OT: Dak's dad busted for weed? Sheesh...

[horshack.sixpack]

I have and I'm perfectly willing to accept the legal repurcussions for speeding. People doing other illegal things should take the same approach.

 

[DAWG61]

I don't think that forced slavery is close to comparable to prohibiting controlled substances. As a non-user, I take the general approach that inhaling anything other than air is not what your body was designed to do, so it is bad for you. By the same token, there are plenty of "bad for you" things that are legal, so I get the argument over where the line is drawn. I will say from the outside looking in, all pro-substance arguments come across as people just trying to justify something that they like to do, medical uses not withstanding...

They make edibles and drinks now too. Hell they even make weed lotions and soaps. You can literally take a bath in weed.

 

[Sutterkane]

By all means, let's continue to ruin people's lives by making them ex-cons so they don't ruin their lives with sugary drinks and plants.

 

[Sutterkane]

"If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey, he is obligated to do so."

-Thomas Jefferson

MLK had a very similar quote.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

"If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey, he is obligated to do so."

-Thomas Jefferson

MLK had a very similar quote.

I'm certain that they would be insistant that I smoke pot then. That's exactly what they had in mind.***

Please excuse the sarcasm, but this is my issue. Not that people want to smoke pot, or not. It is the constant shock and disdain posts that people make when someone chooses to break the law. Get the law changed, I'm fine with that. But don't pretend that 1) pot is some inalianable right OR 2) that pot is something that is inherently good for your health OR 3) that some historical figure would have used their platform against true injustice to lobby for some substance; any substance really. It devalues what they did and it is not a good example.

What I would like if for people to be honest and just say I love getting stoned, it's a key part of my life and I want to smoke without fear of fines or jail. But stop pretending that it is some necessity, or that it is even good for you. It's just a substance that alters your reality. Some people apparently really like that aspect of it. I simply don't want to live my life dependent on some substance to make my life emotionally and mentally bearable. If I ever find myself intertwined and evangelistic about supporting some substance that is actually bad for people, then I would want to take a long look in the mirror and see what was up.

That's just me. The legalize crowd tries to browbeat everyone else into agreeing that it is best that something that is bad for a person's physical health is absolutely mission critical to fast-track to legality.

Are there worse things for us that are legal? Likely.

Does THC have a real medicinal benefit? Sure. So does radiation and chemo.

Will my life change one bit if it is legalized? Not directly, but likely through some unintended consequence.

Has the government ever been successful at legislating morality or health? Not really.

As stated above, just quit trying to act like it's some founding father type of stuff and just admit that you have an affinity for a substance and want to make it easier on yourself to get it and use it, which is fine by me. I get frustrated with people trying to act as if it is some great thing that just must be made legal...

 

[Go Budaw]

Making marijuana illegal makes about as much sense as Prohibition did back in the 20s and early 30s. All that did was give the Mafia a foothold into our country that they held onto for many years afterwards.

The simple fact is that it will stay illegal at the federal level for the same reason that the status quo remains in other aspects of law....the lobbyists will it to be so. The private prison lobby is one of the largest and most powerful in DC, and they stand the most to lose from legalization of anything, but especially marijuana. Nothing will ever happen until a lobbying group on the scale of the private prison lobby and others develops to press forward with marijuana rights im DC and pours millions into the pockets of congressmen to advance their agenda. Pretty 17ing sad that we have people in this country who actually stand to gain from more people being locked up, but it is what it is.

 

[Lettucexxxx]

I'm not coming after you on this, but it did raise a few thoughts in my mind.

What I find interesting are those that hem and haw about how the government should stay out of their private lives when there's a whisper of regulating sugar, e.g., limiting the availability of sugary drinks to children, sizes of soft drinks that are sold, or whether the FDA should regulate sugar levels in commonly available foods (like breads, "granola bars", etc.). Sugar is objectively more damaging to this country than marijuana. Tax payers spend roughly $1 trillion annually on health costs that are closely tied to excess sugar consumption. But when you discuss marijuana, the government is welcomed with open arms. It's not about the negative effects of a controlled substance or intoxicant. If that's the way things worked, sugar would be treated like heroin. It's puritanical, social conservatism.

I don't use cannabis or any derivative products. But it is beyond debate that it is no worse than alcohol and that high functioning people use it regularly. At a minimum, it has created an enormous burden on tax payers when it comes to DEA and state agency enforcement, prison populations, and opportunity costs for our judiciary and local law enforcement.

I'd rather not burn my tax dollars by attempting to outright ban marijuana. It simply has not worked and will not work. I'd rather regulate it, tax it and use the untold millions/billions to do something constructive, like fixing a ******* road or building a school.

