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Legalized pot is making America’s lower class poorer and less responsible
New York Post ^ | 8-20-16 | Naomi Schaefer Riley

Posted on 08/21/2016 10:34:48 AM PDT by DeweyCA

(Snip)

The middle and upper classes have been the ones out there pushing for decriminalization and legalization measures, and they have also tried to demolish the cultural taboo against smoking pot. But they themselves have chosen not to partake very much. Which is not surprising. Middle-class men and women who have jobs and families know that this is not a habit they want to take up with any regularity because it will interfere with their ability to do their jobs and take care of their families.

But the poor, who already have a hard time holding down jobs and taking care of their families, are more frequently using a drug that makes it harder for them to focus, to remember things and to behave responsibly.

(Snip)

In fact, the typical user is much more likely to be someone at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder, whose daily life is driven, at least in part, by the question of how and where to get more marijuana. Just consider the cost. Almost a third of users are spending a tenth of their income on marijuana. And 15 percent of users spend nearly a quarter of their income to purchase the drug. The poor have not only become the heaviest users, but their use is making them poorer.

To all the middle-class professionals out there reading this: Do you know anyone who spends a quarter of their income on pot? Of course not. But these are the people our policies and attitudes are affecting.

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


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: brainwashing; cannabis; control; crime; goodintentions; liberalism; marijuana; pot; potheads; poverty; slavery
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To: TheStickman

Just like the pro-abortion argument - “if you don’t like one, don’t have one’.

Pot makes people irrational and irresponsible, generally speaking and especially is bad for young people.

If anyone wants to discuss ratiionally, somehow proving that all the numerous studies that have been done showing that mj lowers the IQ, causes permanent mental illness in many, etcetc fine. But pot lovers just claim that all those studies are wrong because they were done by people who are pot haters.

Increasing drug use in society is like neighbors who live in filth. A few people who live in filth in their neighborhoods are tolerable. Filth like garbage strewn around, rats, flies, dog crap, etc in the yard and so on. Scattered about, a few don’t degrade the neighborhood too much. But when the percentage gets too high, the filth affects everyone. Same thing with drug users in society.


181 posted on 08/22/2016 6:49:39 AM PDT by little jeremiah (Half the truth is often a great lie. B. Franklin)
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To: A_perfect_lady

Your assessment of potheads is bullseye accurate, and I’ve seen this for decades. It’s a perfect description.

And that is why I am off of this thread. I have a life to lead, etc.


182 posted on 08/22/2016 6:52:04 AM PDT by little jeremiah (Half the truth is often a great lie. B. Franklin)
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To: publius911

“ALL people with psychological, emotional and/or mental issues are never self aware. That’s pretty much a given.”

Well, thank you, Dr. Freud. However, what I have written is up here for anyone to see.


183 posted on 08/22/2016 7:06:14 AM PDT by dsc (Any attempt to move a government to the left is a crime against humanity.)
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To: little jeremiah

“Just like the pro-abortion argument”

Not using cannabis is a personal choice. Killing a unborn baby is murder. Fallacy much?

“But pot lovers just claim that all those studies are wrong because they were done by people who are pot haters.”

Here’s a study that shows otherwise.
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/01/twins-study-finds-no-evidence-marijuana-lowers-iq-teens

Have a nice day :)

Vote Trump 2016


184 posted on 08/22/2016 7:08:21 AM PDT by TheStickman (Trump will be the 1st Pro America president since Reagan)
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To: A_perfect_lady

“I’m not particularly interested in this discussion, because I don’t smoke pot.”

No wonder our children are dunces. I’m interested because these laws have had huge social consequences over almost the entire course of my life. If you don’t see that, then you’re not qualified to be bad-mouthing more perceptive individuals.

“People who don’t smoke it are not as passionate about it as people who do.”

The only thing here that I’m even a little passionate about is your petty, malicious attack on me after I doubted that you can infallibly identify pot smokers. You must have a lot of ego invested in that proposition, to behave so badly after such a mild disagreement.

“We don’t have anti-pot keychains, have all sorts of cute little words for it (Shout out to the Ents, yo), or get on a high horse when people criticize it, however gently.”

You need to be more careful when slinging around false accusations. Reflect that anyone can go back and read what I wrote. Those who do might wonder, as have I, what is this hysteric talking about?

“And my criticism was gentle.”

Yes, it was. I hardly even noticed it. I certainly didn’t react to it.

“I didn’t compare it to meth or heroin, or anything else. I just said it makes people so relaxed they don’t care about bettering themselves, and then the tax payer ends up paying for a lot of them.”

And I would argue that investigations, trials, imprisonments, and the other costs of prosecuting the war on drugs have been far more costly than the welfare etc. that potheads have collected. Worse, it has resulted in the erosion of our liberties.

Don’t want to spend money supporting potheads? I’m good with that. Have been for almost my entire life. I don’t want to spend money chasing and jailing them, either.

“And that it’s definitely not good for kids still in middle school.”

Of course not. Their brains are not finished developing yet. We don’t know what the effects might be, but it’s too big a chance to take.

“Although once people start defending pot, they can easily be lured into declaring that it’s better for 11 year olds than caffeine.”

I haven’t met whatever whackadoodles you’ve been talking to, but I’m not one of them, and you have neither right nor justification in making such accusations.

You are right about a number of things, but you are not right to think that your opinion is the only one that could have any validity. Men of good will can entertain other opinions.

“But potheads cannot bear even the mildest criticism. POT IS LIFE or you’re a fascist.”

