Haven’t rightwing freaks and other assorted homophobes been tranquil so far this summer? Thank God for pot, though. Still staggering from their same-sex marriage defeat, pot’s a chance for the neo-cons to get all riled up again. Pot rights issues are practically begging the queer community to make it our next great contribution to the advancement of society.
Marc Emery, the Vancouver-based pot advocate who’s made a decent buck off selling marijuana seeds by mail order, saw his life going up in smoke this month as US officials demanded the Canadian government hand him over to be charged with trafficking. Now pot, which seemed like a settled issue in this country – no big deal, wait long enough and it will be legal – is at the forefront of debate here.
Here in Canada, our flawed pot laws are murky, making our country a low-stakes place to sell and smoke. That’s why millions of us do it without much thought. South of the border it’s a different story. Weed is in the same league as heroin. Emery may have had his $3,000-a-month pad to pay for, but eventually some of his US clientele revealed themselves as soldiers from the great US war on drugs. If convicted, Emery faces a sentence as stiff as life imprisonment.
Setting aside his stupidity in toying with the Americans, Emery and the entire cannabis movement itself could use a few extra loud pro-pot voices sounding off. Why not ours?
I’ve lit enough joints on dancefloors, at house parties and in bedrooms to say with certainty that it’s the odd homo who says no-no to the offer of a little time with Maryjane. Certainly not every queer is a pot smoker, but I could write up an extensive list of those who are.
Countless people with HIV/AIDS can testify to how marijuana helps them with legions of ailments including loss of appetite, upset stomach and pain relief. For the hedonistic amongst us it seems like it’s always 4:20pm, the international time of the day to light up. Sweet smoke clouds up gay backyards, bathtubs, dinner parties and bathhouses throughout this city as we use it to relax deeply, enjoy extra sensory enhancement or augment critical thinking. Gay people have for decades enjoyed a sweet and satisfying relationship with our weed, and because of this it’s worth considering doing a bit more than giving the headlines a glance over.
Besides, our sex lives used to be against the law, didn’t they, and that didn’t stop us fucking, did it?
Eighty-two years after it was first deemed criminal, millions of Canadians still smoke pot and the majority don’t support its criminalization. Almost every royal commission and governmental committee in Canada and internationally has recommended that pot be decriminalized, the way it has been in Australia and many places in Europe. As far as we can tell, there hasn’t been a decline in society there. That’s the same argument that’s been unsuccessful used by Bible-thumpers against same-sex marriage.
The next time you spark up a spliff, consider being more vocal about decriminalizing pot. If only just so we can watch those neo-cons get all crazy on us again. It’s been a while since I’ve been called a depraved homosexual drug addict.
Why you can trust Xtra
