Posted on 08/31/2017 9:29:54 AM PDT by Kaslin
I’m no saint, nor have I ever professed to be. There are too many people currently living who could give testimony to the contrary should I ever decide to, so I won’t here. With that out of the way (it’ll make more sense later in the piece), there is an area on the issue of this country’s drug laws where Republicans could both do the right thing and win some support.
Let’s be honest: there isn’t much to vote for in the in 2018 midterm elections.
For Democrats it’s all about not being Donald Trump. They aren’t offering up much, just that they won’t be Trump. No one would have suspected them of being remotely Trump, so this isn’t exactly an inspiring message. It’s kind of like running on ensuring the sun will continue to rise in the east every morning. Yeah, sure, but that was always going to happen.
For congressional Republicans, it’s also about not being Donald Trump, though to a lesser degree. Having watched these clowns fumble their 7-year promise to repeal Obamacare and cower in fear of the liberal media, no thinking person was going to confuse them with the president in the first place, so they need a little more than not being Trump to run on next year.
Since big-ticket items appear to be off the list of possibilities, that leaves smaller, but more personal accomplishments available to validate them retaining their jobs.
Luckily for Republicans there are a number of principled stances they could take, and pass legislation on, that would help them make the case that, until they reach some sort of miraculous consensus on, they deserve reelection.
I’ve been writing about them lately, and will continue to do so, because smaller but important accomplishments are at least steps in the right direction.
One of those “baby steps” that the GOP could move on is medical marijuana.
I’m not a huge fan of legalizing pot for fun. I’d be happy to have that conversation once they develop a reliable test to see if someone driving a car is high at that moment or was just high the night before. Only the former should be a serious crime.
I also think if you’re going to smoke pot for recreation in your wayward youth (remember the opening paragraph), you should be required to think about the consequences of that action and the possible ramifications of that choice. (Plus, why should younger generations have it any easier than I did? Just kidding…mostly.)
That said, when it comes to people who are seriously ill, all bets are off. Companies should be free to research the benefits of marijuana without fear of the feds shutting them down, and sick individuals should be able to manage their disease in whatever way makes their lives better.
Moreover, the idea of medical marijuana should be a state issue. States should be free to choose if they want to allow it. The closer the level of government is to the people the more responsive it is to the people.
The current debate is being played out in the appropriations process with 29 states and DC having medical marijuana laws and relying on the federal government not going after them. Since 2014, Congress has blocked prosecution of states allowing medical marijuana by the Department of Justice. The Senate voice voted an amendment by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and is pushing for the House to do the same.
The end of year appropriations bills are likely to determine the fate of medical marijuana prosecutions and whether a new war on drugs is fought by Attorney General Jeff Sessions against states allowing it.
As you might imagine, this idea isn’t wildly popular among some Republicans, but it is firmly rooted in the Constitution.
The 10th Amendment reads, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” That concept that states have rights and the federal government’s power is limited by our charter document has been ignored by Democrats and the federal government for decades, mostly because feckless Republicans are awful at explaining it as a concept or they don’t really believe it. This gives them a chance to allow people to see it in action, and us a chance to see which GOP members don’t really believe in it. It’s a win-win.
Republicans tried to “free the states” approach with Obamacare, but health insurance is a different creature altogether. People are confused by it, afraid of it, and would prefer someone else make that decision for them. On medical marijuana, it’s a no-brainer. It has wide popular support and even President Donald Trump, himself a teetotaler, spoke out forcefully in support of it on the campaign trail.
And you never know, once people try a little federalism strange things could happen. They might like it, and they might get other ideas. It could, dare I say, be a gateway concept.
“The original point is that smoking or eating POT is NOT medicine.”
No matter how many times you repeat this fallacy it’s still a fallacy.
It's common sense based on scripture. Did Jesus do drugs? Did Jesus advocate doing drugs? Did Jesus say "Hey bros let's smoke a little weed to experience God?"
No..in context it's the opposite. God is clearly against the notion that his people would act like those around them. And one of the false ideas around is that drug use is "harmless". There's a good reason why God called out drug use specifically in scripture. Drug use is as old as mankind except in the past it was little understood how it worked. As a result power hungry people used drugs to build a following or wow the people around them. It's much the same way today.
And yes, my experience confirms it. When I did drugs I would never have thought in a million years that it was "wrong". But if we take the actions of Jesus and the words of scripture seriously it's patently obvious.
Do you realize how many times the mantra "pot is medicine" had to be repeated until enough believed it? There was a full scale propaganda war mounted for decades to influence enough simpletons that a substance clearly destructive to society and culture was actually "medicine".
Jesus neither ate pizza nor advocated eating pizza - by your 'logic' He must have opposed it.
Did Jesus say "Hey bros let's smoke a little weed to experience God?"
I've never seen pot smoked with the intention of experiencing God
one of the false ideas around is that drug use is "harmless".
