Posted on 10/22/2012 9:09:50 AM PDT by Jayster
"There' a rising tide of acceptance of the fact that people are going to smoke marijuana, and it's like the prohibition against alcohol in the 1930s. There's a recognition that perhaps the laws are causing more harm than the drugs themselves," says Rick Steves, author and travel host.
Steves and others attended "The Final Days of Prohibition" conference in downtown Los Angeles in early October. The conference was put on by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), and Reason TV was on the scene to ask about the future of marijuana laws in the U.S., particularly in the upcoming election where the states of Oregon, Washington, and Colorado all have marijuana legalization initiatives on the ballot.
About 3 minutes.
Produced by Paul Feine and Zach Weissmueller. Edited by Weissmueller.
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(Excerpt) Read more at reason.com ...
Something to consider: Have you ever seen two stoners get in a fight? I've seen plenty of drunken brawls, but...
It's an unfortunate fact that a segment of humanity can't face reality, and feels better when everything is fuzzy around the edges. Killing all these drunks and stoners isn't a functional solution. Using the Federal Government to artificially keep prices high hasn't worked, and has made the judicial system and law enforcement irreparably corrupt.
So droolers like you say, "Better yet the automatic execution of any one that uses it!"?, (And you omitted a comma. I'll let you search for it.)
Thanks for your comment. As we used to say, to stupid people who came up with idiocy, and that we didn't want to offend out loud, "It will be staffed..."
“Better yet the automatic execution of any one that uses it!”
Sounds like the Taliban to me...
Dead serious!
Just wait until Madison Avenue starts actively promoting it.
De-criminalized is one thing. Legal is a whole ‘nother can of worms.
Well I would say pot smokers are less likely to even be bothered to go vote.
Legalize marijuana, but ban cheeseburgers....that is where things are heading. There will never be a reduction in the nannystate, only changes in what is forbidden.
Heil DEA!
and the TSA!!!!
But marijuana acts differently on the mind and for much longer periods.....and destroys incentive. I know brilliant older men who drink beer every day and work hard, whose brain remains sharp. Not so with marijuana—they become really goofy and lazy. Water was not that safe back in colonial days.
I always say that legalizing drugs would be OK with me — provided that the safety net and social programs go away first. I’d like a society in which there was a strong incentive to be a responsible, productive person. If you can meet that threshhold AND take drugs, then fine: it’s none of my business.
But while my paycheck is skimmed off to pay for programs to benefit people who have spent their lives kicking back in a drug-induced haze and contributing nothing to society — while I pay for their livlihood, I am not inclined to say: “Your choices are none my business”.
That is the kind of “Grand Bargain” that I would be for, Ok, no more Welfare state, but drugs are legalized and regulated like alcohol!
I would also take only a legalization of only marijiana and mandatory randome drug tests for welfare state recipients whose benefits can be revoked permanetly if they test positive...
“Better yet the automatic execution of any one that uses it!”
And booze, YES, Booze! Touch it and your head explodes! Hell, fried foods, that, too! And meat! Yes, Meat! Touch it and your head explodes!
It’s not your job to tell the rest of us what we can and cannot touch.
my reasons for decriminalization are simple....
the penalties for personal use cause more harm than the drug itself...
And it baffles me that this is most evident with those who otherwise consider themselves supporters of freedom and liberty. No-knock forced entry, shooting the dog, false imprisonment, confiscation of assets - yes thats all OK as long as we keep people from making stupid decisions for themselves.
I understand the Lefties wanting to control others but when that totalitarian urge comes from conservatives...
What this country needs are more people too cowardly to face reality. Cowardice has always been highly valued by every culture throughout time.
Exactly!
While they're more than happy to scream "Kill all the druggies!", they'll blubber like babies when government uses that same power to make chocolate or cheeseburgers illegal.
.....because it's for the 'common good'.
-----
If people let government decide which foods they eat and medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.
---Thomas Jefferson
“Better yet the automatic execution of any one that uses it!”
I’m certain that you can cite the clause in the Constitution that premits this.
“Better yet the automatic execution of any one that uses it!”
I’m certain that you can cite the clause in the Constitution that permits this.
and the TSA!!!!
and the EPA!!!!
The notion that someone is actually enjoying himself.
I really enjoy Rick Steves travel episodes on PBS—and I will admit he certainly has seen far more of the world than I have & most of us here on FR have been able to do so.
However- I totally disagree with his position on marijuana.
Let’s say that any one of you here on Free Republic are my partner in a business——We will share our abilities & responsibilities.
We own a sand & gravel business—
We have 4 trucks & 4 employees who drive those trucks—
Each truck has a total gross weight, loaded, of about 90,000 pounds. 45 tons.
You- my partner—does the phones with customers, the dispatching, the acquisition of more material sources, and keeps a sharp eye on the drivers and truck maintenance.
I do all the bookkeeping, some of the dispatching and keep the paperwork straight.
IF marijuana is legalized, what happens to my liability insurance & my personal liability if one of those trucks is involved in a crash?
A 90,000 sand/gravel truck is a huge difference against a 1800 pound KIA or similar. The KIA will look like a June Bug squashed.
A sand/gravel truck which was EMPTY hit an Amtrak train not far from where I live in N Nevada & DERAILED the train & I forget how many were killed/hurt. Truck driver for sure was killed.
I don’t see a single insurance carrier in the world carrying any insurance coverage for any business if the driver’s cannot be fired, or suspended for marijuana usage. IF they would give me coverage, the premium would not be in the budget.
It would be the same if we were running an auto parts house & had 4 drivers delivering auto/truck parts to local service locations. Small trucks.
Or a florist shop with 4 drivers delivering flowers to funeral homes, hospitals, weddings, birthday parties, etc. NId-sized van.
We cannot run our business without liability insurance & we cannot afford to be ‘self-insured’ on this topic.
At least currently, I can do drug testing and screen applicants & try our best to eliminate a problem before it hits us.
The booze prohibitionists realized that they needed a Constitutional amendment to ban booze. Modern drug prohibitionists are as bad as liberals in this respect. If the Constitution does not empower the government to do what they want, then, the Constitution must be a living breathing document that doesn’t really mean what it says, mostly because they are too !@#$%^&ing lazy to amend it.
You show me somebody who uses Valium, Xanax, Zoloft, Hydrocodone, Vicodin and alcohol and I’ll show you a zonked out druggie.
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