Posted on 01/25/2018 8:34:31 AM PST by Kaslin
The hippies of the 70s are old. Time is merciless and none of us get out of here alive. My dad is a baby boomer born in 1944. He enjoyed his time as a 20 and 30 something in the '60s and '70s of America. It was a crazy time marked by free-love, tie-dyed shirts, pot-smoking, a free-wheeling youth, and the chaos of Vietnam.
That was a long time ago. Until a year ago, my dad, now in his early 70s, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. My dad was a strong man who worked construction much of his life. His parents had lived into their 90s, so we all assumed he had a good 20-year run remaining. We’d all noticed a little shake in his hand at Christmas and by spring it was confirmed to be a ruthless and debilitating neurological disease that has no cure.
It’s a terrifying moment when you have to resign yourself to a fate that only a miracle from heaven can cure. The conversation immediately turns to symptom management. That’s all there is. The only hope is to fight the symptoms off long enough to live another five or 10 years or maybe more if you’re lucky.
So, when the moniker of the 70s, marijuana, is found to be in many cases a miracle drug in controlling those symptoms…it can turn the most die-hard anti-drug hardliner into a libertarian.
If marijuana oil, or pot gummy bears, or an inhaler, or whatever form we choose allows my dad to be a grandfather to my kids a few years longer, then I am for it. It’s time for Congress to get on the right side of federalism and let the states decide this issue. Let the drugs get to the people who need it.
I would not wish my dad’s illness on anybody, but I wonder if Attorney General Sessions would change is bulldog stance on medical marijuana if the next time he put his pen to paper he noticed a slight tremor in his hand. Nobody should take one of the most promising medications away from those who suffer.
Conservatives in Congress have long supported the idea of federalism and the right of states to govern themselves. Right now, Congress is debating the future of the 29 states and the District of Columbia that have passed laws allowing medical marijuana’s use and distribution within the states’ borders. There are a number of conservatives who are fighting to protect federalism from Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ stated intention to free up the Justice Department to prosecute medical marijuana states.
The time is now. Congress is working on finishing up appropriations bills for this year. They’re arguing over a funding rider that prevents the DOJ from prosecuting states that allow medical marijuana. Attorney General Sessions is an aggressive voice to remove that provision from law.
Why? He hates drugs of any kind more than he believes in the states rights to govern themselves. A government closer to the people being governed is always a better government.
Medical Marijuana won’t rise to the level of DACA, but if this provision is removed from the appropriations bill, more Republicans will oppose it on February 8th when Congress takes up appropriations again.
When President Donald J. Trump was running for office, he unequivocally told a Colorado reporter, Brandon Rittman, when asked if he would allow his Attorney General to shut down adult use of marijuana in Colorado he answered, “I think it should be up to the states, absolutely.”
It’s time to hold President Trump to that promise.
Trump professed many times his support for medical marijuana and made numerous statements in support of federalism in regards to state medical marijuana laws. Literally issues like this caused many to boldly vote Trump. Constitutional conservatives supported Trump because they believed he would protect federalism and states’ rights to make laws with regard to activities that are conducted within their boundaries.
The DOJ is on the attack and medical marijuana is in their sites. Earlier this month, the Justice Department withdrew the Cole Memo that provided a safe harbor for marijuana operators in states allowing its sale and following eight law enforcement guidelines. Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) Tweeted that Sessions's withdrawal of the Cole Memo contradicted, “what Attorney General Sessions told me prior to his confirmation.” Conservative Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) was the chief sponsor of an amendment in 2014 that defunded the federal government’s power to prosecute the use, distribution, possession or cultivation of medical marijuana and Congress voted to support his position 219-189 on May 30, 2014. His efforts were joined in the Senate by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).
This is an issue that has been championed by conservatives who respect federalism from day one. This isn’t about a bunch of people sitting around in VW Vans smoking doobies. This is about my dad being able to walk into my son’s band concert and not need a wheel chair.
Does the DOJ, Trump, and the GOP for that matter, really want to be against that?
Hadn’t thought of that possibility. I ran into that kind of nonsense prior to using cannabis.
If I had a dollar for every time someone said, “Just take a walk and you’ll feel better....”
Now I walk 2-4 miles 5-6 days a week lol.
So what???
