The interesting thing about this report from Fox Carolina is that the reporters are following a series of drug related child abuse stories at one apartment complex but they seem to blame the complex itself for the crime, not the drug use. I’m pretty sure the building didn’t force this “mother” to smoke weed all day while flies laid eggs in her infant’s diaper, and I know the building didn’t make the infant test positive for cannabis in it’s system. But hey what do I know? I’m just one of those fascists who thinks drugs are bad for you:
Rob, I think you’re missing the point of drug legalization. People are known to argue that pot is a victimless crime because the impairment is, at least in comparison to other drugs, minimal. Many people consider this so minimal that your decisions are still your own. However, lets argue on the assumption that it is not so minimal. Even granting you that my response is “so what?”. Theres a million things each day you do that are not good for you. People gorge themselves on fast food everyday, people chain smoke cigarettes, they spend entire paychecks at bars and clubs. So why let these people do this? Why not bring back prohibition and regulate americans diets? Because we can’t. Some things have to be left up to the individual to decide because the act itself only hinders or impairs, not cause. Pot didn’t cause these things to happen in your cited articles, negligent people did. The difference in opinion and perspective we may have is you hold up marijuana and say “look, look at what this terrible drug has done” where I would say look at what these terrible people have done. They made the choice to impair themselves, they suffer consequences, but that doesn’t mean we have to make the choice illegal. It all starts and ends with freedom. To further illustrate my point I would concede this, if a link to a physical addiction chemically in the brain could be found, then it would be past the point of impairment and become a biological need, which I would then deem as dangerous or harmful. But when you consider the amount of effort we put in to fight these drug wars and the money that could be used elsewhere, you may have to pick the lesser of two evils and opt for legalization. People may be irrational, but we can’t always manage their irrationality, and I think we should be afforded the freedom to possibly F ourselves over as Americans, because that’s what America is all about.
Wrong, you’re missing the point. Drug legalization or decriminalization won’t stop crimes like the one above – which you’re causally ignoring. Legalization is worse than decriminalization in my opinion and is what I always argued. Whatt I call for is honesty n drug education and a recognition that marijuana is not milder than drinking a beer. Or that long term effects of heavy or chronic pot use creates societal problems with what you used to call “burn outs” in my day who do things like the above. You tokers know that because you joke amongst yourselves about the memory loss, paranoia etc.
The most offensive thing about people like you is that you act like no one has ever seen pot before. I went to high school in NYC in the late 80s. Seen plenty of drugs and drug users and it’s bullshit to say pot is milder than ‘ludes or huffing paint or getting drunk. It’s a load of crap and you think I’m too stupid to know that. I’m too stupid to know that while pot isn’t physically addictive it is habit forming. I’m too stupid to know that heavy pot use mimics the symptoms of schizophrenia – even though people get high specifically to alter their perceptions. The rest of us are so stupid we’ll believe getting high is medicine, but THC pills which are legally available don’t work as well as a blunt.
Also the hypocrisy of wanting pot legal but not wanting other drugs legal is just astounding.
Here’s the point, the above crime did not happen because of pots legal status, and in fact I blog in this category about Xanax and other legal drugs often. The crimes are associated with the culture of drug users which, as the fact pill poppers act in the same way prove, won’t change with legalization. The crimes are associated with the use of drugs not the legality of those drugs. “So what?” you ask. When the baby above can talk why don’t you tell her “so what?” that her stoner mother allowed her to be eaten alive by maggots because she’d rather get high all day than change and bathe her. You don’t care because you want people to not criticize your own drug use so we should sweep the abuse, neglect and mayhem of drug use under the rug so you can sit around like a goddamn 14-year-old getting high.
Then when she objects tell her she’s missing the point. By the way, here’s my stance on drug legalization so you can argue against my actually thoughts instead of what your smoking buddies claimed I said.
http://www.redstate.com/robtaylor/2012/02/14/whats-tony-bennett-smoking/
Well Rob, I appreciate your fiery rhetoric on the subject, but it isn’t doing your cause any good by calling me a “toker” or a “doper”, they’re ad hominems. On top of that my “smoking buddies” didn’t even bring me here, I chose to critique you because I’m a filthy fucking libertarian. But I will say this, you seem to be under the assumption that I believe drugs of all forms to be good. That’s not what I’m saying. What I am saying is that we can’t regulate what people take into their bodies. It’s their right. And if we do regulate what they take in, we have to be very careful. I KNOW you’ve been around pot before, everyone has, but you should know of all people that it takes a certain type of person to abuse it to this level. If it takes a certain type of person to abuse it on this level, then they were negligent in the first place, which is the root of their problems, not the drug itself. We have to examine this issue from a macro perspective, ask yourself questions like “is enforcement more work than legalization?” “what is the cost?” “is this feasible” and finally you need to examine public opinion. Also, and I’m well aware you probably won’t listen to this, but there are studies, numerous studies that have concluded that marijuana is less harmful than cigarettes and alcohol, on both a psychological and physical level, and the real life examples can be EXPOUNDED on.
I think in a way what you’re trying to say is we should tighten drug laws in addition to education in order to stop things like this from occurring because of the moral degradation of society is at risk? But what I’m saying is you’re on such a great roll, why stop there? The leading killer of Americans is fast food, we should make that illegal because there is a clear link to habitual use and dependency, some would even say addiction. Also, people tend to gorge themselves into oblivion, neglect their health and drag down society not to mention harm their families, so I think it’s safe to say we should burn down all the Burger Kings. Except that’s not right. If people want to ingest substances that make them loopy, then we should let them, but we should let them be aware of their consequences. People are not children, we need more drug education and less regulation. It has been shown throughout history that the best and most immediate change has always come about through a shift in societal views, not laws. Our present situation is not working, so we need to stop spending money throwing these people in jail and filling up our courts, and start spending money in helping them recover and educate. Penalization and the highest incarceration rate in the world, coupled with regulation people can and cannot consume is not a feasible option for the what is supposed to be the most free country in the world. If you need further examples on why we wouldn’t become a pack of raving lunatics if drugs were decriminalized I suggest you examine New York and various countries in Europe and their drug policies.
Also, you cited memory impairment? I agree, but only for a month after it is smoked, permanent damage is not likely. Speaking psychologically it doesn’t help with schizophrenia, but that’s hardly a reason to make something illegal because so does being born in a northern climate.
tl;dr the cost of regulating what people take into their bodies outweighs the good of regulating what people take into their bodies.
Unless you actually read what I’ve wrote and respond tot hat you’re going to be banned. Where did I say I was pro-prohibition? Where did I say we should tighten laws? Why don’t you deal with my actual points? I just told you I’m not against decriminalization but YOU REFUSED TO HEAR IT because what you want is for me to lie to you about how harmless drug use is.
Drug use is not a victimless crime, education on drug use and how it hurts other people and the user is the solution. Respond to that point, not the made up point that I support prohibition. Or in fact don’t, because just as you don’t care about the victim above, who you still won’t comment on, I don’t care what you think.