Your medical cannabis journey simplified: find partnered dispensaries, explore pricing options, earn rewards, and get answers to FAQs, all in one spot.
June 25, 2020 04:41 pm ETEstimated Read Time: 3 Minutes
“Civil rights” and “civil liberties” are terms that are often used synonymously and interchangeably, but the terms are actually distinctly different. Civil liberties are freedoms guaranteed to us by the Constitution to protect us from tyranny – think freedom of speech. While civil rights are actually the legal rights that protect individuals from discrimination like employment or housing discrimination. In general, a conversation using these terms synonymously may not cause any issue, however, if we want to discuss the actual governmental effect of the terms we have to look deeper.
Civil liberties concern the actual basic freedoms, while civil rights concern the treatment of an individual regarding certain rights. Unlike civil liberties, where the government grants broad-based rights to individuals – civil rights are not only granted by the government but also include a protective aspect of those rights based on certain characteristics.
One way to consider the difference between civil rights and civil liberties is to look at 1) what right is affected, and 2) whose right is affected.
It’s My Right to be High if I Want
So in the instance of cannabis and the right to be high, we should first recognize that the actual civil liberty would be the right to ingest mind-altering substances at our own risk and the equivalent civil right would include non-discrimination protections based on one’s personal choice to ingest mind-altering substances.
See If You Qualify For Medical Marijuana -Select Your State!
When Do Civil Liberty and Rights Overlap?
I personally think that people should have the right to make their own decision to legally ingest substances of any kind so long as it does not put others at risk. This is the dicey part of this topic – when does one’s right to be inebriated or intoxicated threaten another’s right to be safe in public or private.
The details of when, how, and to what degree any public intoxication becomes a safety hazard for bystanders would clearly need to be defined, potentially similar to those involving alcohol and prescription pharmaceuticals now.
Mainstream Personalities Using Their Platforms to be Heard
In a recent interview with Leafly, travel legend Mike Steves – a mild-mannered TV personality who has lent his mainstream credibility to legalization efforts for two decades as a self-professed soldier for NORML and of the Marijuana Policy Project Leafly, stated “I just feel very strongly that smoking marijuana responsibly as an adult is civil liberty….If I worked hard all day long and want to go home and stare at the fireplace for three hours, that’s my civil liberty.” Discussing the rise in cannabis consumption, Steves continues to say “I think right now our country is at a point where there’s this rising tide of sensibility and there’s no way to turn it back.”
As more credible well-known personalities speak out about the normalization of cannabis use, the opportunity for it to be recognized more broadly may not be such an outlandish concept. Whether we will ever see a cannabis user’s bill of rights in the book of records is another topic but for now, just having the discussion is considered progress.
Natasha has worked as a journalist in the cannabis scene for several years. She travels regularly in her tiny house school bus conversion to keep up to date with the ever-changing industry. Her experience is varied and eclectic.
What Is Decarboxylation? In scientific terms, decarboxylation is a chemical reaction that removes a carboxyl group from a molecule. A carboxyl group in molecular form is identified as COOH, or a carbon atom that is double-bonded to an oxygen and an -OH group. Decarboxylation occurs naturally at a very slow rate, but it can be…
Migraines are far more debilitating than typical headaches, often disrupting daily life. More and more people are turning to cannabis to manage their chronic pain, with migraines being the top reason among headache patients. Cannabis is such a powerful tool for migraine and pain relief that many patients even use medical marijuana in place of…
Let’s have a real conversation. Every year, when the Fourth of July rolls around, I see the fireworks and flags and hear all the loud talk about freedom. And every year, I find myself sitting here asking the same damn question: Whose freedom are we really celebrating? Because it sure as hell doesn’t feel like…
Over the last decade, there has been considerable discussion about the future of cannabis. Typically, those conversations center around legality, market size, and social and medical impacts, all of which are interesting topics in their own right. But there has been far less discussion about the digital future of cannabis. With more and more of…
Jared Shaw, a former Oklahoma State University basketball player, has been arrested for cannabis possession in Indonesia. The country’s strict anti-drug laws mean he could be facing the death penalty. Shaw is from Dallas, Texas. He attended Dallas ISD’s Carter High School, where he was District 11- 4A’s Defensive Player of the Year in his…
The statements made regarding cannabis products on this website have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Cannabis is not an FDA-approved substance and is still illegal under federal law. The information provided on this website is intended for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. It is not intended as medical advice and should not be considered as a substitute for advice from a healthcare professional. We strongly recommend that you consult with a physician or other qualified healthcare provider before using any cannabis products. The use of any information provided on this website is solely at your own risk.