“In my timeline, marijuana was legalized,” Jack said. “Other drugs remained illegal, but enforcement of the drug laws usually was limited to the junkie who had run out of money. Dealers could afford the bribes necessary to keep law enforcement off their backs. Enough politicians and government lackeys were involved that no one tried to enforce the law.”

“Why would they legalize marijuana?”

“It makes people easier to control. You don’t want to rule over an alert and mentally active person who is capable of asking embarrassing questions about your activities. You want someone stoned out of his mind and who could care less about what you’re doing,” Jack answered.

The initial legalization of marijuana was for medicinal purposes only. After a while it was proscribed for headaches. Anyone could claim a headache and it wasn’t long before nearly everyone had prescriptions for marijuana. Rather than incur the healthcare costs of dealing with prescriptions, marijuana was relegated to an over-the-counter drug. After a while, all pretense of it being for medical purposes was abandoned.

The use of marijuana was almost universal in Jack’s timeline. A carton of marijuana cigarettes was half the price of a single serving of stew. The quality of life was so poor that the average person chose to blunt their consciousness with drugs rather than face a dull gray world.