Money Following

Prompted by “DNC Chair Accepts Huge Donations from Alcohol PACs, Claims Pot Is a Gateway Drug”: http://www.hightimes.com/read/dnc-chair-accepts-huge-donations-alcohol-pacs-claims-pot-gateway-drug

In an interview with the New York Times Magazine, U.S. Representative for Florida and head of the Democratic National Committee, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, said she opposed legalization of marijuana and called it a gateway drug. […]

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, alcohol PACs are one of the largest sources of her re-election campaign funding. Her PACs include Bacardi USA, the National Beer Wholesalers Association, Southern Wine & Spirits and the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America.

As the classic Pink Floyd hit “Money” plays in the background of my mind, I cringe at the flow of dough forcibly fueling sanctioned reason abuse and thuggery all throughout the depths of society.

Trust is a myth to my inner cynic.

The aforementioned “leader” spews the conventional deception (cannabis is a gateway drug, there’s a heroin epidemic, mind altering drugs are only destructive, etc.) unethically with no care — including towards the uncountable non-violent lives negatively impacted by the conventional solution — more demonstrably completely failed ‘drug war’.

Like the major record labels leveraging government to fight the serious technological enhancement in music acquisition — instead of healthily adapting to that dramatic change by making dramatic shifts in the music industry (e.g. All Sines) — stagnation on behalf of the deeply threatened alcohol industry comes from their unhealthy choice towards reason abuse and thuggery to supposedly save their day.

As it failed with the record industry, so too will it fail with the alcohol industry, because the seriously powerful consumer demand will not be denied (even an outright prohibition spanning several decades hasn’t stopped it even slightly by any concrete measure).

Do you want to ethically follow the money, alcohol industry?

You have one chance, and you logically better seize upon it now, or face your industrial doom.

Cannabis (the first of a logically likely longer list of psychedelics to become recognized as recreationally legal) is set to take over in a huge way for worst through best.

Mild vaporization of cannabis will replace the alcohol nightcap by any logical measure (mild vaporization will go mainstream), and the general nature of partying (in college, sporting events, etc.) will dramatically change as well in tune with the stronger psychedelic effect (as it often has in rave culture).

Simply put, cannabis is much more civilized in terms of mental effects, so generally responsibly minded (i.e. healthy minded) people will transition from alcohol.

Humanity has flaws, but at least due to the survival of our species, it’s reasonable to conclude the vast majority of people are actually healthy minded, as counterintuitive as that may seem due to prominent focus upon stupidity in the news (e.g. the heroin “epidemic” affects the embarrassingly overwhelming minority of the public, so not really an epidemic by any non-abusive measure, despite abusively continuous mainstream media alarmism in seriously biased support of Certain Drug Prohibition).

Sure various alcoholic beverages fitting with meals will continue to be successful, and old-school partying will continue for current generations raised on the real “gateway drug”, so the alcohol industry won’t disappear, but the demand will fall significantly.

The answer is obvious to any ethical ethanol player of the wise persuasion.

Leverage your successful alcohol brand to compete in the increased range of recreational perception alteration.

Plan to adapt to consumer demand (what any good business does), not stupidly try to fight it.

It won’t be easy (nothing worth doing ever is), but brand leverage is a serious advantage when used properly. Why use unknown brand ‘x’ when you can use the well-established and long trusted brand ‘y’ (e.g. that connected with Tommy Chong)?

Trust is powerful leverage to the rest of me.

While our government pretends to control the cannabis industry with complex regulations, any new market (from a new product and/or service) will experience a supply rush (like the gold rush). Regulations will distort (and already have distorted) this effect, but won’t stop the flood overall. Note those distortions (i.e. textured prohibition) merely ironically support black market preference.

Smart consumers will conduct research (Yelp, familiar brands, etc.) before purchase. Cheap and lazy people will increase their risk by tapping into questionable sources of cannabis, and this is good (because cheap and lazy people should suffer and die on behalf of better survival — suffering and death are inherent in reality, so civility demands the unethically stupid naturally have it the worst).

Reputable consumer watchdogs (e.g. Consumer Reports) will test cannabis products to ensure they’re safe and report on the best plant quality. This is no guaranteed panacea due to the ample conflicts of interest capable of shaping any result, but it can significantly help.

Ultimately initially, competition will be tumultuous and confusing, but fairly quickly decay into uniform market dominance by two players (perhaps with a not-too-distant third player — think Hertz, Budget, and Avis in rental cars at least many years ago — I don’t keep up with rental car trends).

Then there will be the many (but not too many) independent growers competing with one another (and they will likely be the ones winning cannabis cups). Regulations work against these people (as they way too often do against small businesses), because the license (and other regulatory) fees and procedures are too often hefty, so they’ll have to become ruled by wealthy (and inclusively perhaps greedy) corporate interests capable of dealing with that heft.

Psychedelics (upon proper use) improve health. Alcohol does the opposite for the most part, and even the healthy glass of wine only remotely competes against the health boost of responsible psychedelic use.

There will be abuse. There will be suffering. There will be death.

The masses can choose to allow natural market forces to form those winners and losers, allow strictest possible government control over the market to form those winners and losers, or any of the many styles combining that dominance to form those winners and losers.

Either way, the psychedelic flood is here, but has only slightly begun.

Psychedelic power is no longer strictly within the realm of hippies, but extends to cover the realm of humanity for worst through best.

I’ll do my best to ensure that best, but my best naturally requires your supportive best.

About Spirit Wave

I am an honest freak (or reasonably responsibly balanced "misfit", if you prefer) of an artist working and resting to best carefully contribute towards helping society. Too many people abuse reasoning (e.g. 'partial truth = whole truth' scam), while I exercise reason to explore and express whole truth without any conflict-of-interest -- all within a sometimes offbeat style of psychedelic artistry.