Go, Willie!

[hex1848]

This link popped up in a thread over at Metafilter about this:

http://talkleft.com/new_archives/015767.html

Enforcing marijuana prohibition costs taxpayers between $10 billion and $12 billion annually and has led to the arrest of nearly 18 million Americans. Nevertheless, some 94 million Americans acknowledge having used marijuana during their lives. It makes no sense to continue to treat nearly half of all Americans as criminals for their use of a substance that poses no greater - and arguably far fewer - health risks than alcohol or tobacco.

Its hard to disagree.

I know this issue is off topic for this site, but it's something that has been on my mind for quite some time. I'm not sure what can be done to change these laws, but imprisoning non violent drug users does nothing to help society (unless you count the $$ going to lawyers and law enforcement).

I know I would much rather have my tax money going to preventing things like 9/11 then keeping the next door neighbors 19 year old son in jail for 6 months for having a couple onces of weed on him at a traffic stop.

[WOXOF]

Forget about the weed(damn random drug tests) I'll take the shrooms.

[Shelby07]

...they found a pound and a half of marijuana on willie's tour bus... Willie's cutting back.


...they found mushrooms on the bus. Willie's really worried about this. He's afraid he's going to have to spend the rest of 1969 in jail.

[cls515]

I wrote Willie a letter one time. Cool thing about was he wrote me back.

[BigMacFU]

I agree with Ben Stein on this one. Just like our government should help to curb the sale of anti-depressants and ridilin which are being sold like tic-tacs, we should never legalize any narcotic. Why, because our society already spends too much time avoiding real life and real issues by trying to smoke or drink them away. Now, why not prohibit beer then, since it is used for the same purpose?

Well, if all there were in our country were Anheiser and Miller, then I'd say fine, prohibit it, I can get just as much beer from my toilet or hose out back. But, because there are true culinarily great beers that serve a wonderful culinary purpose, much like wines, I say alcohol stays. (Though we should look in to making water-beer illegal )

Seriously though, our country uses TV and so many other things to avoid our own reality and problems (why do you think we want to know so bad when celebrities eat lunch or have babies, stuff we do everyday?), that making narcotics legal will only intensify this problem. Our world isn't getting any better and the solution isn't to smoke, shoot, snort the problem away, it's to wake up from our drug induced (pfizer or good ole' maui wowie) slumber and start facing reality and working on a solution.

I used to be for pot legalization, imagine the tax revenue, etc... But, Ben is right.

[SuperChuck]

I know this issue is off topic for this site, but it's something that has been on my mind for quite some time. I'm not sure what can be done to change these laws, but imprisoning non violent drug users does nothing to help society (unless you count the $$ going to lawyers and law enforcement).

In a similar vein, I've become annoyed with every state creeping its legal blood alcohol level lower and lower and lower. I'm much less concerned about the guy that had 2 drinks on his way home from work... I'm concerned about the guy driving down the wrong side of the sidewalk.

It seems we're so obsessed with "getting tough on ____" that we fail to apply logic...

[WhiteWidow]

He should have told them it was just for the Bio-Diesel on his bus.

[basil]

In a similar vein, I've become annoyed with every state creeping its legal blood alcohol level lower and lower and lower. I'm much less concerned about the guy that had 2 drinks on his way home from work... I'm concerned about the guy driving down the wrong side of the sidewalk.

It seems we're so obsessed with "getting tough on ____" that we fail to apply logic...

Dude, logic holds that the difference between 2 drinks (the universal answer to any policeman's inquiry) and driving down either side of the sidewalk DOES NOT EXIST WITHOUT THOSE FIRST TWO DRINKS HAVING BEEN CONSUMED FIRST. Hopefully, they'll creep the BAC all the way down to Zero Tolerance. Right now, people drinking and driving are wiping out more lives than all the other drivers under the influence of all the other drugs combined. Rarely, if ever, is anyone stopped and cited for DUI/DWI after 2 drinks (unless s/he is a minor, for whom zero tolerance laws do exist. In Texas, anything detectable [even the smell] may warrant a DUI, which is a class C misdemeanor. At the officer's discretion, they may demand sobriety tests, and cite for DWI, the more serious offense). It just does not happen. Those who say it has happened to them are lying/in denial.

He should have told them it was just for the Bio-Diesel on his bus.

Good one.

[cls515]

Right now, people drinking and driving are wiping out more lives than all the other drivers under the influence of all the other drugs combined.

This is a problem. However, accessibility must be considered. Sure other things are readily available, but many won't take the chance because of legal issues....yet they'll drive intoxicated. Go figure.

[drew_goring]

While we are on (kinda) this subject... why is it more illegal to smoke an ISOM than a jo!nt? I mean, is someone has a pipe big enough to hold an island.... they should be allowed to smoke it.

Ok. That was just stupid. Forgive me...

Because by smoking an ISOM you are supporting the "enemy" (lol)
You are only supporting drug dealers, growers, gangs, meth cookers, etc by smoking pot.

[Cabaiguan Juan]

Because by smoking an ISOM you are supporting the "enemy" (lol)
You are only supporting drug dealers, growers, gangs, meth cookers, etc by smoking pot.

Yep, ISOM comes from communists. I believe General Jack D. Ripper put it best: Mandrake, have you ever seen a Commie drink a glass of water? Case and point, Commies don’t drink water, hence they don’t know squat about the Essence of life and purity. Actually you can find a whole litany of reasons why commies are bad by consulting Dr. Strangelove. Now while ISOM's come from commies, drugs come from terrorizing, manipulative drug lords, unless its weed or shrooms, then it comes from hippies, college kids or entrepreneurs(god bless free economy). But getting back to where all this started, I don’t like driving around people who have been drinking, but I really don’t like driving around generally bad drivers. With all the focus on stopping drunk drivers, people have forgotten about the other hazard on the road, bad drivers. I wish there was something as aggressive for them as for the drunks. Now I'm not saying I'm a perfect driver, but I strive to be. It seams, and I'm reminded of this on a daily basis, that not everyone strives to be a better, considerate and safe driver. Taxi drivers, diplomats, old people, fast people, 'king of the road people', young people, etc...