Posted on 02/27/2009 8:34:48 AM PST by DouglasKC
You may have read that the Obama administration has altered United States government policy and has sanctioned "medical" marijuana by ending raids on "clinics" where "medical" marijuana is passed out.
The use of quotes in the paragraph above is deliberate. It's my view and the views of millions of conservatives that there is no such thing as "medical" marijuana...or at least in the way it's being presented to the public.
"Medical" marijuana is simply a term for pot being sold for profit under the guise that it helps a plethora of medical problems. The "clinics" are essentially drug dens that are attempting to gain a little more respectability. It has been the policy of the United States government to raid and shut down these clinics.
Now here's the problem. There are many so called conservatives that support these drug dens. They say that it's a states right issue. That this isn't a power delegated to the United States government.
Clearly this is a debatable point. For example I would offer that it's in the best interest of the country to ban something that is in the worst interest of the country. For example if we had a communist power develop a drug that would make our citizens lazy and unproductive then nobody would argue that we should allow this power to freely distribute this drug in the United States. There would be no hew and cry about "states rights".
But nonetheless there are those who have seized upon the issue of "medical" marijuana as the ultimate expression of states rights. That's fine. That's their rights as Americans. But here's what I wish.
I wish they would be honest and apply the same standard to abortion and pornography. I wish they would stand up and proclaim that abortion and pornography are in the same league. Because if you want to embrace their viewpoint you MUST embrace pornography and abortion.
Abortion, by their logic, should also be a state right. Pornography, by their logic, should also be a state right. Yet the federal government has mandated, by court decisions and law, that the support of these issues are the law of the land.
Now I happen to believe the opposite. I think these two issues are so dangerous to the country as a whole that they SHOULD be banned nationwide for the common welfare of the union of states.
What happened? It's easy. Religious morality stopped in government. We went from a nation governed by religion based morals a government based on amoral, or immoral principles. And let me make it clear..when I say religious morals I'm talking precisely about Judeo-Christian morality...or at least what this morality used to be.
And here's what these so called new conservatives fail to conserve. They fail to conserve the religious morality that stopped our leaders from ruling from a non-principled viewpoint. They fail to conserve the idea that right and wrong don't come from man or man's laws, but from God, the creator of man. They fail to conserve the notion that certain things are repugnant to God and to those who have His morals.
They have taken up the mantle of the 60's generation. Sex and drugs. Don't tell us what to do. We don't like your morals. Once they succeeded in tearing down God, they began working on the government.
John Adams, the 2nd President of the United States said "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
Oh so true. Without morals and religion our constitution fails. It breaks. It doesn't work. It's inadequate. It can be twisted and shaped to whatever viewpoint the rulers want.
Pot. Abortion. Pornography. All of these are issues that a moral people and a moral government instinctively reject. But remove morality from the equation and anything goes. God save us.
Ayn Rand
\:
There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.
I'd have thought that folks would have learned from Prohibition ...
Apparently not.
????????????
You seem to be terribly confused. Let me help.
There’s a difference between killing someone (abortion) and looking at pictures of people having sex (pornography). There’s also a difference between killing someone (abortion) and consuming a drug never proven to cause harm (pot).
Does that help ?
Is there such a thing as medicinal alcohol? Medicinal cocaine? Medicinal morphine?
I think Obama focuses on Economics! Economics! Economics! and pushes things through rapidly. Then, the Republican party establishment bestirs itself, lines up it's economics exports, and prepares to speak intelligently about economic matters.
And at this point, Obama is talking about Porn! Pot! Abortion! and the Republicans are caught wrong-footed.
So now the Republicans will line up their socially conservative experts who will prepare themselves for deep discussions on moral issues.
Just as Obama starts to talks about Health Care! Tax Reform! Social Security!
Sigh. He's using superior tactics.
Yes, there is.
I think drug laws should be determined by States. States determine their own liquor laws and alcohol does as much if not more damage to people than pot, although I agree that is an issue which is open to debate.
Pornography is an issue which definitely falls under the constitution as a free speech issue. Whether we like it or not, until someone can define exactly what constitutes pornography, which will never happen, it is impossible to regulate. I know people who think any nudity in a film is pornographic. I don’t want the government determining for me what is pornography and what isn’t. We may not like pornography but each of us should determine for ourselves what we want to view or not view.
Abortion is a totally different issue. While I think it should be left up to the States to ban or regulate it, I can see a perfectly legitimate argument for the Constitution making it illegal. We are all entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness unless we are in the womb, and then the freedom can be taken away at the whim of a mother.
That's right. Prohibition failed because it wasn't a true prohibition. There were way too many loopholes.
Currently in Australia, the government is using prohibition in aboriginal territories to correct severe social problems with great success.
There are so many laws, rules, ordinances. Everything requires so many permits, inspections, reviews. Thrown in taxes, fines and fees.
Unless you are dead, or near dead, somewhere someplace something you are doing, have done is guilty of some ‘offense’.
We’re all guilty now, just whether we attract the torpid energies of our tax supported, fat, idiot overlords.
Yeah. Tax me more for some couch bound pot head beating off to porn skanks.
Yeah. More government. More slugs with fat bellies, Crown Vic’s, warrant2 and guns, retireing at 42 with 70K pensions, full benefits and of course, full disability.
Medicinal cocaine? Medicinal morphine?
yes and yes
As an analogy, would anybody watch football if there were no rules or enforcement?
Yes, it's called rugby..............
The author assumes that because he opposes porn/pot/drugs on the same grounds (religious) that others must either support all or oppose all with a unified rationale. This is a logical fallacy because the issues can be divided and supported or opposed on different grounds.
Marijuana is a weed.
Wal-Mart, Loews, Sears, and every lawn and garden shop in the country has been selling us chemicals to kill dandelions and crab grass, for decades now.
How is the “war on dandelions” going?
The Crips and the Bloods would not exist, if not for the drug trade. (This argument is a bit weaker, since, I do not ever want “medical meth” or “medical crack” and today's street gangs sell far more than pot.)
Do you know what “Thalamid” is? It is also know as “Thalidomide” -— It was allowed in England, and caused the “flipper baby” birth defects. The stuff was given to help with morning sickness, in pregant women in England.
It DOES help with appetite and the ability to keep food down.
Now the stuff is legal in the USA for cancer patients. It costs about $7,000.00 a month, from what I understand. Most of the expense is due to the product liability. If a pregnant woman even so much as touches the pills, she will probably have a deformed baby.
http://health.yahoo.com/other-other/thalidomide/healthwise—d04331a1.html
Medical Marijuana can do the SAME thing as thalidomide, for a much cheaper price, and will also help with pain management and anxiety.
Think this through folks. It is not an easy issue.
However, I do like the fact that it is one more issue for people to be mad about.
Obama won because Obama had made few decisions in his life.
The more decisions Obama makes, the weaker he will become.
>> John Adams, the 2nd President of the United States said “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
Has there ever been a truly moral people? We are fallen — individually and collectively.
Equating abortion with pornography seems a stretch. Abortion is the willful taking of a truly innocent human life. Pornography is pictures of naked people. Both are a sin ... but certainly not of the same social consequence.
SnakeDoc
“pot being sold for profit”
Sounds like a good idea.
Pot and abortion have NOTHING in common.
Baloney. Prohibition failed because Joe Kennedy, Al Capone, et al. found they could make lots of money violating it. Same with the goons currently providing truly prohibited marijuana, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine etc. to folks who want the stuff.
Good luck with prohibition among the Aborigines ... it works great in Indian reservations and Inuit villages. < snort >
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.