Posted on 03/18/2013 7:39:49 AM PDT by Kaslin
In his column of March 12, 2013, my beloved friend wrote on the issue of legalized marijuana in the state of Colorado. On his radio show, he justifiably bemoaned readers of his column who had written comments questioning his sanity and their relationship over this one issue despite years of being Prager groupies. I will not do any of that. But for only the second time in our long relationship, Mr. Prager, you are dead wrong on a topic … but I still love you.
We Baby Boomers grew up in a generation where marijuana made the jump from the dark corners of jazz clubs to mainstream culture. We were advised to stay away from the dangerous herb by silly movies like Reefer Madness. We were forewarned that marijuana was a gateway drug to things like cocaine and heroin (crystal meth was not topical then). Yet despite all these warnings, the use of marijuana spread and people were not seeing the ugly warnings come true.
Then President Nixon appointed a commission chaired by Raymond P. Shafer to look at the exploding use of illicit drugs in America. The commission came back with a simple conclusion – stop prosecuting the use of marijuana and employ other methods to dissuade people from partaking. This would free up resources to pursue dangerous drugs like heroin and cocaine. That was 1972 and President Nixon told his commission to jump in a lake.
Forty years later we are still confronting the same issues. The field has changed due to new designer drugs and the in-vogue use of legal medications in illegal manners. Yet there is the old, standby marijuana exhibiting the same innocuous effects. The only difference is the partial legalization of its use across the country because of its proven medicinal benefits. And in the 40 years since Nixon blew the chance to advance the issue of drug use in our society, we found out marijuana is just as dangerous as The Shafer commission found it – which is not really.
First we must accept the fact that the ingesting of anything in excess can lead one to destroy their lives. And you can certainly find multiple examples of malingerers excessively using marijuana. The question in those cases becomes is the marijuana the cause or effect? This society has endured the widespread use of marijuana for almost 50 years and the instances of problems from use of marijuana are miniscule.
Mr. Prager starts his column by analyzing the effects upon the culture in Colorado in the short three months since legalization. He falls into the same trap as the journalists he cites. How can you possibly analyze the effects of the new law after such a short period of time? Is it really shocking to see some people flocking to the use because of the change in legal status? How different is this than people flocking to the hot new restaurant? How do we know that the entire usage might not become passé? To even discuss what is going on with the change in law reeks of premature evaluation. We wrote a column two months ago endorsing the experimentation of such laws at the state level. Let’s give these laws a chance as that is the purpose of federalization.
Mr. Prager then lurches into comparing the use of tobacco products to marijuana. His righteous indignation against the anti-tobacco forces remains totally justifiable. In fact, their war against tobacco at times staggers the imagination. Except for the statement that some people would endorse the use of marijuana yet deplore the use of tobacco products is fair, but his commentary is of little relevance.
The real comparison has been and is between alcohol and marijuana. There is no doubt to a large part of our society that marijuana use is safer and better for the society than alcohol. You don’t hear of people going into a marijuana rage. You don’t hear of two dudes duking it out after toking up in a barroom brawl. You don’t hear of husbands lighting up and then going home and beating their wives and children. We do hear of happy drunks, but we certainly hear more about the unhappy ones. The worst effect of marijuana use remains dry mouth, excessive giggling and mass consumption of nacho cheese Doritos.
Sure there are irresponsible people who drive after partaking too much, but is that anything different than alcohol or all the other illicit and licit drugs being improperly used? To this Mr. Prager states “Legalizing marijuana is foolish because it leads to far more use of the drug and the availability of ever more potent forms.” Unfortunately, this is wrong on so many levels. We don’t have any idea whether usage will really remain higher in the future or whether the new legalized marijuana will replace the use of alcohol or the misuse of legal medications. If the latter happens that would be a good thing. As for the potency, legalization will standardize the potency and allow customers to know what they are smoking which can only also be a good thing. Apparently, Mr. Prager did not stop in a marijuana store during his world travels to Amsterdam. My friends using medical marijuana in California tell me for the first time in their lives they know what they are buying.
Dennis, my beloved friend, you should sit back, take a puff off one of your pipes and wait for the real results of the experiment in the legalization of marijuana. If three years from now driving in Colorado is like being in bumper cars at the County Fair then we will know we made a mistake and the other 48 states will say no way. I am putting my money on Mr. Shafer and the fact we should have done this 40 years ago.
The gateway claim is nonsense - research shows that the correlation between earlier marijuana use and later use of other drugs can be explained by a "common-factor" model, that is, a third factor that causes both results, such as individuals' opportunities and unique propensities to use drugs, or more broadly a social or psychological predisposition towards anti-social behavior. (http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB6010/index1.html, http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/hors253.pdf)
Also note that the same sort of correlation between earlier marijuana and later harder drugs also exists between earlier alcohol and tobacco and later illegal drugs - so if marijuana is a "gateway" so are alcohol and tobacco.
And without legalizing cocaine and heroin, there will still be illicit drug trade.
