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It's Time to Rethink Marijuana Laws
Philadelphia Enquirer ^ | July 9, 2007 | Kathleen Parker

Posted on 07/09/2007 7:21:35 PM PDT by Eric Blair 2084

WASHINGTON -- News that Al Gore's 24-year-old son, Al Gore III, was busted for pot and assorted prescription pills has unleashed a torrent of mirth in certain quarters.

Gore-phobes on the Internet apparently view the son's arrest and incarceration as comeuppance for the father's shortcomings. Especially rich was the fact that young Al was driving a Toyota Prius when he was pulled over for going 100 mph -- just as Papa Gore was set to preside over concerts during a 24-hour, seven-continent Live Earth celebration to raise awareness about global warming.

Whatever one may feel about the former vice president's environmental obsessions, his son's problems are no one's cause for celebration. The younger Gore's high-profile arrest does, however, offer Americans an opportunity to get real about drug prohibition, and especially about marijuana laws.

For the record, I have no interest in marijuana except as a public policy matter. My personal drug of choice is a heavenly elixir made from crushed grapes. But it is, alas, a drug.

Tasty, attractive and highly ritualized in our culture, wine and other alcoholic beverages are approved for responsible use despite the fact that alcoholism and attendant problems are a plague, while responsible use of a weed that, at worst, makes people boring and hungry, is criminal.

Pot smokers might revolt if they weren't so mellow.

Efforts over the past few decades to relax marijuana laws have been moderately successful. Twelve states have decriminalized marijuana, which usually means no prison or criminal record for first-time possession of small amounts for personal consumption. (Those states are: Alabama, California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Oregon.)

(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: addled; algore; algoreiii; confuseddopers; davesnothere; drugaddled; gotmunchies; idontunderstand; marijuana; mrleroylives; potheads; waitwhat; warondrugs; waronsomedrugs; wod; wodlist
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To: A CA Guy
Does perfume stupefy?

The Madison Avenue ad agencies want to make you believe it can. If you say it often enough it's got to be true, right?

41 posted on 07/09/2007 8:14:47 PM PDT by tacticalogic ("Oh bother!" said Pooh, as he chambered his last round.)
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To: A CA Guy

Alcohol is too strong. It’s hard on the body, the mind and it has lethal potential in the short and the long term. It makes my joints ache, my head hurt and impairs my motor skills.


42 posted on 07/09/2007 8:14:57 PM PDT by TigersEye (My heart is broken but my conscience knows its cause.)
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To: tacticalogic
Recreational drugs are illegal. They are dangerous, and most folks don’t need a large debate to know and stay away front he stuff.
43 posted on 07/09/2007 8:18:36 PM PDT by A CA Guy (God Bless America, God bless and keep safe our fighting men and women.)
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To: A CA Guy

Pot’s not dangerous.


44 posted on 07/09/2007 8:20:00 PM PDT by TigersEye (My heart is broken but my conscience knows its cause.)
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To: TigersEye

Depends on what alcohol you are talking about. There have been places where the culture has had small amounts of wine with dinner and it was shown to be a benefit to health.

Biblically it is a well known purifier of food in the tummy.

It just takes common sense, eat with it, don’t drink a lot and use the alcohol modestly.

Recreational drugs on the other hand should just never get started.


45 posted on 07/09/2007 8:21:05 PM PDT by A CA Guy (God Bless America, God bless and keep safe our fighting men and women.)
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To: Eric Blair 2084

Big Bamboo man.


46 posted on 07/09/2007 8:22:31 PM PDT by gathersnomoss (If General Patton was alive, he would slap many faces!!)
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To: TigersEye

You go to prisons and most all of the inmates smoke it, so if that is the kind of endorsement that you want, so be it.

Much of the violent crimes that have people in prison were done with pot mixed with alcohol or perhaps other recreational drugs.


47 posted on 07/09/2007 8:22:52 PM PDT by A CA Guy (God Bless America, God bless and keep safe our fighting men and women.)
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To: A CA Guy

“pot mixed with alcohol ‘

Actually, when you smoke pot, except for maybe a fine wine, you don’t want or need any alcohol at all. And since there is no hangover from pot, eventually users prefer it over alcohol.
In any case, no one ever died for an overdose of pot, while binge drinking kills people every day.


48 posted on 07/09/2007 8:28:00 PM PDT by gcruse
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To: weegee
Al Gore Junior (the former senator and VP and college dropout) was also a pothead.

And now he is a paranoid psychopath with man boobs and a lisp. Coincidence? I think not.

49 posted on 07/09/2007 8:28:25 PM PDT by Perchant
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To: A CA Guy
I've never been in prison. Something like 15 million Americans who aren't in prison smoke pot. Your violent crime comment sounds like BS to me. Anytime alcohol is involved violence becomes more likely. Not so with pot. As for using alcohol intelligently I'm all for it. But your remark before was about using drugs recreationally and your recommendation was to use alcohol.

