anyone want to bet on that?
“You’ve got to pick your battles,” goes the old saw. What battle are we waiting for? It’s nearly ninety years too late to keep alcohol illegal. Has anyone ever totaled all of the lives lost due to drunk drivers? We’re a little late on the battle to keep marriage from being redefined. Oh, and speaking of marriage we’re a little late to prevent divorce for any cause, aren’t we? More than 60,000,000 babies have been killed since Roe v. Wade. Of course, the Supreme Court never gave us a chance to fight that battle, having legalized the practice in one fell swoop, bypassing the legislative process. Perhaps the talk show host would like to tell us exactly what battle we are saving ourselves for. Those who are searching for a hill to die on will ultimately discover that the phantom hill is nothing more than a slippery slope to oblivion.
Recreational marijuana has been legal in certain states for a few years. Instead of theorizing on what the possible benefits might be to Florida if the bill is passed, how about giving us the data that shows how the states of Colorado and California have benefitted? What have the additional revenues purchased? How has work productivity soared? Please gives us an honest evaluation about the quality of life improving in those places. We’re waiting….