The level of lawlessness shown by BOTH sides is THE CORE of the issue. BOTH sides keep pointing fingers of blame at each other, and using that to rationalize their own misdeeds. It’s like catching two kids fighting, and all you can get out of them is crap like, “Well, he started it,” and “He hit me first,” and “I was playing with that and he grabbed it.”
It’s just one cock-and-bull story after another.
BOTH sides are WRONG.
The government’s too heavy-handed, and the druggies can’t grok that “righteous” in the context of “self-government” has NOTHING to do with playing Black Sabbath records at 78rpm.
THE SOLE DEMAND of LIBERTY is RIGHTEOUS SELF-GOVERNANCE.
Failure (or refusal) to meet that demand results in a loss of liberty.
Look, here’s a breadcrumb to get you pointed right: grab you bible and check out Romans chapter 3. Hunt up the phrase “righteousness apart from the Law.”
I think you’re probably smart enough to go from there. Now, it may boil down to whether or not you want to, and that’s your prerogative, but once you recognize that it’s you making that choice, you also recognize that you own it all; that playing the blame game is OUT.
You might also hunt this one down, as it’s also appropriate to this discussion: Whom The Son sets free is free, indeed.
Now THAT’S liberty!
The danger posed to innocent people by lawless government agents so vastly exceeds the danger posed by pot smokers, that pursuing the latter while the former are allowed to run wild is--at absolute minimum--a gross mis-allocation of resources, equivalent to prosecuting an office-worker for 'stealing' a Post-It to remind himself to buy groceries, while ignoring workers who steal millions of dollars' worth of equipment or merchandise.
There can be no real law and order unless the government and its agents conduct themselves lawfully, and are held to a standard at least as high as the population at large. In the vast majority of human endeavors, people will adapt their behavior depending upon what is required. It's human nature. If it becomes well-known that government agents will be allowed to act lawlessly, many will begin to do so.
Someone who favors law and order should regard a cop who breaks into someone's dwelling in a fashion inconsistent with the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments (the Sixth clarifying 'due process of law') as a burglar if he doesn't accost any occupants, or as a robber if he does. Titles of nobility are forbidden under the Constitution, and a person's legitimate duties can by definition not include illegitimate actions.