The social costs of marijuana

I am opposed to allowing marijuana establishments to operate in Whitefish because the social costs of marijuana are higher than its benefits.

While it is true the libertarian-leaning citizens of Montana voted overwhelmingly to allow citizens to sell and use marijuana for bona fide medical purposes, it is becoming increasingly evident most citizens believe pot should be sold and smoked in someone else's municipality but certainly not in their own.

Now that Whitefish is faced with a state law allowing the sale and use of marijuana, there is going to be a clash between those who give more and those who take more from society.

Philosophically, I disagree with federal drug laws; however, I also disagree with forced participation in federal entitlement programs like welfare, social security, Medicaid, and Medicare. It is foolish to ease government control over a citizen's physical sovereignty without first easing government's control over his neighbor's production sovereignty. If my neighbor is truly responsible for his private health decisions, I should not have to be forced against my will to pay for his private health mistakes. Protecting a citizen's right to smoke marijuana without first relieving his neighbor of the responsibility to take care of him is as insane as it is immoral.

While marijuana proponents are certainly capable of locating and championing the rare nuclear physicist who uses marijuana to alleviate chronic pain, most of us have seen the terrible social costs of prevalent marijuana use — poor grades in school, poor decision making, inability to hold a job, destroyed marriages, increased crime and traffic fatalities. Allowing even more citizens to sell and smoke marijuana without relieving society of the responsibility to care for pot smokers is fiscally suicidal.

If Montana wants to thumb its nose at federal drug enforcement laws, the most productive among us should be prepared to accept responsibility for picking up the financial slack required to maintain our bankrupt entitlement programs. We can't expect Montanans, whose ambition and common sense have been destroyed by years of state protected marijuana use, to be meaningful contributors to Social Security or Medicare. We can only expect them to be takers from these programs.

On only two conditions does it make sense to ease Montana's marijuana laws: (1) allow citizens to opt out of paying for federal and state entitlement programs; or (2) prevent marijuana users from receiving federal and state entitlement support. Anything short of making Montanans personally accountable for their own health and financial security will accelerate our collective financial destruction.

Joseph Coco lives in Whitefish.