Anyway, my two cents.

"It's puritanical, social conservatism".

I stay out of the political threads on here......but this one just pisses me off.

It's become a hypocritical slope for the feds. They wont win this battle.
I'd say that Big Pharm in the banned states along with the Good Ol Baws running the prison systems have us held back the most.

It's hard to fathom how something like THC can be a controlled crime..... in the same country that advertises its health benefits and individual tax payers reap the benefits. WTF is really going on here? Transparent borders are the only thing that separates our states. Americans should have the same rights as other fellow Americans. I'm for State sovereignty but when something like this arises, the government needs to step up and set a guideline for all States to follow. Then let the States handle the rest.

It's just a situation where the rich get richer. Mississippi, 17 this Country, could use ANY economic stimulus.

It's happening, just a matter of the right people showing up in the obituaries.

 

[BlueRidgeMtns]

As a non-user, I take the general approach that inhaling anything other than air is not what your body was designed to do, so it is bad for you.

Good news, buddy, you can eat it.

 

[Lettucexxxx]

Not gonna change as long as we have a Keebler elf as AG

 

[horshack.sixpack]

By all means, let's continue to ruin people's lives by making them ex-cons so they don't ruin their lives with sugary drinks and plants.

Nobody forces people to do illegal things. At some point personal choices align with consequences and I would encourage people not to make choices that will get you jail/prison time and otherwise adversely affect your life. There is a 0% chance of me becoming a convict over drug laws as long as choose not to use illegal drugs. The problem I have with your statement is that "we" didn't make anyone an ex-con, they did it to themselves. I think that at least embracing that reality would go a long way towards building a credible argument. There are a number of laws that I don't agree with. I don't break any for which I'm not completely willing to pay the price...

 

[AssEndDawg]

Not if they got to experience what slaves experienced. Different discussion altogether. People are expected to obey the law or suffer the consequences. It is a matter of choice. It's not like people HAVE to smoke dope. Work to change the law in support of your position, but don't whine that you got exactly what the law says you will get if you get caught with illegal drugs. I speed. If/when I get a ticket, I'll be cordial to the officer and pay my fine. It's a risk I'm willing to accept. Personal responsibility and such...

You are a <17>ing idiot. A bunch of white men passing a law does not mean it came down on stone tablets from Mount Siani. There is a difference between laws and morality and what we do with drugs is stupid and I have, and will continue, to rail against it. It is morally bankrupt to put people in prison and ruin their lives instead of trying to help them. And I would imagine people in prison experience some similar things to slaves and sometimes things that are worse. It is not a separate discussion, racism is exactly why we have the drug policy that we have in the United States.

So Mr. Law and Order, explain to me how a drug company can illegally push millions of opioids into the poorest counties in the United States, creating the current heroin epidemic, and yet no one is punished? Where is the personal responsibility for the rich, white people? I'll save you the Google search, it is because Marsh Blackburn, currently running to be my senator, and Tom Marino blocked the DEA from prosecuting the guys funding their campaigns. Where is the morality? Where are the consequences? Those two people prevented justice and caused an epidemic that is killing over 100 people a DAY, but by all means lets hold the guy with 1/10th of an ounce a weed accountable.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

^^^pot makes people angry***. I won't return fire and accuse you of being an idiot for having a different opinion. I will point out that you cited one case where people got themselves in trouble, but you want to blame others (jail time for MJ) and tried to support it with yet another case where people get themselves in trouble (opioid abuse) and you want to blame others. You rail for the ability to "push" MJ on folks, while railing against people "pushing" opioids on people. I simply believe in personal responsibility. If the legalizers would simply focus on all the benefits of legalizing MJ everywhere and how they outweigh the cons, they might find more receptive ears. Anytime an argument hinges around removing personal responsibility from people, it finds a smaller audience. I don't personally care if it's legal so long as I don't pay some price for it. (e.g. if someone could bring facts that showed any potential increase in taxes due to providing government sponsored treatment would be more than offset by savings in the penal system, then you have some facts.).

The truth is you are arguing your opinion and calling names at people who have a different opinion. That's a huge part of the problem in our country today. People who assume they KNOW the right path and everyone should just get on board or there and idiot...

 

[JungRebel]

You dont take the general approach that inhaling anything other than air is "not what the body was designed to do" because you are a non user. You take that approach because you believe in intelligent design and a particular brand of Christian ethics. You know I dont think there is anything wrong with that, but you also know i dissent on multiple levels (inhaling is not the only method of use; that the world is 'designed' is anything but self evident). As a fellow non user, I believe that the most Americans should have the most freedoms as is reasonably possible. Of course there is room to disagree about what is and is not reasonable, but my opinion is our marijuana laws are unreasonable for countless reasons already enumerated in this thread, and i think you might agree with that. I agree with you that using the political process is the way to effect change, however, I'm sure you can understand peoples frustration with the political process, especially when a majority of Americans believing it should be legal doesn't seem to effect change.

