Bravo to the Vermont Legislature for passing S.22, a bill legalizing marijuana. It is about time, and I hope Gov. Phil Scott signs the bill promptly.

For the record, while perhaps of limited relevance, I don’t use marijuana. It’s not because of legal concerns or fear of being dragged through a gateway to more serious drug use. In that respect, I’m more worried about my love of Cheetos dragging me into fried Snickers bars. And an occasional glass or two of red wine adequately serves my very modest mood-altering needs.

Not long ago I asked an upper school class at my school in New York a simple question: “How many of you, if asked to do so, could acquire marijuana (aka, score some weed) by the end of the day today?” Nearly every hand went up. I am quite sure, given my close relationships with students, that a minority of these students actually use marijuana. Admittedly, it is not clear that the same question in a Vermont school would get a similar response, but I suspect so.

I report this anecdotal evidence as rebuttal to those who fear that legalization of pot in Vermont will lead to all sorts of mayhem, particularly among young folks. There is a growing body of research, particular in Colorado, as reported by The Washington Post, that teen use of marijuana decreased in the two years following legalization. There seems to be a small spike in the use of marijuana among adults, but the data is still being digested. The Post also reports that legalization had little to no impact on traffic fatalities.

Opponents of legalization cite, with some validity, that chronic marijuana use in adolescence may have a negative influence on brain development. I certainly don’t endorse marijuana use by teenagers (or adults), but the arcane research in this respect has nothing to do with the rational choice to legalize and regulate the substance. There are a great many substances, ranging from alcohol to the aforementioned fried Snickers bars, which have potentially dire long-term consequences for those who abuse them in adolescence. The futility of Prohibition should be instructive.

There is also the very real matter of civil liberties. A defining characteristic of the great American experiment has been the unfettered right of citizens to do really stupid things, like the 2016 election.

The criminalization of marijuana has always been absurd in that it is a victimless crime. The “crime” is all related to the criminalization itself — a rather silly self-fulfilling prophecy that has inspired mass incarceration, racial injustice and billions of dollars squandered on enforcement. I favor decriminalization of all drugs, but that’s another column.

I’ve been around for a while. When I was a teenager, marijuana was not part of the scene, but alcohol was a significant part of social life. It was dangerous and harmful. Several friends were predisposed to alcoholism and were impaired for decades.

Several years later, when I was an Army officer, both alcohol and marijuana were available and commonly used. I can remember scores of dangerous, sometimes violent, incidents caused by alcohol. I cannot recall a single instance of danger or violence involving marijuana. I’ve known thousands of folks who have used either alcohol, marijuana or both. I know many whose lives and relationships have been negatively affected by alcohol. I know no person whose life has been significantly diminished by marijuana use. This is not science, or replicable research, but perhaps instructive.

After my military service, my wife and I entered the late ’60s-early ’70’s era, when marijuana went from a fringe substance to a central part of the social culture. Neither of us particularly liked it, but again, I recall no negative experiences. Lots of silly ones: altered perception of time, heightened appetite for Cheetos (no one had yet thought to fry a Snickers) and grandiose enthusiasm for ideas that seemed really, really stupid in the morning.

Now, as a school leader for 19 years, I can recall dozens of unfortunate student incidents involving alcohol (almost never during the school day), and virtually no reported problems related to pot smoking.

I suspect that the resistance to legalization of marijuana is partially rooted in two factors. The introduction of marijuana to America was largely a result of immigration from Mexico, accompanied by racist stigma that still plagues our country. For a time in the ’50s marijuana was associated with people of color, soon to be followed by the explosion into the hippie culture of the ’60s and ’70s. Neither of these “constituencies” was held in high esteem by the nearly universally white, socially conservative men (and a few women) who populated legislative bodies.

The irony is that all along middle and upper middle class white folks used marijuana with impunity, as Mexicans were arrested and young black men were jailed. That is part of the American story, not likely to change during the current political climate.

But once again, as often has been the case, Vermont leads the way with common sense and wisdom.

Steve Nelson lives in Sharon and New York City, where he is the head of the Calhoun School, a private school. He can be reached at steve.nelson@calhoun.org.