Few make that false claim. Pot is no more "harmless" than alcohol, tobacco, or junk food.
There's a good reason why God called out drug use specifically in scripture.
By the definitions YOU posted, pharmakeia meant either all drugs including the medicinal ones {whether or not that category excludes pot), or it meant the use of drugs in sorcery and magic.
What you refuse to accept is that cannabis IS medicine. All of your fallacies & false declarations will not change that fact.
I & millions of other people are living proof cannabis is medicine. I have a close friend who uses cannabis as medicine for her fibromyalgia. She’s enjoying less pain & greater freedom of movement as a result. I know of another mother of 2 who uses cannabis to treat her sciatica. Real people experiencing real symptom relief.
Speaking for myself, cannabis was my last hope. I tried therapy, multiple meds & combinations of meds & from 1990 to early 2015 prescribed by good doctors that did not work for me. For me, cannabis was a last shot in the dark before heading off to some long term facility. Thanks be to God cannabis works for me & I enjoy real freedom from depression & anxiety.
After all, God gave cannabis & all seed baring plants to us. Genesis 1:29 tells us this in very clear, simple terms.
Now have a good weekend. Peace :)
I've been in these debates for a long time. The first thing I learned is NEVER to trust pro-pot advocates when it comes to the sources they quote. You are no different. You present a quote that "seems" to support your view. But you either ignorantly or dishonestly left out a recommendation from this very same book that occurs JUST before the quote you provided. Here it is:
Recommendation 6: Short-term use of smoked marijuana (less than six months) for patients with debilitating symptoms (such as intractable pain or vomiting) must meet the following conditions:
* Failure of all approved medications to provide relief has been documented,
* the symptoms can reasonably be expected to be relieved by rapid-onset cannabinoid drugs drugs,
* such treatment is administered by under medical supervision in a manner that allows for assessment of treatment effectiveness, and
* involves an oversight strategy comparable to an institutional review board process that could provide guidance within 24 hours of a submission by a physician to provide marijuana to a patient for a specified use.
Virtually NONE of these recommendations are currently in use for so called "medical" marijuana. Because it is NOT medical marijuana. In the vast majority of users it is pot smokers using the pretext of "medicine" to legally get high.
You are simply duped by the billions of dollars the pro-pot propagandists have poured into their cause. You are so duped that you believe that there's a decent chance that Christ and his disciples were potheads when scripture makes it clear that those who engage in "sorcery" and "witchcraft"...taking drugs for the PURPOSE of recreation and/or deceiving people for gain and profit....are committing sin. It's an abomination to God if scripture has any accuracy at all.
Now i don't blame you. It's EASY to cut and paste propaganda. You clearly did that because anyone can do a google search on paragraph you quoted and see that many pro-pot advocates quote it without even thinking about it. In other words, they have no critical or logical thinking skills. They take a position based on emotion and instead of thinking critically only repeat propaganda that's been repeated to them. This is the essence of propaganda.
I would say that for the vast majority of people the REAL reason they like it is because it makes them high. The reality is that nearly ALL "medical" marijuana is simply people wanting to get high. I've known people that made up stuff so that they could get pot. Or at the very least they've convinced themselves that they had some malady that smoking pot makes better. That's primarily because they're psychologically addicted to pot. Their brains have been re-wired to NEED that high.
I think it's funny that the pro-pot advocates tout SMOKED or INGESTED marijuana as a wonder drug of sorts. Why it cures everything under the sun! But funny how nobody recognized that for thousands of years of human history until the pro-pot propagandists kicked their cause into overdrive over the last couple of decades.
After all, God gave cannabis & all seed baring plants to us. Genesis 1:29 tells us this in very clear, simple terms.
It tells us no such thing.
Gen 1:29 And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.
To the pot addled brain "herb" somehow always equates to marijuana. God did not intend for us to eat or to use *every* plant on the face of the earth. Try eating or smoking water hemlock or nightshade and I guarantee you will be convinced of the error of your biblical interpretation.
This Beltway clown is clueless. It's not going to be about voting "for" anything. It's going to be about sweeping the decks of swamp creatures posing as conservatives in congress and creating roadblocks against President Trump.
I included the facts and ignored the recommendations, as I'm able to think for myself and draw my own conclusions.
you believe that there's a decent chance that Christ and his disciples were potheads
Nothing I've posted remotely suggests that - clearly you're short on critical or logical thinking skills.
No, that's your opinion - reality is much wider than people you've known.
FWIW, I was talking to a contractor yesterday. He’s having a heckuva time finding anyone he can hire. The vast majority of the guys applying, flunk the drug test. And, personally, I don’t want to hire anyone who can’t pass one to do my work.