 

[RocketDawg]

So what? Are you the hall monitor or something? You may ASK why I hold an opinion, but you have no right to DEMAND anything.

 

[ArcherSPS]

Man, if anyone needs some reefer it's you. It would probably calm you down from freaking out about what an internet guy asked you.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

You dont take the general approach that inhaling anything other than air is "not what the body was designed to do" because you are a non user. You take that approach because you believe in intelligent design and a particular brand of Christian ethics. You know I dont think there is anything wrong with that, but you also know i dissent on multiple levels (inhaling is not the only method of use; that the world is 'designed' is anything but self evident).

As a fellow non user, I believe that the most Americans should have the most freedoms as is reasonably possible. Of course there is room to disagree about what is and is not reasonable, but my opinion is our marijuana laws are unreasonable for countless reasons already enumerated in this thread, and i think you might agree with that. I agree with you that using the political process is the way to effect change, however, I'm sure you can understand peoples frustration with the political process, especially when a majority of Americans believing it should be legal doesn't move the needle an inch on the federal level. Hence all the complaining.

Agree. Regardless of worldview, I think that you would be hard pressed to suggest any burning substance inhalation that is good for the lungs. I do realize edibles are a thing and I really don't care much about the legality of it other than the relatively sparse research on what would really happen in the case it were legal everywhere (i.e. do I have to support a bunch of recovery or non-productive members of society). Colorado should be a good case study to see real social impact.

I suspect that if you take MJ into a legal marketplace, a marketplace that is largely unfriendly to the folks that end up going to prison for selling now, it will just push marginalized folks into other forms of crime to support themselves. It's not as if marginalized members of society are suddenly going to be welcomed into corporate MJ businesses. It'll just gentrify, for lack of a better word, the MJ economy and the same folks on the outside looking into the legal workforce will still be there. They'll just find other trades and incarceration rates won't really change much. I have absolutely no data to support that assertion, however...

 

[paindonthurt_]

There are white people in prison for drugs. And not for just selling them either.

 

[deadheaddawg]

I agree. I'm all for less regulation so long as it doesn't infringe on my liberties, even with unintended consequeces. If we are being honest, the unintended consequences of our laws have as much or more impact than the intended target of the law. As compassionate people, we find it hard to sit back and just let people destroy themselves, thus we will tolerate our tax dollars going to drug treatment and rehab, the costs of our healthcare plans rising because of associated treatment and the cost to society through lost productivity. The less compassionate among us would just create a drug state and say knock yourself out, just don't burden "my" healthcare system with your claims because you have no self control and now you are total mess. It's a complex problem and there isn't any easy single answer.

My cynicism kicks in anytime anyone simply states how things "should" be as if they alone have suddenly found a cure all. For all the things that legalization would solve, it would create problems as well. That said, you can't legislate morality or health, but you can rest assured that the very people asking government to leave them alone will be first in line when the only hope they have left is the government taking care of them, or rather the taxpaying, productive public via their taxes paid into the government.

The other thing that gets me is people who advocate for it act like its a necessity. If ever any substance gets that important to me in my life, I hope I take a second look at my life and where my priorities lie...

Alcohol impacts society in a much worse way than legal weed would....it's not even close.

But I have no problem with people against legalized marijuana, as long as they are against legal alcohol.

It's the hypocrisy of the alcohol drinker who thinks weed should be illegal that blows my mind

 

[JungRebel]

I once had a guy I was close to tell me, "this is my source of income and this is my lifestyle, if weed is made legal I'll sell coke and start really ruining families." I dont think he was completely serious but I understand the idea. Perhaps he would play by the rules and there would be a market for it, because people would rather pay their friend money than pay anyone else money for their drugs. In fact I believe there are people who enjoy the lifestyle and that some are only in it for easy money, but these are already problems. Some dealers even get pleasure out of harming certain portions of their consumers. But this is something we need to be dealing with now, and every day we put off reasonable drug reform is another day we let dealers keep up what we dont want for society. You are correct that certain discourse methods drive people away from a cause, but everyone needs to understand that frustration comes from being met with resistance that they cant understand or overcome. There is a lot of hypocrisy, I think everyone can agree on that.

 

[DAWG61]

There are white people in prison for drugs. And not for just selling them either.

