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No Remorse: It's Time To Legalize Pot

Posted 32 months ago|23 comments|1,464 views
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Written by
Chris D
Seattle, WA
Let me tell you about a new personal hero of mine. His name is Ian Barry.

Ian Barry, a bright 17-year-old, gave a speech to his high school last week about legalizing marijuana. He then lit up a joint in front of the whole school, smoked it, and was hauled off by the police.

He wasn’t trying to be a martyr. He has said was trying to drive his message home: marijuana does not deserve its negative stigma from society and should be legalized.

Ian Barry is no idiot stoner. He has a 3.7 GPA (better than mine was in high school or college) and plans on studying politics in college.

He faces misdemeanor charges of unlawful drug possession (police found the container that he carried the joint in, and the residue is enough to be charged). It’s very unlikely Ian Barry will get more than a slap on the wrist, since he’s underage and it’s his first brush with the law.

Was it a high school stunt? Sure. But Ian Barry is right. It’s time to revamp our outdated marijuana laws and stop arresting people for non-violent drug “crimes.”

Here’s my main point. Nobody “should” smoke pot, but lots of people do because it brings them pain relief, it relaxes them, or they just plain enjoy it.

And if people choose to smoke marijuana occasionally – without driving under in the influence or becoming a drain on others around them – then, in my opinion, they do not need to apologize. They have done nothing wrong.

I welcome your comments! Am I right? Is it time to legalize?


(H/T to The Stranger)


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COMMENTS
amishking
amishking
 Moderator
 Auburn, NY
32 months ago: I do not smoke pot, but I would still vote to legalize it. So much for the idea that only stoners would stand for it.
Chris D
Chris D
Seattle, WA
32 months ago: Here's a link to Ian Barry's full speech. It's quite good.

http://tinyurl.com/pjypxm
AlmostThere
AlmostThere
Acworth, GA
32 months ago: I have MS and I'd love to see pot legalized. I'm not holding my breath however.
32 months ago: Every major government study has concluded marijuana is non-addictive and far less harmful than alcohol:

http://www.druglibrary.org/Schaffer/Library/studies/studies.htm

The last major one in the U.S. was the Shafer Commission commissioned by President Nixon. As soon as he found out they were telling the truth instead of prohibitionist demonization, Nixon buried the report.

Now 37 years later, we are destroying the lives of 800,000 innocent Americans every year by giving those arrested a permanent "criminal" record. 20 million Americans, so far, have been made second-class citizens - cut off from jobs, housing, student loans, etc. from the new Scarlett Letter.

There was never a good reason for marijuana prohibition. It was a fraud from its beginning in 1937.

http://www.druglibrary.org/Schaffer/History/whiteb1.htm

End the madness. End the monstrously destructive, counter-productive fraud of marijuana prohibition.
32 months ago: There go his college scholarships...
TheLegendTomWing
TheLegendTomWing
 Administrator
 Philadelphia, PA
32 months ago: howleanne, that's exactly what I was thinking when i read that. Although, i'll bet there are some openings in Boston for him.

As for legalizing pot, i am against it. Personally, i think the whole medical thing is okay, but there is no reason a healthy person should be doing that. Then again, i am a smoker, hoping to be a non-smoker, so i guess we all have our vices.
DeanFox
DeanFox
England
32 months ago: IMHO, if drugs were legalised and properly regulated many of the problems associated with drugs would go away. This is because they would no longer be exploitable by the criminal element.

Sure smoking is bad for the health so smoking marijuana isn't really healthy but in the UK the tobacco industry pays roughly 10 x in tax what it costs to our National Health Service. Just because something is bad for you doesn't mean it should be banned.
32 months ago: Years ago nearly everything was legal as long as it didn't harm others for you to do it. Then some nut cases decided that fun stuff was bad for you and since they didn't think anyone should have fun they worked real hard and got nearly everything outlawed that other people ate, smoked, injected or drank to make them feel better or ease their pain. Something’s you can still get with a prescription others you have to go out of the country to enjoy but the majority are illegal because of the fanatics who couldn't figure out that life is supposed to be enjoyable. Life is not supposed to be drudgery in service to a deity or any other imaginary being. It should be pleasurable to pass through this life on earth and recreational drugs are one way to do it.

I’m all for the legalization of all drugs. Free the non-violent prisoners and wipe their records clean. Set a reasonable tax for the product and sell it at the local drug store as they already have a system set up to control who gets it (don’t want children to be able to buy it any more than cigarettes and alcohol), could even sell it at liquor stores too.

As for Ian scholarships, I would think he has to be convicted of a felony or something worse than a misdemeanor to lose them.
32 months ago: Wow, sixholdens, really? ALL drugs? So, you'd be okay with your 18 year old daughter going to the store and purchasing Heroin, or Cocaine? Getting high with her boyfriend and then going to some park where they have the potential to harm a young child?

