Posted on 05/05/2005 7:59:33 AM PDT by SmithL
Washington -- Hundreds of suit-and-tie-clad marijuana advocates feasted on chicken Kiev and Petite Sirah on Capitol Hill on Wednesday night in what may have been the most button-down gathering of pot enthusiasts in history.
The music was contemporary jazz, not reggae. The dessert was a caramel parfait with chocolate drizzle, not Oreos. And the featured Cheech and Chong video was a snippet of a documentary on actor Tommy Chong's recent imprisonment.
The event, a strictly nonsmoking affair that drew members of Congress, a prominent television talk show host, and seasoned Washington operatives, was a mainstream coming-out of sorts for the Marijuana Policy Project, the nation's pre-eminent marijuana lobbying organization.
The sober organizers -- who insist the greatest danger associated with smoking pot is jail time -- are intent on being taken seriously in this serious town.
"We decided from the outset, no scrungie beards. No ponytails. We'd be mainstream and professional. We'd try to look like Republicans as much as we could," . . .
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
The ones giggling about the word marijuana are the ones who are high.
On power. And money. The revenues created by marijuana busts are staggering, I'm sure. Plus, the pharmacy industry would never allow a pain reliever that could be grown at home. They'd rather us take ones that they make which cause heart attacks, strokes, and physical dependencies.
From the article:
"My position is that people ought to make their own decision on almost anything if it doesn't hurt anybody else,'' said Rep. Ron Paul, a Texas Republican who said his support for medicinal marijuana had not cost him votes in his "conservative, Bible-belt district.''
"Perceptions on the House floor are very different from the perceptions around the country,'' Paul said.
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Most people don't give a crap what other people do in the privacy of their own home. Have a cocktail or have a toke? I don't care, just don't drive after either.
BTW - I do neither.
You forgot sexual side effects.
Although Cheech and Chong were talented comedians, I always thought that their brand of humor assisted in constructing a negative stereotype of MJ users, and they served as poor role models for many a youth.
I'm not arguing your point, but when I saw this I was curious ... Why do you care about what people do in their homes?
"Well, as long as marijuana isn't really a problem, let's go ahead and decriminalize methamphetamine as well. Hell, let's open drug stores that sell them all; coke, heroin, Ecstasy. Why should we care about what people do in their homes."
Even cigarettes?
Apples and oranges, and you know it.
It's for the chill'run you know. Once they're used to the police like that, no problem. Its shocking to us (well, some of us) but look how many excuse the force used to snatch up some joints.
The next generation will be even more tolerant of it.
And a 'slippery slope' argument as well.
Yes. And in this case, a false argument.
It didn't take you long to find this thread. Do you have some sort of "marijuana knee-jerk alarm" that let's you know whenever someone posts a pot article so you can make the usual arguments?
Druggie and Drug-Free two totally different universes. That's why they call it the drug sub-culture. Any effort to soften or glamourize drug use in the public arena does irreparable damage to the most impressionable, and immature who haven't yet completely formed their value system.
I guess the parents better step up then.
You know that once the social worker judges and the media take over parental authority is totally undermined. Tell me another bedside story. Besides if you carefully read my post I didn't say anything about minors or children.
WOD bump
The same argument is made daily by the those who would eliminate such things as firearms. And it falls into the same totalitarian, nanny-state mindset.
Eradicating the freedoms of all because they will be abused by a few is the utter antithesis of the principles of individual liberty and personal responsibility upon which this nation was founded.
"Eradicating the freedoms of all because they will be abused by a few is the utter antithesis of the principles of individual liberty and personal responsibility upon which this nation was founded."
Well said, sir. I also don't like the fact that the government can declare a naturally occuring plant "illegal". That just does not seem right.
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