Posted on 02/28/2015 6:16:37 AM PST by Ken H
A would-be Republican presidential nominee has changed his mind on marijuana. Sen. Ted Cruz said he supports Colorados state rights to keep marijuana legalized without federal interference during an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity at Thursdays Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
I actually think this is a great embodiment of what Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis called the laboratories of democracy, Cruz said. If the citizens of Colorado decide they want to go down that road, thats their prerogative. I personally dont agree with it, but thats their right.
Cruzs comments at CPAC bring him in line with a number of prominent Republican presidential candidates, including former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Sen. Marco Rubio and Sen. Rand Paul, who have all said they believe the federal government should not interfere in states where marijuana has been legalized.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibtimes.com ...
My service reference was significant because of the heavy use of mj by service members in those years.
My anecdote are first hand not 9th, so I both experience and observed directly.
“Easy” is not the issue. Legalization is like a government endorsement, which undermines all other efforts to discourage use.
Fascism you say?
If you’re worried about Fascism you really ought to get your priorities straight.
Have you put in as much time and effort fighting the Fascism of Obamacare?
The Fascism of the IRS?
The Fascism of the EPA?
The Fascism of DHS?
The Fascism of the BATFE?
Or, is it just too damn easy to whine about folks wanting to get in the way of you getting your buzz on?
Anecdotes are still...anecdotes; they are meaningless to the debate.
Priorities? Yes, I have ‘em correct....I’m a Constitutionalist and vote accordingly. I have written, called, etc. my Reps (as much as that just wastes bytes, electricity and/or paper) for many a year. I debate those whom would otherwise use their loud voices to drown out opposition. I don’t hold my nose, I don’t ‘reach across the aisle’.
I no longer fly, if I can, because of Fedzilla.
I support a modified Fair Tax, after the Constitution and Freedom are restored.
I’ve been here, swearing up and down on the usurper and the feckless GOP
I was here bashing Bush with his ‘War on Terror’ nothing-ness, the expanse of illegals, NCLB, DHS, etc.
I was bashing Clinton...
You get the point.
But, I have no desire to get in ANYONE’s way, when it comes to their Freedom and Liberty. Nor do I pay lip service to the Constitution and the Rule of (LEGAL) Law to hold my fellow Citizens down ‘for their own good’ based upon...anecdotes.
“Going to Pot: Why the Rush to Legalize Marijuana Is Harming America”
William J. Bennett & Robert A. White
“... more Americans are admitted to treatment facilities for marijuana use than for any other illegal drug. Studies have shown a link between marijuana use and abnormal brain structure and development”
What are the chances you’re the least bit interested in facts?
And more Americans are admitted to treatment facilities for legal alcohol use than any illegal drug.
Irrelevant issue except for loserdopians. I agree with Cruz.
America needs more poisons.
What a great area for enhancing society.
Yep, I’ve listened to Bennett hyping his book, w/ his cheerleaders, I mean ‘guests’. With all his ‘education’ and bloviating, he continually dismisses (what should ALWAYS be) question #1: Where in the Constitution....
I notice no reference to MJ when it comes to the ‘legal’ drugs: caffeine, nicotine and ethanol
Sorry, but I’m more than a least bit interested in Freedom, Liberty and personal responsibility.
The most disturbing facts are: lose of freedom, loss of liberty, march towards a Police State, no knock raids, asset confiscation/forfeiture and an expansion of the Federal and State leviathans.
You’re a riot!
If we don’t have legal dope we’ll lose our freedoms and personal property....HAHAHAHHAHAH!
All of that is coming, but it certainly has NOTHING to do with whether dope is legalized.
As predicted, you don’t care about the facts about marijuana at all.
It wouldn’t matter whether Cheech and Chong did the study or the ACDC.
and in the mean time, you don’t care whether the culture goes up in smoke.
And their hero McDaddyObamaDude.
I actually think this is great embodiment of what Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis called the laboratories of democracy,' Cruz said. If the citizens of Colorado decide they want to go down that road, thats their prerogative. I dont agree with it, but thats their right."
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Ted Cruz threw you under the bus!
Care to back that up?
You changed your mind about voting for him?
First answer the question put to you, please. Can you back up your assertion that I hate Cruz, ‘yes’ or ‘no’?
I would like to see which posts of mine led you to conclude that I hated Cruz. Will you provide the links?
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Why is it so important for you to tell people Cruz shoved them under the bus when he didn't?
Because he did, and he did it with humor and enthusiasm.
Well said. Cruz understands Federalism. That's a point in his favor. He might be the best choice for conservatives and libertarians!
Let the unconstitutional and Tyrannical Federal Drug War end. Obliterate the DEA. It would be a great start.
"And there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth" (by the Prohibitionists)...
Ken H, equating Cruz trying pot to Murder, Rape, and Robbery.
I would say that's kinda hateful. But that's just my impression.
And also the posts right here trumpeting his words on States rights. It's clear
you hate Cruz enough to campaign against him.
So tell me Ken, what is the single issue you have that you support in a candidate
which would get you to vote for them? You don't have to answer, I'm just curious
because as it stands Cruz is the most Conservative of them all.
Would you vote for a Conservative Candidate who is against MJ legalization?
Do you care about the facts of Liberty at all?
If we dont have legal dope well lose our freedoms and personal property....HAHAHAHHAHAH!
It has already happened to a large degree. And you want to laugh it off. The Drug War has been a huge factor in the destruction of freedoms and personal property, and one must be willfully blind to overlook that fact.
Those who embrace imprisoning their fellow citizen for merely possessing the wrong plant, medicine, or liquid spirits, can hardly be called conservative.
Why? Because they support the same arbitrary notions of law and control which the most rabid authoritarian Marxists do. The same arguments are used regarding gun violence, smoking, and many other characteristics which exist in a free society.
It's as if the authoritarian Left and the authoritarian Right would have the rest of us choose between whose version of Tyranny should prevail.
"What about the children?" and "We must save the People from themselves!" and all such garbage are ever the refuge of the narrow-minded and despotic. The hysterical imposition of such oppressive nanny-state law can only logically lead (and, indeed, has led) to the obliteration of the Fourth Amendment, enrichment of organized crime organizations, and other such abominations.
Deride "potheads" and their "enablers" all you want, but the totalitarian impulses of the Prohibitionist mind, and its unbelievably shallow and naive awareness of true Liberty, are truly a marvel to behold.
I, for one, would rather tolerate the admittedly challenging consequences of decriminalization, than to continue traveling the autocratic road down which Prohibitionists have been leading the nation for the last century or more.
But the American People are up to such a challenge, because the alternative is a prison nation populated by inmates who have committed no crime other than the phony one of possessing this or that tool or substance in violation of the edicts of a Tyrannical government.
True freedom (not some pale imitation of it) carries with it many challenges for civil society to address.
But taking draconian shortcuts will never be the answer.
You left out this important follow-up exchange => http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3254122/replies?c=22
Here's the gist of it =>
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Ken H: So should we just give a pass to someone who committed murder as a young man? What other crimes should we overlook?
OWS: By what right is it a crime?
Ken H: There's a rule that on every pot thread, an abysmally stupid statement must be made on behalf of the prohibitionist side.
It looked like no one was going to step up, so I did the honors. [end excerpt]
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What say you now?
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