Last June 24th, 2014, while flipping through the channels, I came across a large press conference featuring Governor Inslee, Chief Batiste of the Washington State Patrol, Sharon Foster of the Liquor Control Board, and several others. The conference was set to discuss the impending implementation of the new Washington recreational marijuana laws. Aside from the general announcement that everyone thought implementation was going well and that it was largely expected to be smooth, what really stood out for me was the grand display of greed.
Like most everything, you can tell whether something is generally good or bad by the fruit that is produced. This can be actual fruit, such as cherries and apples, or this could be a mass produced product. Good things tend to produce good fruits, and bad things tend to produce bad fruits. Simple, right? Except that some bad things produce such bad fruits that it affects everything that surrounds it. There is a rule in the law that helps illustrate this called "fruit of the poisonous tree." This rule is primarily a criminal law rule that is derived from the evidentiary exclusionary rule.
The exclusionary rule holds that the government cannot use evidence gathered in violation of the Constitution. For example, if the police search your home without a warrant, any evidence obtained cannot be used against you in a criminal prosecution because of the 4th Amendment violation. The Fruit of the Poisonous Tree rules says that any evidence obtained using any evidence gathered from the Constitutional violation also cannot be used against you because it is essentially tainted and unfair. The initial violation affects everything around it. The same can be said of many vices, such as greed.
Greed produces a distorting effect on ones perception. In a culture such as ours where morality is taken as relative to the individual, it is interesting to see that greed is still otherwise outright condemned. Yet the distorting affect of greed and its power twists perception so much that, despite this general condemnation, causes many to continue to be affected by it, and in turn to endorse other immoral practices like fruit from the poisonous tree. Greed causes us to lose our focus on what is really important, our relationship with God, and our relationship with each other. This is what the Apostle Paul meant when he said "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains." 1 Timothy 6:10.
Notice it is not money that is the root of evil, it is the love of money that is the root of all kinds of evil. Money itself it neither good or evil but a necessary tool related to our interactions with each other. The love of it, and blindly seeking it above all else is what is evil, and what produces a distorting effect on people. Getting back to the press conference, it was amazing to see that many legitimate concerns were blatantly ignored and down played while emphasis was added to the idea that revenues for schools would soon be increasing. I suspect that the "for schools" part was merely ancillary to the expected increase in revenue itself. Lest we forget, increasing tax revenues was the primary argument for legalizing such a harmful substance. It seems otherwise lost on those who supported legalization that though most of them also spend years working to ban cigarettes because they were harmful are now fully supportive of legalizing something far more dangerous all for the sake of increasing tax revenues. The love of money.
There were questions asked at the press conference about marijuana infused products, such as gummy bears that one could eat to get high, being sold, and how to keep such products away from children, or to prevent Joe Camel style advertisements in check. Unfortunately the focus would always return to how smooth implementation seemed to be going, and that revenues were expected to be positive, all in typical "politician-ese" answering without really answering at all. The only response to how children were being kept from the drug was that the issue was regularly being monitored and looked at, but no definitive or satisfactory answer was provided. Greed distorted perception, focusing on revenue over safety. Chief Batiste mentioned that DUI's had increased only 4.9%, as if that were a good thing since it was only a small increase as opposed to a larger one. I would have expected any increase in DUI's, since DUI's were a point of contention during the dope legalization campaign, would have been more of a concern, but alas, the distorting effects of greed struck again. DUI's up? Not to worry, tax revenues are expected to be up too.
Even as we see what is happening in Colorado, where pot is getting into the hands of children, revenues far less than advertised, and the black market growing and spreading to other states, Washington seemed completely unconcerned. After all, this is going to be a new revenue stream. Except that only two growers have been given the okay to sell to retailers so far, and as a result, they are having to sell pot at $4,000.00 a pound. Simple economics would dictate that the black market, still around and probably stronger now that enforcement is practically non-existent, is not likely to disappear anytime soon. In all likelihood, the black marketeers will be the ones reaping all the benefits of legalization, not the state. Lets also remember that Washington was known for its economy and technological innovation. Now global companies are wondering, do they want to come here and deal with the problems that come with a stoned workforce? Again, the distorting effects of greed strike again. While we should be focused on safety and virtue, we instead have higher regard for increasing tax revenues and encouraging harmful vices to the detriment of our children, our community, our economy, and our relationships with each other.