I have always considered alcohol the king of drugs; it is highly addictive but not to all people. There is no way to know who will become an addict and who will not. (very sneaky) An overdose can kill you on the spot. Long term use can kill you. It deranges the mind in strong doses and causes people to do things they would never do otherwise. There are a number of other nasty dangerous drugs but nothing with a profile that sinister.

50 posted on 07/09/2007 8:31:50 PM PDT by TigersEye (My heart is broken but my conscience knows its cause.)
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To: gcruse

People may not have died from an overdose of pot, but a whole bunch have died from criminals that used pot mixed with other stuff before they committed the crime.

Pot is a mixing drug where lots of other stuff gets used by the idiots who often get into using it.
Probably why it had the gateway drug connection IMO.

Pretty much all of the violent criminals are great big pot users. They were mixers of it when they either killed or harmed others.

Bottom line is to never start to take the crap and avoid all the drama and destruction surrounding recreational drugs.
It’s a waste of good lives.


51 posted on 07/09/2007 8:32:59 PM PDT by A CA Guy (God Bless America, God bless and keep safe our fighting men and women.)
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To: TigersEye
Mix pot with alcohol or any other drugs and it’s a violent mess.
Probably how it got it’s gateway drug reputation.

It’s not a way to go, is most certainly not the goal of conservative folks, but you can sure read some druggies at DU pushing the pot and other stuff if you wish.

Auntie Pinko over there loves the pot it seems along with all the other maggot infested hippies over there.

52 posted on 07/09/2007 8:36:24 PM PDT by A CA Guy (God Bless America, God bless and keep safe our fighting men and women.)
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To: Eric Blair 2084

This is what I love about Free Republic. The comments are almost always better than the article posted. Fascinating thread. The Milton Friedman quotes are so dead on. Thanks for posting.


53 posted on 07/09/2007 8:37:12 PM PDT by Liberty Valance (Keep a simple manner for a happy life :o)
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To: A CA Guy
Pot is a mixing drug where lots of other stuff gets used by the idiots who often get into using it.

Because it's illegal and the same people who sell pot often sell other drugs. If you're already breaking the law it's easy to go the next step especially if you're young and dumb. Also, when you find out how benign pot is you begin to doubt the stated dangers of other drugs.

54 posted on 07/09/2007 8:37:36 PM PDT by TigersEye (My heart is broken but my conscience knows its cause.)
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To: A CA Guy

“People may not have died from an overdose of pot, but a whole bunch have died from criminals that used pot mixed with other stuff before they committed the crime.”

You make a good case for legalization and standardization. Thanks.


55 posted on 07/09/2007 8:38:31 PM PDT by gcruse
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To: bajabaja

I have 20 studies to contradict your study from Ontario. You have 45 studies to contradict my 20. I’ll come up with 110 studies from grant junkies to contradict yours. We can keep going until either we run out of bandwith, everyone goes to sleep out of boredom, or 3 am whichever comes first.


56 posted on 07/09/2007 8:39:31 PM PDT by Eric Blair 2084 (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms shouldn't be a federal agency...it should be a convenience store.)
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To: A CA Guy
Mix pot with alcohol or any other drugs and it’s a violent mess.

This is nonsense coming from someone with no experience or knowledge of the subject. Misinformation is dangerous too.

It’s not a way to go, is most certainly not the goal of conservative folks, but you can sure read some druggies at DU pushing the pot and other stuff if you wish.

I don't and have not recommended taking any drugs but you just suggested that people use alcohol, recreationally, on this thread. The fact that you are familiar with posters on DU isn't surprising. I've never read more than two lines of that crap.

57 posted on 07/09/2007 8:41:26 PM PDT by TigersEye (My heart is broken but my conscience knows its cause.)
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To: Eric Blair 2084

The failed war on some drugs should be defunded. There’s a liquor store on every corner.


58 posted on 07/09/2007 8:42:01 PM PDT by mysterio
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To: Eric Blair 2084

my grandmother used to use it before it was made illegal for her migraine headaches. She was an RN, and it helped her continue her life without pain. When it was made illegal, she had to lie in bed for days to get over the horrendous migraine headaches she got pretty regularly.


59 posted on 07/09/2007 8:43:09 PM PDT by television is just wrong (If being against illegal immigration is racist, so be it.)
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To: gcruse

Pot has been involved in lots of violent crime, so I don’t get your game.
I am simply trying to point out that pot (the gateway drug) is used now by most inmates and that many of the violent crimes were indeed done with pot involved in the mix of intoxication.

I would think as a conservative, you would not support foolish behavior like recreational drug use.
The only ones I know that seem to go for the drugs are some Democrats and of course some libertarians who are equally liberal.


60 posted on 07/09/2007 8:43:26 PM PDT by A CA Guy (God Bless America, God bless and keep safe our fighting men and women.)
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