Powered by Max Banner Ads
The Case For Legalizing Pot
Kathleen Parker is one of the most truculent so-called conservative columnists in the country. She made her bones like all “conservative” columnists do — criticizing republicans.
Having said that, she occasionally makes sense. Today is one of those days. Parker writes in The Daily Beast about Obama’s dismissive remarks during his Internet “Townhall” (stacked with Obamabots) about legalizing marijuana.
According to Obama, a significant percentage of online questions submitted to him were about legalizing pot. He laughed off the question and made a joke about online people being potheads and then said, “No, I don’t think legalizing marijuana is a good way to grow our economy.”
Those who support legalization (myself included) need to stop framing the debate around issues that most Americans are not going to buy into. Legalizing weed may in some way help the economy, but that’s not ever going to be the reason for legalizing it and most people simply dismiss the notion off hand.
The issue that should be pointed out over and over again and one that nobody can disagree with is the comparison to alcohol.
I truly believe that alcohol is one of the most dangerous drugs on the planet. People get drunk and commit violent acts. Drunk driving kills thousands of people a year. Alcohol can make you into a totally different person — and rarely a nice person.
We legalized alcohol regardless of the dangers it poses, because it was impossible to stop it. People wanted to drink and were determined to drink. Keeping it illegal only tied the consumption and distribution of alcohol into a source of revenue for organized crime which is itself tied to bloodshed and violence.
The only violence associated with Marijuana is the extreme violence used by Mexican drug traffickers to get it into this country. Pot itself doesn’t cause users to beat their wives or stab someone in a bar. Pot doesn’t make you into a dangerous and unstable individual that nobody wants to be around.
When was the last time you heard about a fraternity pledge taking bong hits until he died? But, what you do hear about are fraternity pledges dying right and left from pouring booze down their throat.
The fact is, alcohol is what does real damage to society not pot. It would make more sense for booze to be illegal if the arguments against pot are to be believed.
The real reason pot is illegal doesn’t have anything to do with damaging society or protecting kids, but rather another kind of green — money.
The DEA and other agencies have grown fat over the last 30 years fighting their phony “war on drugs.” Trillions in tax payer dollars have been doled out to agencies to wage their war. Putting millions of Americans behind bars for simple possession of marijuana.
The so-called “war on drugs” has become a massive government funded industry that jealously guards its funding. Any talk of legalizing pot sends the bureaucracies into an uproar as they foresee dramatic funding cuts, and fewer thermal gizmos that detect leafy green plants in someone’s backyard.
It’s time that we grow-up in this country. America is broke and we have a president determined to roll-back the welfare reforms of the 90’s and turn us back into an entitlement society on a massive scale.
We have two wars going on and can no longer afford to fight phony wars like the “War on Drugs.” Obviously, we cannot legalize all drugs. I don’t think there’s such a thing as responsible, recreational heroin use. I don’t think smoking the occasional crack rock is something that’s okay for people to do.
But we can start by playing the war on drugs game a lot smarter. We can stop with the silliness and legalize pot. Then the DEA can focus its attention on real drugs like meth, cocaine, crack, heroine, ecstasy, and the growing prescription drug problem.
Marijuana should be legalized, taxed, and fall under the same rules as alcohol. That means 21 and up to buy it. Those under 21 found with it should be ticketed like they are for alcohol. Those found to be driving under the influence of marijuana should be given DUI’s like they would had they been drinking.
We need to quit dismissing the marijuana issue and have a real substantive debate about it in this country. I’m confident that president Obama can find better ways to waste our tax dollars than locking up pot smokers.
Legalizing pot — change we can believe in.
-Chris Jones
Kellogg’s Brand Damaged By Dumping Phelps?
It appears that Kellogg’s may have damaged its brand by dumping Michael Phelps over his harmless bong hit:
Dumping Michael Phelps over the now notorious photo of him taking a bong rip is not looking like the best move for Kellogg. Pot activists, who insist they make up a large share of consumers of Kellogg products, organized a boycott of the company. The boycott resonated with Kellogg customers to such a degree that when you called Kellogg, the first audio recording you heard was not about the nation-wide salmonella outbreak that had sickened dozens of people, but was a message for callers who were concerned about the company’s relationship with Phelps.
Silicon Alley Insider has actually crunched the numbers and discovered that dumping Phelps has indeed damaged the Kellogg’s brand considerably.
Study: Marijuana Could Increase Testicular Cancer By 70%
A new study conducted in the U.S. claims that pot use could increase the chances of developing testicular cancer by as much as 70%:
“In the absence of more certain information, a decision to smoke marijuana recreationally means that one is taking a chance on one’s future health,” said Dr Schwartz.
The team interviewed 369 men with testicular cancer, in the Seattle area – mostly in their 20s and 30s – about their history of marijuana use.
They then compared their responses with those from just under 1,000 men without the disease from a similar area and age group.
Even after other “lifestyle” factors such as smoking and drinking as well as risks such as a family history of the disease, cannabis use emerged as a significant possible cause, the study published in the journal Cancer concluded.
Regular or long-term cannabis smokers appeared twice as likely to develop the disease as those who had never used the drug.
Being a regular marijuana smoker at the time of diagnosis was associated with a 70% increased risk.
I don’t buy it. This is an attempt by the government to derail the growing support across America in favor of legalizing marijuana. “The man” figures a sure way to discourage men from smoking weed is to tell them they might get cancer in their nuts. I’m not buying into it — and neither is Michael Phelps.
-Chris Jones
Don’t Pass That: 3 Accused Of Using Corpse Head To Smoke Pot
This is one bong you really don’t want passed in your direction! Two men and a juvenile are accused of digging up a corpse, decapitating the body and using the head to smoke marijuana.
According to documents filed in the case, Gonzalez, Jones and an unnamed juvenile on March 15 went to an Humble cemetery, dug up a man’s grave, left with the head and turned it into a “bong.”
I don’t really know what to say about this story. It’s troubling on so many levels that it’s difficult for me to string coherent sentences together.
You can almost imagine one crackpot doing something as insane as this, but three people?
Clearly they were desperate, but why not just use a coke can?
-Chris Jones
Posts
