Recently I spoke with travel guru Rick Steves for the Century. Steves is a Lutheran and speaks openly about the role his faith plays in his travel philosophy. In his latest book, Travel as a Political Act, Steves also writes about why he thinks the U.S. needs to be smarter about its war on drugs. He has been a visible figure in the drive to decriminalize marijuana. In a section of the interview that didn’t go into the print version, I asked Steves about that particular aspect of his political activism. Here’s what he had to say:
I’ve used marijuana recreationally, like a lot of people, just secretly. Then I thought, ‘That’s dishonest.’ For me, marijuana is not a harmful substance. I consider using it to be a civil liberty and have used it responsibly as an adult for creative purposes. I used to write a popular monthly column in World Concern Magazine, (a great Christian relief organization here in Seattle) and just for fun, I would write the article high. It helped me see things differently.
Like any drug, marijuana can be abused and I believe its abuse should be treated as an education and health problem. People take me out of context and think I am pro-drugs. No, I am the rare person of the 30 million Americans who have enjoyed marijuana and can speak out without getting fired or booted out of office. In the interest of true and good citizenship and harm reduction, somebody needs to speak out about this law against marijuana. There are so many parallels to be made with Prohibition in the 1920s and 30s. It took courageous people to recognize that the law was causing more harm than the drug problems it was trying to confront.
I’m not saying that drugs are good. I am not saying that kids should have access to drugs. I’m not saying that it is okay to drink and drive or smoke and drive. I am saying that drug abuse is a painful and expensive problem in our society, and we are tackling it the wrong way. There are 80,000 people in jail for marijuana possession. That’s a lot of heartache. That’s a lot of families being broken up. Meanwhile billions of dollars are being spent to advertise alcohol. It’s wacky.
People don’t want to ruin their lives by abusing drugs. They get caught in that whole destructive and criminalized world. There are constructive and creative ways to help people, without locking people up, driving up the street value and enriching organized crime.
My pastor knows about my activism, and while he may not agree with me, he respects me for it. The church council supports some de-criminalization activities in Seattle. It is not at all incongruous to being a Christian or a Lutheran. It is a little odd, because most Christians are mindless conformists when it comes to these issues. I don’t think mindless conformity is very Christlike.
10 comments:
That's a refreshing perspective. While it's not a substance that I use, I think it is important to consider a different approach to drug use and abuse than criminalization and the billions of dollars spent combatting it. Perhaps the decriminalization of marijuana would be a shift that would allow us a new start. It seems like that would allow us a much better use of resources than to put so much effort in to policing relatively minor abuse and imprisoning so many people.
It's hard to argue on behalf of mindless conformity. That said, I'm not convinced that recreational drug use (even "responsible adult use for creative purposes") exerts such a claim on conscience that it justifies disregard of the law. Maybe the laws against the sale, possession, and use of marijuana are wrong -- so he should go ahead and work to change them. He might be surprised at the allies he'd find. Until then, however, he's merely being self-indulgent, which he ennobles by calling activism.
Watch any episode of his show and I think it's apparent that Rick Steve's is often stoned. Love that guy!
The Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative is the leading organization mobilizing the faith community to advocate for compassionate alternatives to the war on drugs. Many religious leaders and groups support marijuana decriminalization and legalization. www.idpi.us
I TOTALLY AGREE WITH RICK I 2 CAME 2 D CONCLUSION THAT CLOSET SMOKING IS DISHONEST,SO WHEN MICHAELS PHELPS THRU MY MARYJANE UNDER D BUS AFTER HAVIN ENJOYED HER COMPANY IT WAS OPEN SEASON LOL.ANOTHER POINT I LIKE 2 MAKE THIS 1 IS AMERICAS BIGGEST MYTH "POT LEADS 2 HARDER DRUGS" THERES BEEN HARDLY ANY STUDIES DONE ON POT LET ALONE 1 THAT SHOWS POT LEADING 2 HARDER DRUGS.THE ONLY REASON Y POT LEADS 2 HARDER DRUGS HAS NUTTIN 2 DO WITH D DRUG ITSELF BUT RATHER BCUZ THE SAME PERSON WHO SELLS POT ALSO (4 D MOST PART)SELLS COCAINE,HEROIN,ETC.ITS A GATEWAY DRUG BCUZ ITS IN C BLACK MARKET N WHO R WE 2 BLAME 4 THAT GOOD OLE UNKLE SAMMY.IF ANY DRUG IF PROVEN 2 B A GATEWAY DRUG IT WOULD HAVE 2 B PRESCRIPTION PILLS(PERCOCETS,XANAX,ETC.)IF POT IS D GATEWAY DRUG THIS MY FRIEND IS D YOUTHS HIGHWAY 2 HELL.NOT 2 MENTION D MUCH NEEDED $ TAXING POT WOULD BRING ALOT OF EXPERTS HAVE ESTIMATES BUT I THINK THERE ALL WRONG I BELIEVE TAXING POT COULD AT D LEAST STABLELIZE OUR ECONOMY.SICK PPL WOULD GET THERE MUCH NEEDED MEDS.WATS THERE 2 THINK OF ITS A WIN WIN SIT.NEVER THE LESS I WOULD LIKE 2 THNX U 4 TAKING D TIME 2 ACKNOWLEDGE MY PLEA. SINCERLY E ZAYAS.
We are currently working through how our congregation does ministry with a crack-cocaine addict. There are a number of families in the congregation who struggle with family members who are addicted, some very young teenagers. While I can appreciate a ‘boomers’ perspective on recreational drug use, I do wonder how the families that face deep pain because of addictions might respond. There is a lot of false hope placed on ‘the war on drugs’, yet, without adequate care given to how our youth and families can be educated and how the commercialization of the sale of drugs will go, I want to move slowly on this one. It is clear, nevertheless, that our current social policy is not adequate.
Doug said: Being a two time spine surg patient fighting intense daily nerve pain, I'm understandably more concerned with the medical applications of marijuana. The healthcare debate decry's the U.S. Gov standing between the doctor and patient relationship, and yet many Americans support a law that at its inception in 1937 the President of the American Medical Association testified to Congress that the law was based entirely on lies. Two years later Mayor of New York, Fiorello La Guardia assembles an entire panel of physicians from The New York Academy of Medicine to study marijuana over a two year span. The results released in 1944 overwhelmingly concluded that the mj tax act was the result of founding a law upon blatant lies. Truth in history and the education thereof completely abates all claims and reasons presented that keep marijuana as a schedule I narcotic. Our current social policy is not only inadequate, but pathetic IMO.
Rick Steves is one of the more responsible voices on the subject of marijuana in our nation. While lots of unethical persons are engaged in distribution of the drug, it is amazing that we continue to be willing to bankroll prisons to house those who are arrested and convicted for drug use. Most articles I have read suggest that we have more people in prison per capita than most nations and then whine about the cost. In a few decades we will probably have marijuana "bars" for distribution.
Rick Steves was right: we spend millions (make that billions) of dollars promoting the consumption of alcholic beverages and then spend millions (make that billions) putting people in jail who use other drugs.
John J. Shaffer
I've been working on a theory that the progressive christian movement is mostly led by hippies. Recreational drug use is the only way I can explain much of the thinking\beliefs associated with this movement.
It is refreshing to me to read an individual's perspectives on the matter that are in line with my own. It is a very sad fact that, like other substances such as alcohol, marijuana can be (and often is) abused. However, it can also be used for creative purposes.
The only thing I struggle with is its legality. This seems to go against the 4th commandment. Do you have any comments on this?
Thank you again for your thoughtful input. It is a sad fact that millions of people are in jail for marijuana possession, while billions and billions of dollars are being pumped into advertising even more harmful substances! (Alcohol, namely).
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