The real question is: is it the business of government to regulate every thing in the world that might be bad for you? Or do we want to be free? I already have your pompous answer.
I spent 25 years of my life responding largely to people like you, who feel deep down that our society has an obligation to wait on them hand and foot after laziness and poor choices cause them to become a burden on everyone else. No one objects more to government over reach than I do, but you simply have no idea the amount of resources which are wasted on people who instead of taking care of themselves choose to rely on “the rest of us.” Marijuana and alcohol abuse are the primary contributors to this nonsense.
Alcohol is so firmly entrenched in our society that there is almost nothing meaningful that can be done at this point to curtail its use. Marijuana in my view is every bit as bad, probably worse especially as an obstruction to people getting off their lazy asses and doing something for themselves and others.
Marijuana use has been tolerated in our area for decades... it got worse when it was legalized for “medicinal purposes” and it has gotten much worse in the five years since it was legalized for “recreational purposes”. One man in our community ran up a $2.4 million dollar medical bill not including the services of the fire department that I work for. Although the only abused substance typically mentioned when referring to people like him is usually alcohol... in the more than one hundred times that I personally responded to this particular person, marijuana was also a key component basically every time...
Alcohol use causes a lot of problems in our society when it is combined with marijuana the problems are greatly magnified. The current trend with opioids results in a lot of people dying from overdoses and is comparable to the meth problem we had and still have in this area for many years. It is impossible to make truly meaningful comparisons and I suppose you believe that people should be free to destroy their lives in any way that they choose??? Unfortunately abusers of all of these substances take down many innocent victims with them and the cost to our society is immeasurable. I have seen it first hand repeatedly over decades.
You can call me a “pompous ass” all that you want... I have never had a problem with people hurling insults my way because I know exactly who I am. I have actually gotten my hands dirty working with people in need many, many times. My crews always complained that I was doing too much for people not too little. I got in difficulty for taking people across town to the safety of their homes and loved ones instead of having them hauled to jail or transported to the hospital.
At my retirement party stories were told about me and my wife putting up unfortunate souls in our own home, some for more than a week while we found the best solution for them going forward. The chief of our department told my wife that he wished that every member of our department could have just a sliver of my heart. The mayor of our town even asked me at a later charity event if all the stories were true. In my life I have been known for literally giving the shirt off my back not for being a “pompous ass”.
You are being willfully blind in your selfish quest to make it more convenient to acquire your mind altering drug of choice. In this case you will probably eventually get what you want despite the misery and the cost to our society that will result. It will be just one more contributor in our liberal society’s downward spiral.
Unfortunately, I know a lot more about you than you than you are likely able to comprehend. The problem when arguing with pot heads is that you can never tell if they are as stupid as they seem to be or if they are just pretending not to understand what they are told or have read.
And no I do not drink at all. By far most important to me are my wife, my kids, my grandchildren and all of my other acquaintances, friends, and relatives. I have been enjoying restoring a house that was built in 1900 for the past couple of years. Some of my serious hobbies have been hang gliding, flying ultralight and general aviation aircraft, and bicycle riding and of course hiking camping and shooting. I was a Washington State District Road Racing Champion at one time. Alcohol and marijuana use are detrimental to family life, my hobbies and other interests.
I credit God with motivating my choices to assist others when they have been in need and credit God when my efforts have made a difference in other people’s lives. So no I do not consider myself to be a hero and do not feel that I am any better than you or so many others like you who have made bad choices which have made them burdens to others.
I feel sorry for people like you who feel that their ability to obtain and use the mind altering drug of their choice is more important that any damage this might cause to others. I hope that one day that you will find something that is more important to you than your obsession with marijuana.
I'd love to consider that number ... what is the number?
Just about anyone who has worked at or with multi-level care facilities in the past few years can confirm [...]
All those words but no number.
Where's the evidence that anything meaningful can be done at this point to curtail marijuana use?
In Washington where we live it was legalized for medical purposes in 1998 and for recreational use in 2012. Usage increased after both of the changes in the law. So yes it would now be difficult to roll things back.
Many legally prescribable medicines have unwanted side effects.