I really don’t know what can have happened to you to distort your thinking like this, to make you see boogie-men where none exist, but you really need to get a grip.


185 posted on 08/22/2016 7:33:11 AM PDT by dsc (Any attempt to move a government to the left is a crime against humanity.)
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To: Ethan Clive Osgoode

Alcohol is a drug.


186 posted on 08/22/2016 9:07:59 AM PDT by chris37 (How do you make Republicans turn on their own candidate? Sneak up behind them and say "Boo".)
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To: chris37
Alcohol is a drug.

And therefore... ? Let's hear the rest.

187 posted on 08/22/2016 9:55:45 AM PDT by Ethan Clive Osgoode (Nuke Saudi Arabia now)
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To: Ethan Clive Osgoode

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrTlI6seM0A

Watch and learn.


188 posted on 08/22/2016 9:59:47 AM PDT by chris37 (How do you make Republicans turn on their own candidate? Sneak up behind them and say "Boo".)
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To: ClearCase_guy
"I’ve always said the order of events is vital"

Very good point ClearCase_Guy, I had not thought of it like that!

189 posted on 08/22/2016 10:04:35 AM PDT by Coffee_drinker (The best defense is a strong preemptive strike.)
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To: AEMILIUS PAULUS

I have read that heroin use dropped to almost zero % around 1916 due to the war effort.

Fans of heroin were forced to go off to war, and tough up.


190 posted on 08/22/2016 11:06:08 AM PDT by T-Bone Texan (Don't be a lone wolf. Form up small leaderlesss cells ASAP !)
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To: TheStickman
God made pot. God does not make mistakes.

"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat."

191 posted on 08/22/2016 11:12:41 AM PDT by T-Bone Texan (Don't be a lone wolf. Form up small leaderlesss cells ASAP !)
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To: Ueriah

My good friend Ueriah!

As you have mentored and assisted me, so to will I mentor and assist others.

It is interesting how many FReepers are just plain old, and have debilitating pain that controls their lives. Some are open to easing their pain with pot. Some are not.

My God does not desire for people to suffer for no good reason. Maybe that’s why he gave us that plant.


192 posted on 08/22/2016 11:18:54 AM PDT by T-Bone Texan (Don't be a lone wolf. Form up small leaderlesss cells ASAP !)
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To: WilliamCooper1
"...There are plenty of people on FR that want you to believe MJ is as big of a medical discover as penicillin..."

It is. Only now is science unlocking the secrets of that plant.

Big secret: It has nothing to do with THC.

It has everything to do with other, non-psychoactive constituents, like terpenes.

There is a component in MJ that kills cancer.

There is a component in MJ that has anti-seizure properties. Antispamsmodic, antianxiety, et al: It's all in pot.

I'm a fan. If not for MJ my back pain would preclude me from getting out of bed. MJ helps me live a quasi-normal life. MJ has saved my life in that regard. Alternative: fusing my vertebrae, with no guarantee of decreased pain.

193 posted on 08/22/2016 11:24:36 AM PDT by T-Bone Texan (Don't be a lone wolf. Form up small leaderlesss cells ASAP !)
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To: T-Bone Texan

Amen & Amen!!!

IMO cannabis is the perfect medicine. I do my best to be thankful to Him for giving us this amazing plant.

Vote Trump 2016


194 posted on 08/22/2016 12:12:42 PM PDT by TheStickman (Trump will be the 1st Pro America president since Reagan)
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To: T-Bone Texan

My good friend T-Bone!

I hope all is well with you and yours.

You bring me much joy to hear from you, and I wish you luck in your mentoring and assisting.

May God bless you and keep you safe and well.


195 posted on 08/22/2016 12:13:05 PM PDT by Ueriah
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To: dsc

I’m sorry, I’m not reading all of that. It’s a wall of text that says only “I must defend pot because... I must!” Because that is what pot does. You might as well have become a Scientologist.


196 posted on 08/22/2016 8:49:15 PM PDT by A_perfect_lady (They aren't being radicalized; they're being activated.)
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To: little jeremiah
Smoking it reduces the ability to think rationally,

Oh, I can see that right here on this thread. Suddenly, smoking weed is homage to the Founding Fathers and a symbol of what both Thomas Jefferson and Jesus Christ wanted for mankind. And the slightest disapproval makes them flip out like a feminist sociologist who's just spotted a micro-aggression.

197 posted on 08/22/2016 8:54:16 PM PDT by A_perfect_lady (They aren't being radicalized; they're being activated.)
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To: A_perfect_lady

LOL - yes, they have very delicate sensibilities, little flowers that they are. Years ago on FR I used to sometimes engage with them, so I know exactly what their modus operandi (sp?) is. I rarely bother to do so but your comments caught my eye.

And because I used to smoke mj (thankfully decades ago, not for very long, and the THC was much lower) I know exactly what it does to the mind and brain, even with the much lower potency. No one can fool me on that score.


198 posted on 08/22/2016 9:43:16 PM PDT by little jeremiah (Half the truth is often a great lie. B. Franklin)
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To: A_perfect_lady

You might as well have become a Scientologist.


That there is funny!!!


199 posted on 08/22/2016 9:44:24 PM PDT by little jeremiah (Half the truth is often a great lie. B. Franklin)
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To: little jeremiah; A_perfect_lady

Both scientology and potology are cults: easy to be lured into ‘em, but good luck trying to get out of ‘em.


200 posted on 08/22/2016 9:47:50 PM PDT by Vision Thing (You know the depths of my heart, and You love me the same...)
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