Oh well if there's a couple white people arrested then

 

[Indndawg]

I blv Deadhead and I are 180* apart politically, but this is correct. Alcohol destroys and lives at rate Mary Jane just can't hang.
I wonder how many posters here grew up in alcoholic fams and still have psychological scars from it?

 

[fishwater99]

Because Denver airport still hasn't found my luggage!!!!

Cary it on. Don't check your bag..

 

[deadheaddawg]

I blv Deadhead and I are 180* apart politically, but this is correct.

I wouldn't be so quick to say 180...unless you are anti gun and anti death penalty. And for more welfare programs.

I don't fall into the trap of blindly following any political party. I believe in what I believe. Legal weed is one of them. Less gun control is another. I am very pro death penalty (we need to do it cheaper though). But I am pro choice too. I think cops should be treated better and have to make tough decision in a split second, but I also think the whole of the justice system does treat black people differently.

It is what it is. Usually there is some truth in every side of an issue. You have to find the "best" middle ground, because nothing will be perfect

 

[VegasDawg13]

Not gonna change as long as we have a Keebler elf as AG

The Obama administration did absolutely nothing about it, either. This is a bipartisan votes-for-purchase travesty.

 

[Mayor of Little London]

So glad he got busted. Why can’t he be a responsible citizen and take legal Xanax, Zoloft, and aderoll. What an a-hole**

^^^this^^^

 

[Joe Schmedlap]

I just searched my dad's house and can confidently say that he is not doing weed. That's a good thing, right?

 

[Go Budaw]

I once had a guy I was close to tell me, "this is my source of income and this is my lifestyle, if weed is made illegal I'll sell coke and start really ruining families." I dont think he was completely serious but I understand the idea. Perhaps he would play by the rules and there would be a market for it, because people would rather pay their friend money than pay anyone else money for their drugs. In fact I believe there are people who enjoy the lifestyle and that some are only in it for easy money, but these are already problems. Some dealers even get pleasure out of harming certain portions of their consumers. But this is something we need to be dealing with now, and every day we put off reasonable drug reform is another day we let dealers keep up what we tdont want for society. You are correct that certain discourse methods drive people away from a cause, but everyone needs to understand that frustration comes from being met with resistance that they cant understand or overcome. There is a lot of hypocrisy, I think everyone can agree on that.

Just a question out of morbid curiosity if nothing else....but where does this guy live? He says “if weed is made illegal” like it was ever legal in the first place. Marijuana possesion is technichally illegal everywhere, from a federal standpoint, and still illegal in most states. FYI....I’m pro-legalization in every conceivable aspect, just trying to understand where you are coming from with this complaint.

 

[JungRebel]

The sentence should read "if weed is made legal." It should make sense after the edit, thanks for catching that. It was certainly nonsense the way it was written.

 

[Len2003]

Weed is probably one of the most benign drugs when you look at it objectively. Alcohol and pills ruin lives and kill a lot of people. How many people have had to go to rehab for weed. It won't be legalized because the prison lobby needs people in their jails.

 

[DAWG61]

It won't be legalized because the prison lobby needs people in their jails.

Slavery never ended in America. Prisons need slaves. Billion dollar contracts with all the companies running the prisons, feeding the prisons, building the prisons and needing super cheap workers to make fortune 500 companies products.

The 13th Amendment to the Constitution declared that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." Formally abolishing slavery in the United States, the 13th Amendment was passed by the Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified by the states on December 6, 1865.

 

[T-TownDawgg]

For 17s sake look at facts, not your schtick.

Drug offenders are number one among those whose sentence is suspended or shortened because the 17ing prison system is already overcrowded by GD felons who broke laws, hurt people, and deserve to be locked up.

 

[thatsbaseball]

Where weed is legal is driving under it's influence illegal ?

 

[Wizard.sixpack]

Arresting someone for 2 grams of marijuana in 2018 is absurd.

Why is that? A law is a law no matter how dumb or small it seems to some, it still has to be obeyed. Would you be ok with your kids(if you have any) taking a couple packs of gum from a store without paying for it? I mean two measly packs of gum...no big deal right?

 

[DAWG61]

Yea they are #1 cause they are by far #1 in prison population Einstein. Prison slavery is a multi-billion dollar business.

 

[mstateglfr]

Slavery never ended in America. Prisons need slaves. Billion dollar contracts with all the companies running the prisons, feeding the prisons, building the prisons and needing super cheap workers to make fortune 500 companies products.

So i get the overall point you are trying to make, but declaring slavery never ended really isnt a good way to be taken seriously. Thats simply a hot button word and it hurts productive conversation to use it in such a cavalier way.

