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But I do salute your courage.
I'm some guy you'd never suspect of being a pot smoker. But I do toke up from time to time. I enjoy it, and the only negative effect is the risk of government involvement.
I'm some guy. I smoke pot. I enjoy it. I just wish I lived in a country where I could risk revealing who I am when I admit this.
Yeah. I'm not sure supporting a business that maintains its profitability through murder is anything to be especially proud of.
But the merits of ending of this insane prohibition are also pretty clear.
I also have caffeine on occasion.
I like those drugs and I don't have any problems with people enjoying the drugs they like.
Screw all the hypocrites like Obama.
The Mexican Drug Cartel would hate drug legalization in much the same way as Al Capone and company did not want the end of Prohibition. I realize that the 3 or 4 billion dollars spent on the DEA every year seems small compared to the amazing spending spree going on, but combine that with the reduction in needless prosecution expenses and jail time and there are some savings. Anyone with half a brain has to admit that alcohol does more damage than pot (not counting lives ruined by stupid laws). And for those worried about taxes on your pot, even extreme taxation of it should not make it much more than the black market prices of today.
I'm almost 60 and I definitely smoked my share of pot back in the day. I probably smoked more weed in the Marine Corps than I ever did as a civilian. My fear of being busted has made me hesitant to even occasionally take a puff. Besides, where am I going to score it, from my son's friends?
I agree that legalization would harm the Mexican drug cartel. But given the current situation Will's use of marijuana does slightly help the cartel unless the marijuana he consumes was grown just for him and would not have been produced but for him.
Even if Will's weed is grown in Canada he is still helping the Mexican drug cartel because at the margin he is increasing the price of Canadian weed which will increase the sales of Mexican weed because there must be some users who decided on the basis of price whether to consume Mexican or Canadian weed.
Suppose there are two main manufacturers in an industry (call them Coke and Pepsi). Drinking the product of one can increase overall demand, allowing the other to raise prices and gain some profit, although for less gain than the one you actually bought from. If one of the companies acts morally, and the other immorally, are you then prohibited from buying any delicious delicious cola?
Taking your position to its logical conclusion, I would be prohibited from any purchase in an industry where there exists at least one highly immoral company. This would quickly become a wholly untenable position for anyone but a freegan...and thems some crazy people.
/wink
How did that work out?
Our drug policy has caused a minor problem like pot smoking to became a major disaster. Isn't it time to support some rethinking.
I don't smoke pot. But I'm loving my vicodin just now (broke my hand playing basketball today).
That said, the laws do exist, and because of that it makes people who do smoke pot lose some of my respect, because it means they may well be supporting some violence down through the black market distribution chain. (at least that is my default reaction)
My name is Kipp McMichael. I smoke pot every day and I like it.
I'm down with legalization (though I dunno about James). I'm just pointing out that you're not really paying for buds, man. It's like buying fish. What you're paying for is the lives of all the mules, middle-man, by-stander and cops who died to protect the growing, distribution and dealing of that stuff.
One day that's all gonna end. And I say that day can't come soon enough. But until then, when you take a toke, think about all the dead men and women, and the environmental damage you've just contributed to.
Would you buy beer from a company with that kind of back story?
Sorry to harsh, man.
You should feel a lot worse about paying taxes than Steve and Will do about smoking pot.
Between your site and Reason, who knows? Maybe someday we can do a doobie with the champagne on New Year's Eve! Ste4ve's point is THE point. Many bad things go away with decriminalization of pot: Mex Mafia, over-crowded jails, harassment of otherwise law-abiding citizens, (probably) corrupt DEA (what do they do with all those seized boats, houses and cash?), fines and folks getting chemo who would like some relief.
There's my piece.
Thanks Will.
My name is (redacted), I smoke pot because I like it.
