Was Romper Room a plot by the Democrats to groom children for future marijuana legalization? A crackpot theory that just might appeal to Trumpistas and FOX News viewers.
DRAFT Everybody knows the old proverb “Be careful what you wish for…” It’s been a pipe dream of liberals for time out of mind that pot would be legalized, as it now has been in nearly 20 states. As a liberal myself, I can’t help but wonder where we’re bound. (Nod to Tom Paxton.) In retrospect, it might have been better to quietly ease both penalties and enforcement rather than going full legal.
The problem is, in our increasingly populist society where binary thinking reigns supreme, making a big show of legalizing something is widely interpreted as sending a message that the thing being legalized is a good thing to do, and has the government’s seal of approval, Brave New World style. There doesn’t seem to be much idealogical or cultural room for a nuanced message which says “We’re no longer punishing it, but we don’t recommend or condone it.”
As states clamour to gain tax revenue from the now legal marijuana business, they tend to develop a vested economic interest in promoting sales. Good government types will naturally want to tell the public how they can start their own marijuana microbusiness, while also assuring citizens that government testing means high quality weed for all. That’s more or less the tenor of New York State’s Office of Cannabis Management website, which boldly announces a “comprehensive regulatory framework” comprising three major themes:
Social Justice
Establishes a robust social and economic equity program to actively encourage members from communities disproportionally impacted by the policies of prohibition to participate in the new industry.
Public Health & Safety
Administers a sophisticated quality assurance regulatory structure including standards for production and manufacturing, strict product testing, labeling, packaging and advertising to ensure products are safe for consumers and not targeted to youth.
Economic Development
Encourages small business and farmers to participate in the cannabis industry with the creation of microbusiness, cooperative and delivery license types.
I don’t smoke pot, but even those who do might admit that there are possible dangers, including addiction and negative side effects. I searched for “danger” on the site in question, but got this result:
“Your search – danger inurl:cannabis.ny.gov – did not match any documents.”
The best I could find was:
High, high in the apple tree,
Oh what a different world you see.
Wandering the streets on a Saturday night in an urban area where pot is legal, one tends to notice strong pot smells. This anecdotal evidence is bolstered by studies claiming that legalization has led to increased usage. Like alcohol and tobacco products, pot has been legalized for adults only; but widespread easy availability means greater access for kids aged 12 to 17, who tend to mimic adult behavior. This can lead to situations where a junior high school teacher might reasonably inquire of a glassy-eyed female student (as in the Romper Room vinyl LP): “Say Miss Marigold, have you by any chance seen Mr. Doobie this morning?”
There are many examples of words and phrases whose original meaning is rendered comic by later developments in language or culture. See “In Praise of a Free Press and an Open Society,” where I discuss the phrase “her blooming cheek,” which appears in some 18th and 19th century love poetry, but is rendered comic by later developments in Cockney English (“Of all the blooming check!”) Smile, everybody! No need to hide those lovely Ted Heath.
For your further edification and enjoyment (and absolutely free, gratis, and for nothing), I will present more variations on Romper Room Doobie Songs below:
more clips to follow
BONUS CLIP from THE WEST WING
Michael Howard
The views expressed are my own, and do not represent any other person or organization.
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Ethics and Spirituality 