‘The war on drugs has failed’ is Evergreen’s underlying message

Turns out legalizing marijuana can get complicated.

Perhaps this goes without saying.  After all, if it were more, jurisdictions would have opted to reform their cannabis policies. To date, one country and two states in the US have done so. 

The battle for legalization in one of the few aforementioned jurisdictions is the crux of the film Evergreen: The Road to Legalization in Washington.

The political wrangling  featured in the documentary will look familiar to island residents; here, there’s been much jousting over cannabis reform for months.

What some Bermudians might find surprising is that the battle lines in Washington state were not necessarily starkly drawn between the prohibition and legalization crowd. Instead, the film focuses on the resistance to this specific legalization proposal — I-502 -— from within the existing medical marijuana community in the state. These are people who already sell, use or espouse the benefits of the drug. 

That crowd says the ballot initiative would impinge on their day-to-day existence vis-à-vis a driving-under-the-influence provision embedded in the proposal.

Medical marijuana patients, dispensaries and care providers assert that the new ballot measure will facilitate unwarranted impaired-driving arrests. The proposal’s legal threshold to drive is 5 ng/ml active THC blood concentration is not high enough (no pun intended), they say. Medical marijuana patients say they won’t be able to legally drive places and live their normal everyday lives without running the risk of getting a DUI.

The advocates argue that their bill, which ultimately prevailed in November 2012 by a 56 to 44 margin, is pragmatic. The supporters of I-502 say the DUI provision is essential because it calms the concerns of the more conservative swing voters that will decide whether it becomes reality. They cite a California effort that failed previously as an example of what happens when there is no such provision. The idea of stoned drivers wreaking havoc on the roads is anathema to parents, their thinking goes.

There is considerable talk about assuaging the concerns of soccer moms. There are debates on the radio. Arguments at Seattle’s HempFest. Protests and counterprotests that turn heated as both sides accuse the other of being misguided and inaccurate. There are lots of campaign buttons.

One advocate of the measure alleges that the medical marijuana community is concerned the bill will sink their businesses and that is what is fuelling the opposition.

The argument that underlies the overall legalization of the drug is a simple one — the war on drugs has failed. While arrests have escalated, marijuana use has stayed the same, meaning that all of that time and police resources has not reduced use of the drug. It is all a waste, in other words. 

The illegality of the drug fosters an underground market where gangs and organized crime are enriched. It’s already the second largest cash crop in the state, posits one advocate, why not make it legal?

Evergreen: The Road to Legalization in Washington features as part of the Bermuda Docs at 7:15 pm, Sunday April 20 at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute.