Jason Rantz

What is harm of JBLM soldiers smoking marijuana?

Even though marijuana use is legal among those over 21 in the state of Washington, soldiers at JBLM still can't take part. (AP Photo/Bruce Smith)

Taken from Monday’s edition of The Jason Rantz Show.

Even though marijuana use is legal among those over 21 in the state of Washington, soldiers at JBLM still can’t touch the stuff.

“They face criminal charges and career-ending discipline if caught with a substance still banned by the federal government,” The News Tribune reports.

TNT says last year, JBLM carried out 86,956 urinalysis tests. The drug tests turned up 396 soldiers who were using marijuana.

My question is, is this worth it? Are all of these resources, all of this money, all of this time spent on going after soldiers who choose to smoke something that is legal in this state, is this worth it?

There are people who are currently in power, who are currently in political office, they grew up being told how dangerous marijuana is. They were being told alarmist positions on this drug.

There is no doubt that marijuana can, in fact, be dangerous if you are young, if you are a teen whose brain is still developing; if you’re working, if you’re on the job and you’re high, there are some dangerous consequences, some dangerous health effects associated with marijuana, there’s no doubt. But the majority of people who use marijuana, if they’re using it responsibly, there aren’t many risks.

We are sending off kids at JBLM to potentially die to protect us, to protect this country, and they can’t choose to smoke marijuana if they want? If they’re doing it after-hours and it has no effect on their performance the next day or a few days later, what is the legitimate harm in them smoking marijuana? What is the legitimate harm for someone who is not working if they choose to smoke the night before?

No one is taking this position that we should be showing up to work stoned. No one is saying soldiers should be out on the battlefield stoned out of their mind. No one is saying soldiers should go out shooting on the target range while stoned. We’re simply saying on their off time, when it has zero effect on their job, what is the harm?

Taken from Monday’s edition of The Jason Rantz Show.