I am very concerned about your well being. Unfortunately, your posts have provided only an example of the damage that long term pot smoking has on a person’s reasoning and ability to play nice with others. Everyone should take a look at your posting history. There are examples of projection and extreme nastiness in just about every conversation that you get into...
In my experience that is very a common symptom of long term pot use. This is typically a result of problems with depression, paranoia, and patterns of sociopathic behavior. Smoking more pot is certainly not the answer to your problems. I have seen many people like you a lot over the years. If you continue down the path you are on... only misery, loneliness and despair await you. These discussions are not worth getting all worked up over. Look to the people you love first and get help my FRiend!
Your comments are among the best - most accurate, truthful, and well said - of any I’ve seen anywhere, on this topic.
Also you tolerate abuse more than most people could ever do.
Very, very accurate.
It doesn’t take someone who spent his career assisting people in need to recognize someone who has gone completely off the rails. I would really like to be able to help you and wish that I had more time to figure out what has happened to make you so bitter. I have been going through your posting history looking for clues. To be honest what you write is typically so negative and nasty that it is exhausting to read.
I suspect that you have difficulties getting along with just about everyone but have some real problems when it comes to women. Do you remember this conversation?
wastoute said, “A wife is the most precious blessing God has to offer. A male who does not get that is no man.”
You responded, “Some level of physical control and punishment may be warranted for the more unruly ones. For example, a good hard spanking would not necessarily be out of the question. That’s in the real world, of course.”
from: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3441466/posts
Or this?
“Exactly. This is nothing but attempted shaming of the next generation to be sucked into the family court slave machine. So what if a guy lives at home? How does that harm our society in itself? “
“For that matter, women should be made to live at home until they are 30 or married. Save us a lot of the headaches that come from the all of the whoring around going on in the country.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3436040/posts
At least those were posts where you were not attacking another poster, but you have a pattern of writing things that make it appear that your life is a pointless endeavor and that you never were able to establish a permanent relationship with a woman and raise a family. I haven’t come across a post where you talked about helping someone else and that is what I was looking for so I could say look, here is something really worthwhile that you did. But your posts are mostly just an endless stream about everyone other than you being stupid.
There is nothing that I have found in your posting history that indicates that you ever have reached a grown up level of maturity. I actually just feel sincerely sorry for you. You seem to be a lost soul and I truly wish that you will have a “come to Jesus experience” that will help turn you around. I would like to have been able to come up with something more profound.
I will be praying for you... I don’t give up that easily.
Mr. High and Mighty didn’t address me so I will now address him.
I’m a 30 year glaucoma patient that has exhausted all prescribed medications, combinations of medications and surgical treatments in an attempt to manage this incurable, insidious disease. The side effects from some of those medications were horrendous but I tolerated them because the alternative was blindness.
Glaucoma isn’t just needing a new pair of glasses, its loss of all peripheral vision, sometimes referred to as tunnel vision. That’s the last stage before total blindness. I have already reached that last stage in one eye and was well on my way to that stage in my other eye.
My ophthalmologists suggested medical marijuana and it has truly been a miracle drug for me. Even after 26 years of conventional medications I lost some of my eyesight every single one of those years.
I have been using medical marijuana for four years and have had no vision loss during this time period. I wish the prohibitionists would please explain to me that is somehow just a coincidence.
Near the end of my use of prescribed, conventional medications I was using 4 different eye drops 4 times a day. When using that many drops you must wait approximately 15 minutes before applying each set of drops. When you are finished with the rounds it takes about 30 minutes to one hour for your vision to stabilize. That amounts to about six or more hours a day every single day. It became a full time job, was exhausting and robbed me of my life.
My medication now consists of eating one delicious, sight sustaining cookie twice a day. I enjoy my medication with a nice cup of tea. The side effects are happiness. Call me a drug addict or junkie and I will laugh at your willful ignorance. Attempt to deny my medication and I will deride your arrogance.
Some people speak of God as if they are His authority here on earth. I thank God every day for the natural substance He has provided that allows me to look in awe at His beautiful creations for just a little while longer. The sky, stars, flowers, birds but most of all the face of my first grandchild.
Best post of the thread, IMO!
“Some people speak of God as if they are His authority here on earth. I thank God every day for the natural substance He has provided that allows me to look in awe at His beautiful creations for just a little while longer. “
Amen & AMEN!!!
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