Marijuana: Facts, Myths, and plain old Stupidity.

[Bronco70]

I'm late to this conversation, but here's my .02 (for the record, I have never indulged):

1. Dozens of things can impair a driver. It is the responsibility of the driver to make sure he/she does not drive while impaired. Also, the rationale that legalizing pot will result in a huge spike of safety problems is knee-jerk, at best.

2. IMO, those who want to use already do, for the most part. Legalizing it would actually make it more difficult for minors to get, and offer greater incentive to adults to use it properly.

3. Instead of flushing bazillions of dollars away chasing the occasional bale of mexican weed (read: War on Drugs), we could be reaping the revenue generated by the proper management.

4. The concept that adults can be trusted with alcohol, but not with marijuana is laughable.

5. If there is such a thing as a "gateway drug", alcohol is it.

Again, I haven't ever used the stuff, and I don't ever plan on doing it. But I'm watching my mother-in-law slowly deteriorate with MS, and the meds they have her on are doing as much harm as good. Side-effects all over the place. If she could use marijuana instead, a lot of her discomfort could be dealt with, w/o the ******* side-effects.

Pot suffers from an archaic stigma - a government campaign from the 30's that painted it as the gateway to insanity.

I apologize if any of this has already been covered.

 

[GVC]

And as far as cannabis use by NBA players is concerned, it's a non-issue. Unlike in other pro sports leagues, the NBA is very permissive of cannabis, with light punishments for positive tests. The same can not be said of hard drugs and steroids.

Given the NBA culture, those regulations won't be changing anytime soon.

 

[CONAN]

Slowing down is not an adjustment?

It's an adjustment but that doesn't mean you aren't still impaired.

 

[SaltyDawg]

It's an adjustment but that doesn't mean you aren't still impaired.

Sure it does. If you slow down enough none of the effects of marijuana hinder your driving, so your driving isn't impaired anymore.

 

[CONAN]

If you slow down enough none of the effects of marijuana hinder your driving, so your driving isn't impaired anymore.

How much slower compared to normal driving?

 

[LogGrad98]

Again, this is inexcusable authoritarian ********, not fit for anyone who hopes to live in a free and democratic society. If someone is punished for activities that harm no one else, any decent human being should have some sympathy for that person.

Ok so your argument that this is blind authoritarianism is just plain ridiculous. So anyone who believes in obeying the law is blinded by authority, is that it? All enlightened people disregard all laws so they won't be viewed as blindly authoritarian? Really?

There are methods for changing laws, and they get better all the time. The days of individual martydom to right societal wrongs are largely over. Do not dare to equate pot-heads to slavery, that is beyond stupid, and quite insulting. It is reasonable to expect individuals to uphold the laws that were democratically instituted in our democratic society in order to uphold that democratic society. In a democratic society there are democratic methods for changing laws. Blatant disregard of laws is not one of them.

Again, you know the law, so if you choose to break it, you also choose that consequence attached to it if you get caught. You have and deserve no sympathy for it.

Funny thing is, I am all for legalizing marijuana. It does not mean I am all for breaking the laws currently on the books with impunity.

 

[LogGrad98]

Sure it does. If you slow down enough none of the effects of marijuana hinder your driving, so your driving isn't impaired anymore.

Driving slower than the speed limit is as, or can even be more, dangerous than driving faster than the speed limit. In LA they are far more likely to pull you over for driving too slow, which tends to disrupt the flow of traffic more than driving too fast. Really the biggest problem with driving drunk is not driving too fast, but driving erratically. Driving too slow is a form of driving erratically, imo, which is the problem when people drive while texting. They tend to drive slower when texting, and disrupt the flow of traffic.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Ok so your argument that this is blind authoritarianism is just plain ridiculous. So anyone who believes in obeying the law is blinded by authority, is that it? All enlightened people disregard all laws so they won't be viewed as blindly authoritarian? Really?

There are methods for changing laws, and they get better all the time. The days of individual martydom to right societal wrongs are largely over. Do not dare to equate pot-heads to slavery, that is beyond stupid, and quite insulting. It is reasonable to expect individuals to uphold the laws that were democratically instituted in our democratic society in order to uphold that democratic society. In a democratic society there are democratic methods for changing laws. Blatant disregard of laws is not one of them.

Again, you know the law, so if you choose to break it, you also choose that consequence attached to it if you get caught. You have and deserve no sympathy for it.

Funny thing is, I am all for legalizing marijuana. It does not mean I am all for breaking the laws currently on the books with impunity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L397TWLwrUU&ob=av3e

Shut up nerd!

 

[GVC]

But the laws have not been democratically instituted. Government propaganda about cannabis is pervasive in schools. I can't speak for anyone else, but when I was a child at school, we were all gathered together, lied to about drugs and their effects, and then guilted into committing to never do drugs. I'd say government propaganda falls well within the anti-democratic category.

Obviously, I'm emotional about this issue, and because I also don't have any patience or respect for people who value conformity over justice, I let my emotion get the better of me.

 

[LogGrad98]

But the laws have not been democratically instituted. Government propaganda about cannabis is pervasive in schools. I can't speak for anyone else, but when I was a child at school, we were all gathered together, lied to about drugs and their effects, and then guilted into committing to never do drugs. I'd say government propaganda falls well within the anti-democratic category.

Obviously, I'm emotional about this issue, and because I also don't have any patience or respect for people who value conformity over justice, I let my emotion get the better of me.

Interesting correlation to make: disagree with you on this topic = valuing conformity over justice. Hence since that person has a character flaw that keeps them from actually thinking critically about a topic, implied by their tendency toward "conformity", their arguments or opinions cannot possibly be valid. Textbook ad hominem.

 

[LogGrad98]

By the way, to the general public and not that incredibly small percentage that might make legitimate use of it medicinally, what are the negative repercussions of never doing drugs?

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

By the way, to the general public and not that incredibly small percentage that might make legitimate use of it medicinally, what are the negative repercussions of never doing drugs?

Not having as much fun