By skyforbes 
Governor Cuomo’s actions in New York offer other states good fiscal advice for what not to do in a pandemic. Austerity cuts to Medicaid and refusing to tax the super-rich are obvious missteps, but let’s not forget another significant blunder: declining to legalize cannabis. It’s a huge source of tax revenue that would have an immediate impact on the pandemic’s economic effect. The cannabis industry employs green thumbs, accountants, drivers, customer service, and other careers that can perform while social distancing and contribute to our indelibly altered economy.
It should be clear to everyone by now that there’s no going back to the way things were. The 20th century is officially over and the sooner we adapt to the shape of things, the better our chances for survival. The only way that we, as a society, will be able to function is if we do away with both-sidesism and embrace common sense. Aside from the fact that cannabis is a sound investment in local small businesses, there is no logical or ethical argument for it to be illegal. This pandemic should be a wake-up call to people, that one can’t ignore scientific facts that one finds inconvenient. In 2020, one sounds uninformed saying that cannabis is more dangerous than booze or pills. Just stop it.
It is particularly ghoulish to punish people for using an herb when the punishment is meted out disproportionately to the poor, to people of color, and to people with mental illnesses and disabilities. It is capital punishment (or “cruel and unusual punishment”) to confine people in a small, enclosed space with poor ventilation and a bunch of strangers. In fact, it is downright murderous to arrest people for weed during a pandemic. (For those who don’t know, “420” is the police code for cannabis; the term has been reclaimed by the cannabis community.)
Does Maryland want to go down in history as a state that continued practicing Jim Crow laws during a pandemic and the worst depression in 90 years? Are we really going to double down on this age-old barbarism, to power through our stupidest, meanest choices?
We’re weeks away from a mental health pandemic brought on by anguish, forced idleness, financial burdens, health woes, the sheer body count, and epic loneliness. Most people have not experienced this level of mass trauma, and that’s saying a lot since we’ve had two major wars, two recessions, natural disasters, and staggering levels of domestic terrorism in the last couple of decades. What is different about this event is that we have no idea how long it will last, and our isolation and atomization are more pronounced than ever. We don’t stand a chance at protecting our mental health and societal safety if the most readily available remedies are booze, pills, junk food, tobacco, and online hate speech.
People need pacifying alternatives that encourage them to make the most of their free time and solitude. I say this as someone who does not believe that cannabis dumbs people down. But cannabis is generally considered to be more conducive to peaceful thoughts than booze or pills. It’s time to realize the potential of opening Maryland up to legal recreational cannabis as a way to encourage people to stay at home, be safe, take care of themselves, and maybe take up gardening.
The only arguments against legalizing recreational cannabis are outdated and unscientific. Does Governor Hogan want to go on record saying, in these unprecedented times, that he is more swayed by puritanical judgment than by the overwhelming scientific evidence that potheads are not bad people? We look like medieval witch hunters, blaming nonconforming innocent people for pestilence and crop failures. We can continue to do a lot of backward, barbaric, and hysterical things and hurt a lot of people, or we can rule by logic, common sense, and utilitarianism. This 4/20, Governor Hogan can legalize recreational cannabis, bolster our local economy, encourage staying at home, protect people’s mental and physical health, and end a ghastly law. It’s not his choice, it’s our choice. Stay well, fam.