I was going to talk about my education, and how "successful" I was in family and profession. But why should I have to defend my worth to defend the use of marijuana? As a scientist, I just wish I could buy marijuana tincture. Smoking is carcinogenic and I have children - one an infant, one with asthma. I obviously cannot expose them to smoke. I sit here realizing that in a free market, I would not have to endanger my children's health so I could enjoy a pleasant high. I face a choice of smoking outside and risking arrest, smoking inside and endangering my children, not smoking at all, or using my education to prepare lipid/alcohol extractions of marijuana. It is absurd that I have to go through these contortions because I like pot.
I wish I could come out. But my employer has a no tolerance policy – if lucky I could ask for drug treatment and be "cured". I would have to participate in this farce to keep custody of my children and my health insurance. I am threatened with loss of employment, loss of my children, and loss of insurance because I like pot. People may ask, "Why do you risk it?" I must respond, "Why should it be a risk?"
Also, I'm a socialist and generally think your politics are shit.
I am also a scientist who likes to get stoned, though not a bloody socialist. However, due to our shared humanity and the kindness of a libertarian I do want you to know you're not alone. I know lots of stoned scientists and if I were less of a chickenshit I would start a facebook group called 10,000 stoned scientists.
Drugs are a good tool for figuring out who is trustworthy. If you use drugs, then you are not loyal to the establishment and its norms. You are prevented from getting into high positions. The more arbitrary and silly the norms, the better they are for measuring trustworthiness. If you are truly trustworthy, then you don't break the rules even if they are stupid.
Just like Clinton, Bush & Obama.
And look what happened. ;)
I am not opposed to the use of pot. I wish it was legalized. But even if it was, I would run random checks for it because I do not like what it does to people (nor do I like what alcohol does, and I keep an eye out for that, too).
It's not that I'm opposed the use, I'm opposed to the behavior and quality of work that occurs because of the use.
If you want to work for me, be sure you use alcohol in moderation, and do NOT smoke pot. If it were legal, I'd still stipulate this. I see no reason to risk the productive value of the work I need done just because someone happens to enjoy a good toke now and then.
I don't see any hypocrisy or dichotomy in my view. As a businessman, I have to look out for what's mine.
Well done. It is elegantly written, carefully thought, personal, and potentially costly. This makes it courageous, though not quite heroic. I wish you success in your movement.
While some of us might think its ok for anyone to do whatever they want, aren't there still some secular values that the State can legitimately encourage? Like environmentalism, citizenship, education etc etc? If we accept that the government has the right to regulate and control for the better good- which is what everyone in Europe is demanding is done with the banks, then maybe it is ok for the government to do the same with drugs. Especially among the young who are the most vulnerable.
Heavy drinking is endemic amongst the under 18s anyway, and has alot of undesirable effects in the wider social sphere, and most people think we should encourage moderation. So it is legitimate for a government to think of ways to encourage moderation. Surely this should mean we must be even more cautious to allow yet another drug to flow around more freely, as the combined effects of alcohol and marijuana amongst the young might lead to even more strange social side effects and undesirable traits- I'm keeping these vague as I think these are difficult to categorise.
While alot of people here might seem happy with life, if alot of studies suggest that high drug use in the under 25s is often symptomatic of hopelessness, apathy, frustration, lack of social cohesion etc etc then surely these are the issues we should be looking at? If drug use is higher in poorer communities, or amongst 'disaffected' black youth, or amongst the uneducated this might show that drug use itself is an indication of something else we might want to eliminate.
And even if one person or several claim they smoke pot because they like it and are healthy, wealthy and wise citizens, that is not really a sound basis for policy when alot of others might not be in their position?
And I think we should address underlying causes, but legalisation won't do that. Rehabilitation and education might do that, but legalisation should only come after these things and not before, as if it comes before it will only exacerbate these problems.
Sorry. Couldn't resist. Also, I strongly recommend you find something else to occasionally do. Seriously. I've known many educated professionals who liked to occasionally snort blow. I can think of none who can say, "And then I decided to try coke and it was a great decision." I can think of many who can say, "And that's when I lost my job" or "packing up and moving to Florida at 2 a.m. seemed like a good idea" or "I'll never meet another like her," etc, etc. It's a very insidious substance.