You provided a quote from the "Institute of Medicine" which within the context of the discussion seemed to imply that they believed that the current "medical" marijuana movement is AOK. When you posted your propaganda what you failed to do was point out that this book had very specific and limited recommendations of just what they meant by "medical" marijuana. Overall this book was skeptical of SMOKED marijuana as being medicine. And only then mostly limited to AIDS users...a disease in which there were a limited number of truly effective treatments at the time of the writing. Today it's a different story. Effective AIDS treatment does NOT include smoking pot.
you believe that there's a decent chance that Christ and his disciples were potheads Nothing I've posted remotely suggests that - clearly you're short on critical or logical thinking skills.
Your answer clearly suggested that. Be that as it may would you agree that Christ and his disciples weren't potheads? And would you agree that they didn't encourage or condone smoking pot?
“I would say that for the vast majority of people the REAL reason they like it is because it makes them high.”
And you evidence for this is? Do you believe that’s why I use cannabis?
“God did not intend for us to eat or to use *every* plant on the face of the earth. “
You quote the scripture & then declare what Our Heavenly Father did not “intend” when He plainly gives to us “every seed bearing plant”. So you know the mind of God?
The hemlock fallacy was humous though.
Have a great weekend :)
I don't know you. But if you're like MOST "medical" marijuana users you were sold a bad bill of goods. The entire "medical" marijuana propaganda movement was started and funded by leftists who want nothing more than to legalize pot for any means. The big money player is the Marijuana Policy Project which funded many ballot measures and ads to convince people that pot was "medicine". This group was started by members of NORML who for the longest time were considered fringe kooks who advocated for legalized pot. They rebranded themselves and came up with a strategy of turning pot into "medicine". Their propaganda is relentless and they've spent hundreds of millions of dollars to push their leftist view of "pot is good" on the American people.
Some may be absolutely convinced that smoking pot is helping them. But for someone who likes to get high it's not a huge stretch to deceive ourselves into thinking that smoking pot is healthy and not unhealthy. Think about that. When I smoked pot I convinced myself that it settled my nerves. And it did....BECAUSE I wasn't coping with the real problem. And of course when someone STOPS smoking pot we've never learned to really deal with our issues...we've avoided it by drugging ourselves.
Our minds are tricky things. When we like something we'll fool ourselves in order to keep doing it. We'll make up symptoms. We'll rationalize. We'll do whatever it takes. And when we have someone else telling us that it's okay of course we'll defer to them because we want to keep doing it.
But the cold hard fact is that there was no such thing as "medical" marijuana until some enterprising leftists decided to create it as a cause in order to get pot legalized. And it's worked perfectly.
“I don’t know you.”
True! And if you did know me you would be HAPPY (assuming you are a decent person who abhors human suffering) I was no longer suffering from depression & anxiety.
“But if you’re like MOST “medical” marijuana users you were sold a bad bill of goods.”
From truth back to fallacy. I researched the issue, specifically whether cannabis in any form could treat my depression & anxiety otherwise, what would be the point? Just to get high? What good would that do if I was still depressed & anxious? None.
“Some may be absolutely convinced that smoking pot is helping them.”
So these folks in your opinion are just delusional?
“When I smoked pot I convinced myself that it settled my nerves. And it did....BECAUSE I wasn’t coping with the real problem.”
So you apply your personal experience using cannabis to anyone using cannabis & the broad fallacious brush you use to paint medical marijuana patients is born. Got it.
I’ve enjoyed the back & forth, KC. But now it’s time to accept the fact we are never going to agree on this issue. I’m sure we’ll tangle again in the future when it’s appropriate.
I would encourage you to seek out folks like me in your real life. Folks like me who’ve tried multiple doctors & medications & therapies to no avail who never in their life imagined they’d be using cannabis medicinally or that it was even an option.
Now take care & may the Peace of Our Lord, Jesus Christ be with you always.
The National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine reports: "there are patients with debilitating symptoms for whom smoked marijuana might provide relief. [...] Until a nonsmoked rapid-onset cannabinoid drug delivery system becomes available, we acknowledge that there is no clear alternative for people suffering from chronic conditions that might be relieved by smoking marijuana, such as pain or AIDS wasting." - Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base (1999)
seemed to imply that they believed that the current "medical" marijuana movement is AOK.
No, it rebutted your claim that "smoking or eating POT is NOT medicine."
Did Jesus do drugs? Did Jesus advocate doing drugs?
Jesus neither ate pizza nor advocated eating pizza - by your 'logic' He must have opposed it.
Did Jesus say "Hey bros let's smoke a little weed to experience God?"
I've never seen pot smoked with the intention of experiencing God.
you believe that there's a decent chance that Christ and his disciples were potheads [...] Your answer clearly suggested that.
No, that's your functional illiteracy at work.
Be that as it may would you agree that Christ and his disciples weren't potheads? And would you agree that they didn't encourage
I agree with all that (nor did they "encourage" alcohol use).
or condone smoking pot?
Scripture doesn't record their condoning nor condemning it.
If you and he applied tests for weeks-ago alcohol use as you do for weeks-ago pot use, you'd have NO employees.
Dude, no businesses, small or large, around here test for alcohol use.
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