This was originally posted on PoodleRose on July 31, 2013. Comments have not been migrated.
You might think that individuals selling marijuana would support laws that would legalize the practice. But that isn’t the case. Many of those who have a government protected monopoly to sell medical marijuana want to use the coercive power of government to prevent competition.
Medical marijuana is a billion-dollar industry — legal in 18 states, including California, Nevada, Oregon and Maine — and like any entrenched business, it’s fighting to keep what it has and shut competitors out. Dispensary owners, trade associations and groups representing the industry are deeply concerned — and in some cases actively fighting — ballot initiatives and legislation that could wreck their business model.
The medical marijuana industry’s position is hypocritical, and ultimately, damaging to itself.
According to the industry, only those approved by government should be permitted to sell marijuana. For the time being, this means that established businesses have a monopoly. And that monopoly–like all monopolies–is possible only because government determines who may and may not engage in a particular business. But what happens if the government changes its mind? Those businesses could suddenly see their business model wrecked, not because of poor service or outrageous prices, but because of government fiat.
By accepting the premise that government can prohibit some individuals from entering a particular business, the medical marijuana companies set themselves up to become victims of that very premise.
As Margaret Thatcher once noted, the operative word in “free market” is “free”–the absence of coercion in the production and trade of values. If an individual or business wishes to sell marijuana to a willing adult, it is nobody’s business. Whether the user seeks to alleviate a medical condition or simply relax, the choice is his. He has a moral right to ingest the materials of his choosing–it is his body.
Prohibition–whether alcohol or drugs–is founded on the premise that your body is not yours, but the property of the state. Prohibition is founded on the premise that you can only ingest those materials that the state deems appropriate, regardless of your own choices, desires, or purposes.
The medical marijuana industry may benefit from Prohibition in the short term. But in rejecting the principle of individual rights, it is subjecting itself to the changing whims of government. It may be the beneficiary today, but it could easily be its victim tomorrow.
