Posted on 11/05/2018 9:04:56 AM PST by billorites
I see the problems. Most people cannot be expected to behave responsibly.
Now comes the question, are we making the situation worse by removing personal responsibility from the equation? I believe we are.
Let’s don’t overstep the bounds of Constitutional restraint, and in declining to do so, take power away from the Federal Government, which may easily be monopolized by leftists dwelling in the major population centers, and in declining to overstep those bounds, maybe some states “legalize” weed... Maybe some states protect the unborn, maybe some states honor traditional marriage.
Liberty must come with responsibility, and nothing teaches responsibility like accountability...
Nothing more than my 2 pennies.
Finally, what happened to the advertisement of eggs frying in a pan, and the admonition of 'that's what your brain is on drugs'. Marijuana is definitely a drug.
I saw guys, in Vietnam, that were smokers and you could always tell one because they invariably had red-rimmed eyes. Pathetic!!!
No, politicians do not generally want legalization. They like the power and money that prohibition brings to government. Even now with a sizeable majority of people in favor of it, politicians are dragging their feet.
“Voters are NOT being informed of the MASSIVE increases in traffic fatalities and mental illness from marijuana.”
Really? I live in a metro area of 300,000 where pot has been legal for four years and I don’t know of a single traffic fatality here attributed to pot. I read the local newspaper and other sources every day. I do agree that certain persons are risking an exacerbation of mental illness and should avoid it.
More & more unemployable due to drug use.
Have a long time friend who finally admitted that there are 15 years of his life he has NO memory of. ONLY used MJ. Nothing stronger. Lost his wife & daughter to the weed use.
Extremely talented, and finally has his life back on track.
“Legalize something and it will become more readily available.”
Inarguable. Usually at an increased price.
Still, those who want to smoke dope can get it in every state of the union, as much a they want to pay for.
Ironically, legalization has raised prices in most states. Only the states that allow individual cultivation have seen a decrease.
The measure should be USE of pot, not availability. Or, even price.
I contend use is essentially constant. It varies very little with legalization.
Dopers dope. Medical users medicate. Abstainers abstain. The law has little effect on the essential use dynamics.
“You’ll be able to buy it at 7-eleven and not from some random guy in a back alley.”
Actually, you can probably buy it in the parking lots of many 7-Elevens right now. As far as store stock, nope, you’re going to have to find a dispensary for that. Here, in the 300,000 population metro area where I live, there are from one to three depending on how far out you go in your definition of “metro area”.
There already is a shortage of commercial truck drivers in this country—estimated at 65,000.
Estimates are that in another 5 years, it will be closer to 80,000.
Biggest reason? They cannot consistently pass the drug tests.
I would never hire a drug user, and If I were suspicious, I would spring mandatory tests on them. One fail & you’re gone.
Many states do NOT pay unemployment benefits if you lose your job due to drugs.
“I would never hire a drug user, and If I were suspicious, I would spring mandatory tests on them. One fail & you’re gone.”
Many companies have stopped testing for pot, or looking at that part of the test...and just don’t tell anyone.
Like the companies that made all network infrastructure we’re using.
Otherwise they’d have a very hard time hiring and keeping folks.
On the other hand, strange things can happen. The other day a fog light fell off a vehicle and killed a pedestrian. Yep, time to ban fog lights. Doesn’t really seem to be a pattern, though.
And an unintended consequence is this.
There is an acute shortage of truck drivers. An occupation that pays quite well. A large part of the problem is that many who would be truck drivers can't pass the required drug test. And that goes for other occupations as well.
Make no mistake, marijuana is a drug.
Democrats love stupid voters. This will help.
Not so in safety intensive industries - how about your airplane pilot, the worker repairing your home gas heater, truck drivers hauling hazardous materials, or just about anyone in the oil and gas industry - from drilling to production to refining, your focus must be on keeping yourself and your coworkers safe. I'm in that industry and at my last drug test (random) I had to both pee in the cup AND take a breath breathalyzer test.
What do you propose to do with drivers who are just “healing themselves” who injure or kill your kids with erratic driving???????
If that were true, politicians would be leading the charge to legalize, rather than resisting every step of the way. Even the dem governor of CO opposed the ballot measure in 2012.
Politicians vs the people.
With very few exceptions:
Anyone wanting to smoke weed is already smoking weed.
Anyone that would drive while stoned is already driving while stoned.
The ONLY thing accomplished by keeping it illegal is keeping the business of production and distribution in the hands of violent criminals.
That’s because he thought his base was against it. When he found out that they weren’t, he changed his mind. He has since indicated it was a mistake.
Excuse me, but your self-proclaimed life experience is that you do NOT smoke pot, so you're not credible in your claim that it turns people permanently, mentally impaired. That's ridiculous.
And I am not the "very rare exception" you refer to. I know lots of people who I went to high school and college with in the 60s and 70s who smoke pot on a regular basis and live normal lives. People in all walks of life and professions.
Almost everyone I know here in rural Florida where I raise Angus beef cattle, smoke pot. It's so common that it is hard to find folks you haven't smoked.
I was a hospital administrator in the service and at least half of the doctors and 90% of the dentists I was stationed with smoked pot with no detrimental effects on their lives. How do I know this? Because I smoked pot with them.
I just reconnected with a college fraternity brother on a road trip to Arizona where we both graduated from ASU. He owns 15 McDonalds' franchises in the Phoenix area and is worth millions. He and I smoked a lot of pot in college and numerous times while I was visiting him and he definitely is not permanently mentally impaired. Quite the contrary.
It's been my experience that people who don't smoke pot, don't know what they are talking about when it comes to what pot does to you.
Pot is not addictive like hard drugs or even liquor. It's not LSD or cocaine or meth or heroin. It is habitual but not physically addicting. You don't get "hooked" on it. If you stop smoking it, you don't have withdrawals or go through the DTs. I've stopped smoking for one reason or another several times in my life, including a five year stretch where I couldn't get any. Nothing bad happened to me. I wasn't turned into some vegetable who couldn't think or function.
You sound like you watched the government propaganda movie "Reefer Madness" and decided that anybody who smokes a little pot is not going to be able to mentally function in life. Well, you're wrong.
I would no more claim that everyone who took an alcoholic drink when they were young would be destined to a life of drunkenness and debauchery because they had a couple of beers in high school or college, than I believe your bogus claim. Because that's what you're claiming without any facts to back it up.
Now, do I know people who smoke pot and can't keep a job or get ahead or get their sh*t together? Yes, absolutely. But those people would be messed up with or without the pot. Some people shouldn't smoke pot or drink or do any kind of drug.
But that 's not an indicator that everyone who smokes pot will be "permanently, mentally impaired". Alcohol kills brains cells not pot.
Responsible people can smoke pot and not ruin themselves and society just because they enjoy a joint once in a while.
Ironically, I am not trying to "promote" pot smoking. I have no horse in this pot legalization race. I'll continue to smoke whether it's "legal" or not.
What I am saying is that if you don't smoke it, you don't know it.
I agree strident testing is warranted for those particular industries.
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