1- prisoners are paid, so that isnt slavery.
2- prisoners broke laws to put themselves in prison so they chose to take such a risk.


Those 2 distinctions between prison labor and slavery are very key because they completely make it different from the horrific system of oppression and abuse that was slavery in this country.

I disagree with our current process for handling drug convictions. Also, I dont agree with how many people are sent to prison in this country. It is completely out of control as we have 4% of the world's population and almost 25% of the world's prison population. Thats unfathomable and unjustifiable. Lastly, I am disgusted by the business of prisons and any influence by private prisons over legislators.

Even with all that- to say prisoners are slaves is just nuts. Your opinion is justifiably dismissed by many when you go to that extreme.

 

[thatsbaseball]

Never mind, I looked it up.

 

[T-TownDawgg]

So is the dry-cleaning business, who also wields great power in Congress.**

To suggest an underfunded and understaffed agency of the justice department is being propped up by a powerful lobby of henchmen who make billions by sweatshopping prisoners tells me you have a tin foil hat to go with your schtick.

 

[sandwolf.sixpack]

So i get the overall point you are trying to make, but declaring slavery never ended really isnt a good way to be taken seriously.

Even with all that- to say prisoners are slaves is just nuts. Your opinion is justifiably dismissed by many when you go to that extreme.

Haha, you are wasting your time. That guy was a mod on ED's political board until the site owners yanked his mod status and banned him from the board......and keep in mind that pretty much anything goes on that board because it is private and none of the site owners want the hassle of moderating it. He is just incapable of discussing anything remotely related to politics without being belligerent and inflammatory.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

So glad he got busted. Why can’t he be a responsible citizen and take legal Xanax, Zoloft, and aderoll. What an a-hole**

Weed is exactly the same as the things you listed above; legal when prescribed for a specific medical condition. It's unfortunate that any of the stuff gets used in a self-destructive manner. My grandfather used weed(THC) in the late '70's during cancer treatment, as prescribed by his doctor. There is no practical difference that I can see in what you listed above and weed. The push to de-criminalize weed is really a push to make it available without prescription. People get busted for mis-using, selling and possessing opiods all the time too...

 

[johnson86-1]

I'm certain that they would be insistant that I smoke pot then. That's exactly what they had in mind.***

Please excuse the sarcasm, but this is my issue. Not that people want to smoke pot, or not. It is the constant shock and disdain posts that people make when someone chooses to break the law. Get the law changed, I'm fine with that. But don't pretend that 1) pot is some inalianable right OR 2) that pot is something that is inherently good for your health OR 3) that some historical figure would have used their platform against true injustice to lobby for some substance; any substance really. It devalues what they did and it is not a good example.

It is an inalienable right that people should be able to control what they do with their own body. That's a pretty basic one. If 51% of the people on your block voted to make eating or possessing refined sugar a criminal offense, that would in no way change that fact taht they are violating people's rights by trying to stop them from ingesting refined sugar.

What I would like if for people to be honest and just say I love getting stoned, it's a key part of my life and I want to smoke without fear of fines or jail. But stop pretending that it is some necessity, or that it is even good for you. It's just a substance that alters your reality. Some people apparently really like that aspect of it. I simply don't want to live my life dependent on some substance to make my life emotionally and mentally bearable. If I ever find myself intertwined and evangelistic about supporting some substance that is actually bad for people, then I would want to take a long look in the mirror and see what was up.

You are a close minded *** hole. Lots of people are capable of supporting other people's rights just because they believe in rights, not because they want to exercise the same ones. I don't smoke pot and don't plan to. I also don't shovel food down my pie hole until I'm obese. I don't care for the government to punish pot smokers or gluttons because I'm not a raging *** hole. At least not that type of raging *** hole.

That's just me. The legalize crowd tries to browbeat everyone else into agreeing that it is best that something that is bad for a person's physical health is absolutely mission critical to fast-track to legality.

Are there worse things for us that are legal? Likely.

Does THC have a real medicinal benefit? Sure. So does radiation and chemo.

Will my life change one bit if it is legalized? Not directly, but likely through some unintended consequence.

Has the government ever been successful at legislating morality or health? Not really.

As stated above, just quit trying to act like it's some founding father type of stuff and just admit that you have an affinity for a substance and want to make it easier on yourself to get it and use it, which is fine by me. I get frustrated with people trying to act as if it is some great thing that just must be made legal...

Yes, they have. There are all sorts of immoral things that the government does a pretty good job of stopping through legislation and enforcement. Compare the typical murder/rape/burglary/robbery/assault type statistics between countries with decent respect for the rule of law versus those without.