Do you really think that drugs are not harmful to others? You know, the people who choose to not do them? Just take all the incidents of drunk driving, and multiply it by all the illegal drugs in the United States, and I'm sure you'd come up with a fraction of the number of accidents that would occur.

Your post truly shocked me.
32 months ago: howleanne, At this moment, with all the laws we have and all the money we spend every year on trying to stop people from getting or using drugs and all the lives ruined for getting caught with a small amount of pot, there is still the possibility of exactly what you think I would be ok with happening, whether it is my daughter or yours and since the legal age is 21 for everything except getting killed for your country, I would expect 21 to be the age, not 18. I also want the draft age moved to 21 and the enlistment age without parental permission moved to 21. Either that or bring it all back to 18.

People are such hypocrites and they don't even realize it. They think that their drug of choice is ok and that they should be allowed to use it at will while denying other people their drug of choice. There are lots of drugs. Lots of chemicals that people are addicted to and they have different effects on the person taking them. Some are good effects some are bad. Some people can control themselves while under the influence, others cannot.

If the addictive effects of caffeine were known 200 years ago and people thought about drugs then like they do now, do you think it would be on the grocery store shelves now? You'd be going to the drug or liquor store to get your coffee. Not because it makes you do things you wouldn't otherwise, but because it is addictive. Sugar would be right along side it as well as cigarettes and a few other highly addictive products that everyone takes for granted.
32 months ago: In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s there were opium dens all over the country, drugs of all kinds were legal for use and sale any where you went. What changed? Did the users really go wild and massacre the other townsfolk? Did the druggies chop off the infidel’s heads for not using? Did masses of pot smoker’s riot in the streets causing mayhem and attacking little old ladies? NO. None of that happened, drug users all over the country were the same as any other addicts, and they were only interested in “doing their thing” and living their lives the way they wanted. Many upstanding citizens were constant users of “Laudanum” for all kinds of supposed ailments and it was highly approved by society as a treatment for all that ails a person.

What changed? Did we become more knowledgeable about drugs? Did we learn that addiction to something could hurt us or the ones we loved? Did our moral compass get a needed correction? NO! None of that happened. What did happen is things like the Temperance movement, where anti-alcohol fanatics got control of the local, state and federal government and got laws passed that fit into their view of what is right for the rest of the citizens. It went so far as to get alcohol outlawed across the entire nation. Did this help the situation? Not a bit, in fact it led to the rise of crime gangs in most of the major cities, bootlegging and smuggling became legitimate occupations. Speakeasies opened in hidden rooms, and everyone still had a good time, it was just illegal and they could go to jail for having a drink.

Anti-drug laws were part of the fall-out, the government was looking for ways to control the populace and the fanatics were looking for ways to force their way of life on their fellow citizens and they joined forces. Sometimes it was unknowingly and sometimes it was a planned take-over of the local society. Freedom was shoved under the rug in the name of control, disguised as morality based lawmaking.
32 months ago: I’m not afraid of my children going out and doing drugs and then going to a park and harming a child. That would just be taking things to the absolute worst without any reason for doing so. I’m more worried about someone tanked up on coffee to stay awake running a stop sign and broadsiding one of my children’s vehicles than I am their taking drugs. I (we) have raised four children and they are quite aware of drugs and their affects, good and bad. They are not fools nor are they without curiosity, drugs have their uses but they also have their costs and if you teach your children early on how to weigh the pros and cons they will make correct decisions once they are on their own.

You used the word “potential”, it is a very big word in this topic, we all have the potential to do wrong, we all have the potential to do right, and we have the potential to use our intelligence to make decisions based on the knowledge gained by trial and error. Very big word it is indeed.

No where did I say that there is no harm to others. Harm comes in many different ways. Drugs are just one of many things that can harm a person, or a family. Loss of a job, unexpected death, lawsuits, divorce, these are all things that can harm someone even if they are not the person directly involved, to outlaw something because it MIGHT cause harm removes the ability of a person to make a free choice, shall we outlaw everything? Reminds of something that happened a year or so ago. You ever hear of Kite Tubing? Supposed to be a lot of fun. They outlawed it in Arkansas because a few people were injured or killed doing it in other states, usually improperly. Never did hear them outlaw riding a bicycle because a few people get killed or injured doing it. Nothing like a double standard to make you believe in your local governments fair treatment policies.
32 months ago: I did not advocate total anarchy nor did I advocate wild abandon of reason. There is a difference in true freedom and what we have now with all the laws restricting our freedom to choose. All I want is a level playing field and as long as the fanatics are pushing the politician’s buttons and getting law after law after law passed to restrict freedoms, there will never be true freedom in this country again.

