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To: Stone Mountain
Yes and no. I think morality is superior to the laws and it is our duty as a society to make laws moral and also to understand which parts of morality are best enforced without laws (I'm a big proponent of bringing back shame and ridicule as a punishment and getting rid of lots of laws for things that should be handled more informally). But, all that being said laws are important to the health of a society and willful disregard for laws is bad because it quickly translates to willful disregard for our less formal societal rules (the ones we should be enforcing with shame and ridicule). IMHO drug laws are stupid and should go away, this isn't the kind of thing best handled by laws it's best handled by shame and ridicule; but it's the law of the land and the vast percentage of America that disregards those laws help contribute to a general lawlessness and a society that doesn't respect the rules or each other (pot kettle confession, I've never met a speed limit I couldn't blow away).

Your example would seem to be a closed loop, but it really isn't. Where did he get those seeds? What happens when he runs out? What happens when he has too much? Any paraphenalia? There aren't many closed loops in the world.

While it is against the law it is immoral to do drugs. We must also ask whether risking long term imprisonment for "fun" can truly be considered non-addictive non-destructive behavior. Now the root of the immorality is that we've gone out of control with idiotic nanny state laws, but nobody is putting much effort into controlling that particular set of immoral behavior.
286 posted on 05/02/2003 3:51:30 PM PDT by discostu (A cow don't make ham)
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To: discostu
Your example would seem to be a closed loop, but it really isn't. Where did he get those seeds? What happens when he runs out? What happens when he has too much? Any paraphenalia? There aren't many closed loops in the world.

Marijuana can be cloned quite easily. It is true that for the first plant, the seeds or plant would have had to be obtained somewhere, but all additional crops can bepropagated from that original. I take your point that true ideal cases like the one I proposed are difficult and if you look hard enough, there will be few closed loops. Still, in California, there are clubs where users can obtain plants or seeds legally (as far as CA is concerned) and grow their own crops.

While it is against the law it is immoral to do drugs.

So is it moral for a medicinal grower in California to do drugs? (Legal state-wise, illegal federal)
296 posted on 05/02/2003 4:00:00 PM PDT by Stone Mountain
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To: discostu
While it is against the law it is immoral to do drugs.

The article mentions that Bennett plays in a regular poker game in Washington with Chief Justice William Rehnquist, Associate Justice Antonin Scalia and lawyer Robert Bork. Given that gambling is illegal in Washington, if they play for money, are they all being immoral?
306 posted on 05/02/2003 4:13:42 PM PDT by Stone Mountain
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