But quite a lot less - which would be a good thing.
Even with legal alcohol sales, there are still home distillers who face tax revenuers.
How many? Are they anywhere near the problem that the illegal marijuana trade is?
Neither are alcohol or tobacco. Should we ban them?
Cocaine use is pretty high (if you’ll pardon the expression) among the bar scene. And plenty seem to know girls who will put out for nose candy.
Legalize it. End all of the underground traffic if that’s the excuse.
Amen!
And if it turns out to be a total disaster, as drug use was in China in the 19th century, how do you plan to indemnify us for taking your bad advice?
Or do you plan on saying "we" a lot?
Dunno ‘bout that, but I have been forced to the conclusion that the “War on some Drugs” is a bigger threat to life, liberty, and property than the drugs and druggies.
That was opium. Contrary to what John Walters told you, there is a difference.
Marijuana was legal for most of this nation's history and there was no "disaster."
My hat's off to you for your willingness to learn from experience - something too many "conservatives" are dead set against doing.
Gay marriage and pot legalization. Brought to by the mindless libertarians. Bunch of cave ins. If pot was legal in 1776 we never would have driven out the British.
It is legal in several states.
Some people just hate alcohol and prefer hemp. Unlike alcohol, hemp can be consumed in many different ways and grown by anyone.
Unlike alcohol, hemp is 100% nontoxic when consumed without smoke. There has never been any damage or death recorded from hemp. Even under impossible experimental conditions using purified compounds not found in nature. Basically, you couldn't hurt yourself with hemp if you tried.
With alcohol it is very possible to die from poisoning or withdrawal. Alcohol abuse causes 100% PROVEN IRREVERSIBLE brain and liver damage! Alcohol abuse is far more damaging than hemp abuse, yet it remains legal.
A big part of hemp prohibition is that the ease of production threatens the alcohol market (and taxes). If it was legal, some people would simply grow a plant in their yard and stop buying alcohol.
Every person is different and should have the freedom to choose.
Due to the legal issues, people in most places will never admit it unless it is in private with very close friends. They also hide it from their children because a child mentioning it in school will invite unwanted attention from the gestapo.
People that have several kids are very busy will partake much less than people that don’t. Just like responsible people with kids drink much less because they simply don’t have time.
In places where illegal, I know 4 couples that meet your criteria and partake occasionally (1-2 times a month). About 20% of those that are close friends and meet your criteria. They are all financially very well off so they have more opportunity to relax than most people with 3-4 kids.
In places where legal, many more admit to it. I’d estimate about 30% of upper-middle class (and above) couples with children I met admit to occasional use. I don’t have too many close friends where it’s legal, so the actual number is probably higher.
For equally financially successful married people with no kids, the percentages go up to about 30-40%. For unmarried financially successful men, it is easily 65%+ that smoke occasionally. For unmarried women, maybe 30%. The women tend to be the reason the men quit. Women just don’t seem to like it as much.
Non-toxic? I guess if you skip the IQ and schizophrenic and so on effects. Saying the blatant non-lethal effects are meaningless when they are so severe and so universal to the users. Not to mention severe psychological addiction.
I doubt anyone’s died from a few drinks on its own. I’ve seen people messed up from both, but weed tends to turn people into mushy leftwing losers. That’s why online forums are so full of those types that just post about it 24/7.
Hopefully this trend will be reversed in short order. There’s a major liberal swing going on including the whole gay thing as well. At least with drugs there’s legit damage done and people usually get sick of it after awhile and will limit it again.
And the main reason is that people like the effect pot more than a glass of wine in general. The rest of your shit about people thinking a few drinks will kill them is just as stupid as it gets, sorry.
“The women tend to be the reason the men quit. Women just don’t seem to like it as much. “ Men that use certainly do seem to become bigger pussies. So I guess if they get the real thing around they don’t need it as much? That’s a good theory for sure.
It's not your choice, to choose for others.
Cannabis was the "Oil" in the engine of trade and commerce since before recorded time.
Dennis Prager is one of the foremost minds whose honesty, clarity, scholarship, and thoughtfulness is beyond the pale. In no way can be Dennis be described or have his ideas and views attributed to those of an idiot. One may disagree with him on some issue, but to use “idiocies” is juvenile, and telling more of the name caller than the target. It should be noted that the author of the rebuttal did not sink to such a low level, and still honors him with the title of Mister, and friendship.
Dennis was instrumental in my conversion from Liberal to Conservative.
My generation of pot smokers passed around multi-generation VHS copies of it.
It was re-released in the 70s:
In 1971, Reefer Madness was discovered in the Library of Congress archives by NORML founder Keith Stroup, who bought a print for $297, and made it the darling of pot smokers and college campuses. For this modern audience, the poor production values and overacting create an uproarious comedy. Distributing Reefer Madness to college campuses of the 1970s helped bankroll the burgeoning film company New Line Cinema.[1][2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reefer_madness#Release_history
I saw it in college during the early 1970s.
fo sho bro!
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