Posted on 08/01/2002 5:16:08 AM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines
Edited on 05/07/2004 8:00:51 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
As we endeavor toward a more lucid and informed discussion of substance abuse, let's deconstruct the mystique of marijuana and recognize it for the dangerous drug that it is.
Marijuana is a substance that's worthy of our concern. It is the most prevalent of all illicit drugs used in the country. The 2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse reported that 34 percent of Americans have used marijuana in their lifetime and 5 percent are current users.
(Excerpt) Read more at theithacajournal.com ...
Not really, IMHO. Both were trampled on by misreadings of the Constitution. In the case of the unborn, it was a liberal take on "privacy." In the case of grass, it was a liberal take on the Commerce Clause.
My concern is legal issues that lead up to being in front of that impartial jury. One would have had to have been arrested and gone thru all that encompasses. Jail,fines, electric monitoring (they don't give away monitoring, it's costly), in many cases loss of job, embarassment to family, more fines and the every popular and often expensive drug courts/counseling. And the eventual years of drug testing, probation officers and court referral officers...each with their hand out for $$.
9 times out of 10 when I ask a group addicts in rehab how their addiction effected their loved ones they always say financially... from burning money in the years of use to the government taking it (money and property) away from the user and his family as punishment. So our population of single parent homes and welfare rolls grow accordingly. Addicts who could use AND pay their bills find themselves trying to recover while their family suffers financially.
Just seems to me there has GOT to be a better way to deal with these issues.
Sure, but are there competing statistics for crime/drug use in the Netherlands? Is there one set of statistics that shows an increase in crime/drug use in the Netherlands, and another set that shows the opposite? I haven't been given ANY numbers yet, just assurances that knight-hawk's feelings are all I need to know, because he lives there, which is crap.
The American Psychiatric Association? The same American Psychiatric Association that makes millions every year treating this so called addiction? Follow the money...
The national Drug Enforcement Agency has determined that marijuana is a Schedule I illegal drug.
Based on the bogus studies done by the APA, no doubt. And don't forget this is the agency that profits through seizures of assets. Again...follow the money...
In many parts of the country, more people are admitted to treatment for marijuana dependence than for heroin.
Voluntary admission or forced into treatment? Are they including people who are arrested for cannabis offenses and then are given the chance of going into treatment as an alternative to prosecution, as well as workers who test positive for cannabis in random urine tests and opt for rehabilitation rather than being fired? It DOES make a difference.
Clearly, we can take from this that marijuana is, in fact, a dependence-fostering drug, a dependence that an increasing number of people are seeking help to address.
Clearly? Based on the twisted "facts" they presented above?
I understand your tunnelvison now. Where in the Bible does smoking a herb become immoral or unGodly?
Let's take a smoke-less view of the Scripture you mentioned, shall we?
Why? Because of the term "meat". The usage is allegorical, not literal, like much of the Bible imagery. To use it to limit the usage of herbs to eating is intellectual dishonesty. Cannabis has been known since ancient times, and not as clothing and rope making hemp, either, but as a relaxant and herbal remedy. Besides, you can ingest it orally. Does that count?
There is no reference to "smoking" a plant in order to get high.
There is no reference to not smoking a herb either. Pipes were used during those times; archeological digs have uncovered them. What did they smoke in them, tobacco?
So, cannabis is a result of cursed ground? What else is, wheat?, as mentioned in that chapter also? Do you eat bread? (laughter)
I'll bet you're goingt to tell me that cannabis is evil because of "sorcery" as related to pharmaceuticalia, and not because of the practice of sorcery in poisoning others, as was rampant at that time.
Officials at the Cartoon Network deny it, however.
What on earth does your "preference" have to do with the moral authority to kill those who resist being imprisoned for possessing the evil weed you do not like? Have all the preferences you want, just understand that everyone else can have THEIRS too. Thats the funny thing about freedom - its a two way street buddy. Too bad you don't see it that way.
But of course, since I don't live there, I can't "feel" that those statistics actually mean an increase in usage as of 2000 (/sarcasm).
You didn't mention any run ins with the law in your story (and again I celebrate your sobriety with you!). Had you been 'caught' then you'd have no choice in the matter and the government would probably still be playing a major role in yours and your families daily life even after all these years.
Pot is something you have to avoid... alcohol is something my Husband has to avoid. All alcohol could evaporate off the face of the earth and I could honestly care less. Were pot legal, I would probably enjoy it occasionally. I think that were I 'wired' to be addicted to pot it would have surfaced back when I was a daily user (college and post college years) and would be an addict today.
What I don't like is what the WOD has done to our society.
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