This is one of my favorite quotes:

"The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion." Arthur C. Clarke

It has happened in this country and is still a problem. Some people believe that you have to have religion to be moral, they are wrong. It’s been proven time and time again that religion is the cause of some the worst immoral acts ever committed. It is also a fact that tribes in the deep jungles who have never been subjected to religious teachings based on any of the books in current use are as or more moral than any society in recorded history, I would say more moral but I’m just a dumb country boy from Arkansas so what do I know?
DeanFox
DeanFox
England
32 months ago: @howleanne I understand your concerns regarding increase in potential accidents from recreational drug use but it isn't as simple as multiplying the number of deaths related to drunk driving by the number of drugs. Marijuana tends to make people not want to drive and when they do they tend to over compensate by driving if anything too slow and not making any risky manoeuvres. That aside, the damage done to society by the current regime is worse than what would happen were drugs legalised in a properly controlled way.
YammeringBuoy
YammeringBuoy
32 months ago: Additionally the products acquired from Hemp-based products is HUGE. The paper industry alone has seen to it that hemp, a plant referred to as a weed in the fields of Iowa where it grows like crazy, is there as result of WWII plantings for use in the war for making rope, has remained illegal because IT'S potential to place paper products entirely and on a much more sustainable basis too.
Remember the U.S. Constitution and the Magna Carta also are both printed on hemp and they've lasted how long?..how well do you think paper would've fared?
YammeringBuoy
YammeringBuoy
32 months ago: Oh also, the hemp in the fields of Iowa...are not the gettin' high kind, only a variation BUT because it's still cannabis...it's illegal.
32 months ago: When you can provide the solution to keeping stoned drivers off the public highways my family and I have to share with you, then you can advocate legalization.

Until then, grow up. I guess you figure in your world of pot for all the price you will pay for being stoned and killing someone with your car will be about 30 days. At least if you are Donte Stallworth.

Nice, very nice.
32 months ago: Sorry vindicator, you are driving in a world of drugged out, hopped up, un-healthy motor vehicle operators. Legalization of drugs will not change anything other than clear out our prisons of people who shouldn't be there in the first place.

No matter what you say, do, or outlaw, the result will be the same, people will do what they want, when they want and to what ever degree they want until they are satisfied that they have achieved the happiness they are looking for.

We should listen to our forefathers, those that started this country; the hemp plant is a godsend and should be treated that way. It is not a curse, it is not a demon, and it is a biological miracle worker that should be used for the betterment of mankind, not to send them to prison.
DeanFox
DeanFox
England
32 months ago: Vindicator. I could argue that 2/3 rds of accidents are not drink or drug related and that of the 1/3 that are 98% are drink related but that isn't right.

Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol is wrong. It should never be considered legal and should be punished with stiff penalties, indeed where a person is killed or injured the punishment should be the same as if the person had wilfully committed the act.

Fact is people drink and take drugs, the legality of same makes no difference to consumption as studies have shown in places like Holland where drugs are treated as a health rather than legal issue.

So, your argument that drugs should remain illegal to protect you and your family in your car is actually based on the myth that the legal status provides protection. Since it doesn't do you have another reason why drugs should remain illegal rather than be legalised and properly controlled, like alcohol is?
31 months ago: The "war on drugs" has not and cannot be won! Instead, we're fattening the pockets of illegal suppliers, filling prisons and wasting who-knows-how many billions of dollars.

My hope is that the prohibition against marijuana will be dropped within a few years. Certainly other countries where it's legal can serve as models.

I'm so weary of prohibitions based on old ideas and religious "morality."
24 months ago: Life is hard. Why don't you just deal with it? It's just another numbing drug. Who knows what it's laced with most of the time! Maybe try a natural high like helping others or volunteering. All you druggies can have fun acting stupid and paranoid and lose all the brain cells you want. The only marijuana that should be legal is for medical reasons like rheumatoid arthritis when your in pain 24/7 like my poor sis.
24 months ago: An old friend of mine smoked pot all day long and sat on her couch. Real productive and a waste of money. What a waste. I feel sorry for you lazy potheads.
DeanFox
DeanFox
England
24 months ago: @choozlif: commendable ideals but why should everyone aspire to your views of how one should lead their life?

If they have the money to spend on drugs why shouldn't they as long as they use them responsibly? If the drugs were legalised most of the problems associated with them would go away.

I happen to do a lot of volunteer work (working with old people mainly), I get satisfaction from it but I also drink and have the occasional splif; my life isn't really that hard either. Fact is I can drink and take drugs responsibly and still be very productive and a contributor to society.

Stop with your ill informed arguments that use tired stereotypes. Guess from your choice of name though that you may be a troll.

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