Sarah Palin: Smoking Pot Is No Big Deal

AOL ^ | 6/18/10 | Mara Gay

[nmh]

Sarah Palin says recreational pot smoking is "relatively speaking a minimal problem" in America.

...

"I think we need to prioritize our law enforcement efforts," she said. "If somebody's gonna smoke a joint in their house and not do anybody any harm, then perhaps there are other things our cops should be looking at to engage in and try to clean up some of the other problems we have in society."

Allen St. Pierre, the director of NORML, which supports liberalizing drug laws, said Palin's position on pot is perfectly in line with her identity as a politician.

"If you're a populist as she appears to be, it's maybe not that surprising," he told AOL News in a phone interview today.

[meyer]

Anyway I do recall law enforcement telling me many years ago that all the domestic violence calls they get are from drunks, not pot smokers, to make your point.

"Like man, I wanted to kick her butt but I needed to grab some munchies and forgot what we were arguing about." [[giggle]]

[VideoDoctor]

"I think we need to prioritize our law enforcement efforts," she said. "If somebody's gonna smoke a joint in their house and not do anybody any harm, then perhaps there are other things our cops should be looking at to engage in and try to clean up some of the other problems we have in society."

Although anyone who sees only in "black & white" would disagree with this... Sarah Palin's point is justified.

It ALL depends on which side of the fence you stand as to what the view looks like.

[toddausauras]

I agree Sarah,

Palin 2012.

[I still care]

I DO like this woman. I’ve never smoked pot, but I always lean towards personal freedom in decision making.

I do find this funny:

Allen St. Pierre, the director of NORML, which supports liberalizing drug laws, said Palin’s position on pot is perfectly in line with her identity as a politician.

“If you’re a populist as she appears to be, it’s maybe not that surprising,”

What is his political position? My guess he is a lib and hates Palin, and he is choking on saying anything positive about her. I wonder how the rest of the interview went.

[Wuli]

“Yes, her lack of CONSERVATIVE ideology is showing again!”

Sorry, but Palin is more in tune with mainstream conservative thinking than her opponents on this issue.

No less than “Mr. Conservative” himself, William F. Buckley Jr., long ago, long before he died, wrote major treatises in his magazine, National Review, as well as other journals, in favor of decriminalization of “pot”.

Like most true small-government Conservatives he understood that, in order to retain real liberty there were limits to how far government could go to save people from doing dumb things to themselves, without engendering criminal enterprises to make those dumb things possible.

He believed “the drug war” had done for the criminals the same thing that prohibition did - gave them their own industry.

[skr]

Your premise is actually based upon idealism, not conservatism. Obama is currently guilty of the same kind of thinking. Legally, he is supposed to enforce the laws that protect the environment, including cleaning up oil spills; he is also supposed to enforce the laws that protect barge workers from not having the proper safety equipment onboard.

We all saw his idealism at work last week, choosing lack of fire extinguishers and life vests over thousands of gallons of oil not being removed from the Gulf. Obviously we all want the barge workers to be safe, but does anyone here really think Obama’s choice was the right one?

Idealism has its place but so does realism/common sense.

[freekitty]

Pot is bad for you no matter who said what. Have you ever dealt with a person who smokes pot. Forget it.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

She has a point. There are libertarian conservatives who agree with this. The costs involved, other priorities, more important issues, the silliness of tying up the courts and police on this when those resources could be used for more serious matters. William F. Buckley, Jr. used to argue for decriminalization. It's legitimate to question how the Reefer Madness approach has really solved anything. There can be a valid debate about how much of a Nanny State is consistent with the libertarian assertions in the U.S. Constitution. They have already gone overboard with tobacco.

It should be interesting to see how the liberal media handles Palin as hipster.
And Tina Fey, of course. Palin toking up with Jeff Spicoli might be too much for them and blow their minds.

[Arizona Carolyn]

~ROFLOL~ even flower children grow old .

[truthfreedom]

I’d assume the pharma industry as well.

[Arizona Carolyn]

It would be okay to have your waitress go drink a beer (as opposed to taking a hit?) pretty crazy analysis there as either is illegal in the workplace... we are talking about what people do on their own time in the privacy of their own home... not advocating people smoke pot like they smoke cigaretts (which BTW are a HUGE timewaster both when people could smoke in the workplace and now when they have to take breaks to go outside and smoke).

[Arizona Carolyn]

Then bake “cookies” or “brownies”

[Truth101A]

Who would have thought a joint would get so much news.

Oh, that’s right it had to do with Ms. Palin.

I watched the debate and it made sense to me.

We should be going after the big guys the sellers and not the harmless little guy behind closed doors that is not hurting anyone but himself.

[truthfreedom]

Most states have been voting in favor of marijuana. Maine last november voted for medical marijuana and against gay marriage. That’s fairly typical. It may be the “libertarian” position, but it’s also the mainstream position in the US.

[bamahead]

Yup, big time.

[Ultra Sonic 007]

Did you even read beyond the headline? It’s not a matter of legalization, but priorities for allocation of police resources. She explicitly said no to legalization.

Geez.

[Nonstatist]

Maybe, but i see alcoholic cirrhosis every day. I'm not aware that I ever seen any significant medical effects directly attributable to pot

The "average drinker" might have a couple of beers on the weekend and doesent end up with cirrohsis of the liver.

Care to speculate on what the "occasional" pot smoker has stored in his lungs and done to his brain ? (i.e. changes in the activity of nerve cells containing dopamine , etc)

[Wuli]

The fact is her opinion on this subject is more well-founded in classical Conservative thought, it’s best thinkers and mainstream, small-government Conservative thought.

The public security power of government has only one essential and rightful purpose - protecting the individual from harm someone else is directing at them. The abuse of that power for any form of social engineering is not legitimate and ALWAYS erodes true Liberty over time.

It erodes true Liberty because once you accept use of the police power for social engineering then there is NO PURPOSE TO WHICH YOU WILL NOT EVENTUALLY ALLOW IT TO BE USED.

Notice, how the advocates of Obamacare have no idea, no belief, that anything about Obamacare goes against our Constitutional liberties.

Because, like you I guess, they think a vote of 51 out of 100 people is enough to legitimize the use of police power for any purpose whatsoever.

[ichabod1]

Just like drinking and buggery, it never STAYS in the home.

[ichabod1]

or drunken eskimos.