[James C. Bennett]

So we need government to tell us what we can consume and what we cannot. Hurray!

[silverleaf]

thanks for this

bookmark

[cripplecreek]

Decriminalize don’t legalize

[Right Wing Assault]

Three things to consider:

Will it improve lives of adults and children?
Will it be neutral in its effects?
Will it be harmful?

The giddy rush to spread legalization is following the same pattern as same-sex marriage. The libs have perfected their media marketing method of causing instant change in our opinions and then our society. We rarely look ahead to what WE see as unintended consequences. THEY, however, intend those consequences to be a surprise to us.

Rapid change in a society is potentially disastrous, and that is the obama plan. “Change but forget the Hope.”

[Daveinyork]

It’s not a matter of the degree of badness(!). Alcohol is often consumed for reasons other than intoxication, while marijuana is almost never consumed for reasons other than intoxication, except for medical uses.

The main issue is if the government has a role in this at all, and it is being fought over where is should be - in the states. The Federal government has no Constitutionally sanctioned role in this.

[Ronin]

Leave it to the voters of the several states. This is a states rights issue. The Feds can kindly butt out.

[GSWarrior]

Here we go again. So which Freeper with LDS will weigh in first?

[Phlap]

If you try to make a buck from pot you should go to jail. The fact is that, regardless whether you live in a bachelor apartment or a 1,000 acre ranch, anyone can grow enough maryjane for personal use.

[Dusty Road]

My experience with pot was along time ago (over 40 years) and I'll admit I smoked a bunch of it. In 1970 I was dropped off at FOB Bastogne in the A Shau Valley with D Company 1/502d. Drinking are getting high seemed to be a common past time and the pot we smoked was nothing like what we had in the US. Since I wasn't much of a drinker I hung out with the “Head's” (term we used for the smokers). The drinkers were aways arguing or fighting over one thing or another and most of the time sick in the morning's and pretty slow moving. The heads were just the opposite and had no problem performing the daily BS stuff we all had to do. 3 time we got hit, once in the early morning and twice at night, the two night time hits I and my buddies were laying back getting stoned. When the mortars started hitting it's like we woke up and all moved to our positions with no hint that any of us were impaired but the drinkers were staggering around trying not to fall down. Later I hear it described as a “buzz kill” and I can not think of a better description, it was like the effects of the pot just disappeared. Another thing I noticed was the speed with which we got to our guns and could get rounds out (8 inch howitzers), our gun was always the first to get rounds out up or down the valley. I guess what I'm saying is pot in my opinion impaired us less that alcohol. Should we have been doing any of this my answer is NO but it was what it was. Can't believe I shared that.

[JayAr36]

I think it is interesting that the same people that want to ban smoking want to legalize pot, Hmmmm!

[Uncle Miltie]

So is the writer in favor of Alcohol Prohibition? If not, why not? He makes an excellent case that while pot is horrible and worthy of prohibition, alcohol is at least equally bad.

How DID that whole alcohol prohibition thingie work out for us? I do remember from my history class that we have had that experiment.

WTF dude (author of the article). Can’t you learn from history?

[a fool in paradise]

And how does the president justify his pro-marijuana stance? He believes that if marijuana is legalized, fewer young blacks and Latinos will be imprisoned.

Except that every one of those yutes will be in violation for schmoking under the age of 18/21.

[a fool in paradise]

Obama said about the legalization of pot in Washington and Colorado: "It's important for it to go forward because it's important for society not to have a situation in which a large portion of people have at one time or another broken the law and only a select few get punished."

Then they definitely should reconsider the 0.08BAC DWI laws (that are being pushed downward to 0.03BAC). MADD and trial lawyers and making good bank on them (so are ever vigilant legislators seeking re-election). Then again, if you no hablo engles, you may be cut loose to kill later. It's about revenue, not public safety.

[Cementjungle]

We need to think in terms of punishing bad behavior, and not banning things as a way of avoiding the personal responsibility issues (i.e. banning guns because of some people misusing them).

If someone shows up for work stoned, it's just as bad as showing up drunk. If someone drives under the influence of anything, that's their own bad choice.

Some say that drinkers don't drink to get wasted, while there's no reason for smoking pot EXCEPT to get stoned. I disagree... I think teenagers do drink (or smoke pot) to get wasted... and some adults do as well. I also know many responsible adults who do smoke pot... in their off time, in order to simply relax... no different than having an after-dinner drink.

Regardless of the substance, there are responsible people and there are irresponsible people, and it should come down to personal responsibility for one's choices in life.

[maxwellsmart_agent]

Did you ever hear of anyone drinking beer and moving on to Heroin or Crack? Think about it! They don’t call marijuana the gateway drug for no reason.

[Chuckster]

After reading the comments so far, I have come to the conclusion that the consensus is: The government should regulate those practices of which I disapprove. Government should not regulate those practices I enjoy.

[longtermmemmory]

The whole medicinal pot legalizing is a complete scam. The active ingredient in pot has been medically available in pill form for decades.

It is just the pot heads who are scamming for being public stoners.

[sargon]

I like Chuck Norris, but Prohibition will never be right for America.

[exDemMom]

I was just reading today that marijuana use while pregnant can cause pretty severe and permanent brain damage in the developing fetus. It prevents neural connections from forming.

This, in addition to precipitating psychotic behavior in adolescents, plus the fairly heavy dose of carcinogens, plus the long-lasting memory impairment following even light use—it all points to the fact that this legalization movement is going to have some severe consequences later on.

Do we really need to increase the number of drug-addled people, over what we already have with drugs being illegal?

I do not think this is a good experiment to be playing with society.