| The 420 Times |
With recent polls showing 50 percent of Americans favor the legalization of marijuana, Hustler publishing legend Larry Flynt is asking why steps are not being taken to make that a reality.
Flynt places blame on those that have the most to lose from legal weed: the pharmaceutical, alcohol and prison industries.
Pharmaceutical companies don’t want people turning to pot for pain relief because it means they’ll be spending less on prescription pills, according to Flynt.
The alcohol industry doesn’t want the competition, either. With mounting scientific evidence that pot is safer than alcohol, legal marijuana would clearly put a major dent in the booze business’s profits.
And then there’s the “corrections industry,” with its powerful lobbying dollars keeping the United States the most incarcerated nation on earth. Private, for-profit prisons only make money if they’re full, and that means locking up weed growers and pot smokers.
“This is what’s wrong with America,” Flynt said. “Our elected politicians ignore the people’s wishes and do the bidding of the corporations that line their pockets with cash.”
“Look, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to realize that cannabis is less harmful than alcohol — if indeed it’s even harmful at all,” Flynt told The 420 Times in February. “I think more and more politicians every day are beginning to realize that this war on drugs is not working.”
You can follow Larry Flynt on Twitter @ImLarryFlynt.