- By Casey Stevens
- Opinions
Print 
The day after Thanksgiving and I'm being told by radio announcers (none local, of course) that about one in three Americans are prowling America's malls in search of the Holy Grail of ultimate Christmas presents (does any economist ever try to calculate the amount of returned merchandise in January as an indicator of GDP?? Maybe it would be called GRP: Gross Returned Product. I digress. I feel a twinge of loneliness being away from the madding rush. I didn't spend any money Friday and don't feel Scrooge-ish. I'm a capitalist to my toes, but I don't need to prove it to the nation's retailers. They will apparently do just fine without me this weekend, and I will be seen haunting little shops for the next month looking for the few, and hopefully almost-perfect, giftsA few scattered thoughts this week, including a shout-out to Freeville Methodist who really did a bang-up job again in their community Thanksgiving dinner. All smiles, all community. Thank you, Freeville Methodist Church.
And, with another random scattered thought, I think we should be watching for an historical designation for the 'old' Tompkins County Library building. It's now surrounded by a chain link fence, protecting which or whom from what is unclear. But, long time residents will agree that it has been an albatross around the Tompkins County taxpayer's necks since its opening around 1968. Millions of dollars spent to maintain a leaky roof and other built-in disasters for fifty years, then the debacle of the County Legislature refusing to sell it for years and the roof deteriorating to such an extent that Travis-Hyde bought what is now, essentially, a pig-in-the-poke, regardless of their high flying plans to build more apartments for the 'aging' population in downtown, while other aspects of housing go unmet, and the Legislature smiles behind their uplifted collective hand and counts their blessings that the white elephant in the room has been gotten rid of after fifty years of malfeasance. (Phew, that was a long drawn out sentence, wasn't it?)
The only real way we can get some wicked satisfaction out of this is to designate it an historic landmark (a memorial to local government malfeasance) and wait for the roof to collapse, which it will eventually, especially if the snowfall is heavy this winter. Then we can let it collapse of its own wasted weight. Nice job, Tompkins County Legislature, including the few who 'retired' this past year or two. What a nice legacy. You have managed to pull off what any Albany sleight of hand artist would be envious of. Take a bow, and watch someone's website to have a photo of the front of the 'old' Library, with the remaining sign '"'Tompkins County'"' photo-shopped to additionally say '...sure knows how to screw the tax paying public'.
I got a kick out of reading a local story about legalizing marijuana in New York, with the acquiescence of our local legislature. It seems that our local lawmakers, led by Shawna Black, head of the Health and Human Services Committee are considering a smiling approval be sent to Albany. That's the committee that has dealt with the destruction that drug and alcohol addiction have done to Tompkins County families for years. No solutions have yet come from that committee, but apparently the 'answer' to that damage that we are all acutely aware of (along with the damage done by the specter of alcohol dependence) is to support the sale of cannabis by state-approved dealers. You know, the same people that decided years ago that the income generated by legalized gambling (' a dollar and a dream'. Remember that one?) outweighed the incalculable damage wrought by that addiction.
What I really loved about the so-called thinking is, quote, "One of the troubling aspects of legalizing marijuana is what corporate America will do with it...corporate America has no scruples about broadening their market with advertising and products that appeal to youth... [a] reckoning occurs many years down the road after evidence accumulates that youth is being adversely affected." Unquote from no less an 'authority' than Dr. William Klepack.
Ms. Black of the legislature says it is time to legalize marijuana, but will attempt to stop the 'corporatization' (her word) of the drug. Funny, isn't it, that allowing private (or publicly owned) companies to profit from something is bad in Ithaca's eyes but it is perfectly fine for a so-called 'governmental benevolence' to profit from its sale. Of course, government doesn't call it profit. Maybe it's not profit if it is derived from taxation because government has given nothing to the product other than its approval (maybe a wink and a nudge). That should be worth something in New York's confiscatory atmosphere.
The money made (and make no mistake about it, there's money to be made, as even the last minute advertising of the failed socialist candidacy of Amanda Kirchgessner claimed "We'll be rolling in the green" if cannabis is legalized. Oh, you didn't hear that political ad the weekend before the election? The states that have legalized marijuana have seen a boost in their economies and New York is bound to see some positive growth as well. That is, after the long and sticky hand of the governments involved, and payoffs made all the way down the line, as per the obvious results of horse racing, lottery tickets and gambling casinos. Too bad they are not going to ask adjoining states to states where legalization has occurred to weigh in, like Kansas, where drug influenced driving, smuggling, burglaries and other crime has risen. Hey, heaven forbid those nasty corporations get their hands into the till. Anyone hearing Punk Floyd's 'Money' playing in the background?
And the human toll? In ten years of addiction counseling, I might have met two or three patients (and almost no one in Tompkins County Drug Court) who did not get their start into addiction with smoking marijuana, usually around the age of twelve or thirteen. Does that mean that addiction is a foregone conclusion by anyone who smokes marijuana? Of course not, and I will even go on record as saying that experience has taught me that cannabis may actually and reliably have a positive medical aspect in treating serious addictions and perhaps some pain relief. But recreational usage??? Be prepared for the troubles that these proponents of legalization will pooh-pooh (while they themselves quite possibly are smoking their own private stash in the privacy of their homes). New York state puts a tiny 800 number on their lottery tickets 'if you need help'. I assume they will do the same thing on the bags of cannabis Gummi bears, as well as cannabis infused beer and brownies, among other delicacies.
They cry like crocodiles about the 'opioid crisis' but blind themselves to the real beginning of the problem: a teenage need to belong, to feel less alone, and to escape temporarily, with a cigarette, a beer, a drink, a 'toke'. If you think cannabis sales will be only to those aged twenty one and over, then explain cigarette and alcohol sales, as well as 'vaping' to the teen crowd which continues to grow. I suppose the government profits and tax collection will go to another rehab center, detox center and 'education efforts', right? Just to make you feel good while government gives its blessing to another form of bliss and oblivion.
And, all of this is already happening, while our governor (who is running, you betchya, for President in 2020, despite his denials) state legislators, and most appallingly, our county legislators, look for ways to get their sticky little 'benevolent' (I'm the government and I'm here to help) hands on the 'legal' sales of another drug, while condemning 'corporatization'. They're all ready divvying up the projected profits. And, we're going to pay the price, whether or not we indulge in this newest of drugged distractions. It's time to tell these people that their ideas are dangerous, damaging and not in the people's ultimate interests. I watched it for years, and witnessed the horrible results. Tell Shawna Black, William Klepack and others 'in charge' a big and resounding "NO"...before it's too late.
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