Marijuana.com

Buzzby

Free Your Mind - Really?
George Rice | Journal-Advocate | 12/30/2005

So now those latter-day hippies in Denver who engineered the passage of a Denver ordinance in violation of state laws prohibiting the possession of marijuana are taking that next step.

They're working on a "citizen initiative" to effect back-door legalization of pot in the state. They claim, through their adopted acronym, that imbibing in an addictive, mind-altering drug is "safer."

Safer than what?

They imply that it's a safer recreational drug than alcohol. But that's a problematical comparison in itself. The very definition of "safer" is subjective. Stoned is stoned, man. Doesn't matter how you get there, a brain running on mind-altering chemicals isn't safe by any standard.

The Denver Post ran a series about a clutch of suburban soccer moms who gather regularly in the garage of an upscale ranchette to do a little weed after they've stashed their offspring in a safer environment. One was quoted as worrying about how she was going to rationalize this when the kids found out.

I got news for that biddy-brain. The kids already know. If the three or four of them are fuming up the place a couple times a week, everyone else in the house can smell it. Makes me wonder about the husbands. And the odds are great that, by the time the kids have reached middle school, they've smelled it somewhere else and will certainly recognize it.

She won't have to rationalize it - they will accept pot's illegal use as OK and she'll be able to hear their explanation at the police station after they're busted at a party. City, state and federal officers are still enforcing existing valid laws, lady.

Another of these alter-adolescents said that it "frees the mind". It does that, all right. It frees the mind of all rational thought. It relieves the mind of the burden of cognitive recognition, of all the restrictions of 21st century reality.

She can float around in her own perfect little universe, free of the responsibility of household and motherhood. And when the school calls to say that her child has been injured in a playground accident, she'll be driving to the school under the influence. Or the whole clutch will go, and have a really good time explaining their joint (pun intended) euphoria to the officer who stops them for running a red light. But her mind will be free, for a little while.

As a police officer I heard these and myriad other rationalizations. And I had to arrest combative kids whose "freed" minds refused to accept that urinating in the middle of a crowded dance floor was not acceptable conduct. Or explain to a stoned kid after the wreck that driving in reverse on a one-way street is not legal, even if the car was pointed in the right direction. And I had to explain to parents that handcuffs are necessary when anyone, even their darling, believes he's Cassius Clay and tries to fight an officer twice his age and strength.

Then there's the rationale that legalizing pot will provide an abundant tax base with which to control its use and sale. Poppycock. If it were taxed at the exorbitant rate that alcohol is, it would increase its illegal use, requiring more cops, prosecutors and judges in inverse proportion to its tax return.

Unlike alcohol, it can be produced in any back yard, basement or attic. Enforcement of its taxation would only compound existing laws prohibiting its production. And scientists have long recognized it as an addictive gateway drug, leading to the use of harder drugs and more profound addiction. And freer minds, I guess.

__________________

 

Dennis

The arthur of this article imagines the most paranoid circumstances possible.

One Again, our message to the children from now own is yes, it's okay for adults to use marijuana.

Let's see the Partnership for a Drug Free America get around that declaration.

Cassius

OOoooo, this pisses me off.

K, I'll be sure to tell all your friends and family members that if they use nicotine, caffeine, or alcohol in any way that they are being unsafe. Especially if they are using nicotine or caffeine around their children, they are thus being unsafe around and with their children.

As a mathematician, I have heard these and myriad other logical fallacies and leaps of logic by people who don't understand IN THE SLIGHTEST WAY how logic works. You've been out in the field so long, Mr. Officer, that you have no idea how to deduce the simplest logical conclusion.

Has the thought ever crossed your mind that maybe, just maybe, these behaviors are the result of troubled adolescents, and would occur by any kids when faced with being in trouble with the law, regardless of whether they were stoned or sober or drunk? Care to explain to me what evidence and/or logic you use to determine that it is the marijuana that makes them act this way, and not acting this way that causes them to seek out marijuana?

Troubled kids often smoke cigarettes, drink, have sex at a young age, and ditch school. Therefore, any kid who ditches school is automatically a drug user and a corrupt member of society, right? GO BACK TO SCHOOL AND LEARN THE FREAKING DEFINITION OF CAUSATION / CORRELATION, OFFICER.

HAHAHAHAHAHA..... Does this even make any sense? To anyone? To one single person here? I know several math professors, economics professors, and science professors that would LAUGH THEIR ASSES OFF at a statement like this.

Let me get this straight. You're saying that if we legalized and taxed it, it would increase its illegal use? Furthermore you're saying that the larger the tax return, the smaller number of cops/prosecutors/judges that would be needed, and vice versa (inverse proportion)? That's true, but that's the opposite of what you're trying to say, officer! ROFL, I can't believe what a dumbass you just made yourself out to be with this one paragraph. Are you sure you're not the one that's stoned? Do you even know what "inverse proportion" means? Because this paragraph makes no sense to me and would make no sense to anyone else I know who has a basic grounding in either math OR science.

I won't even address the rest of the article after this point, because it's ludicrous to do so having addressed this last paragraph. Just suffice it to say, that scientists DO NOT "recognize" what she claims they do. Going from marijuana to harder drugs is a consequence of PROHIBITION (because black markets enable access to all drugs simultaneously, the same place you go to buy weed has crack for sale), not an inherent property of marijuana itself.

Join the 21st century, man. We have these little things called "science" and "logic" these days. We don't burn witches at the stake anymore just because "noble citizens" like you claim their doing witchcraft.

__________________

{ Cassius, Your Humble Narrator }
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Vapor666

They imply that it's a safer recreational drug than alcohol. But that's a problematical comparison in itself. The very definition of "safer" is subjective. Stoned is stoned, man. Doesn't matter how you get there, a brain running on mind-altering chemicals isn't safe by any standard.

A brain running on mind-altering chemicals is not safe by ANY standards? This just does not make sense, there are plenty of drugs on the market(many of them legal) that are 'mind-altering' and are probably safer for some people than not having anything, this includes a host of anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications. I also fail to see how it is unsafe to get stoned in your house and sit around and watch T.V.

The Denver Post ran a series about a clutch of suburban soccer moms who gather regularly in the garage of an upscale ranchette to do a little weed after they've stashed their offspring in a safer environment. One was quoted as worrying about how she was going to rationalize this when the kids found out.

I got news for that biddy-brain. The kids already know. If the three or four of them are fuming up the place a couple times a week, everyone else in the house can smell it. Makes me wonder about the husbands. And the odds are great that, by the time the kids have reached middle school, they've smelled it somewhere else and will certainly recognize it.

I have news for this jack-ass, he's right! If kids are in middle school(especially in Colorado) they probably have a good idea what weed is and for that fact alcohol too. No where in the Soccer-Weed-Mom article did it say they were blazing up when the kids were around, it seemed like the mothers were doing there best to isolate themselves from there children to avoid negative influence. There is a very strong likelyhood that a teenagers first contact with weed probably comes from a buddy in school...something that would become less likely if marijuana was only legal to buy if you were 21.

She won't have to rationalize it - they will accept pot's illegal use as OK and she'll be able to hear their explanation at the police station after they're busted at a party. City, state and federal officers are still enforcing existing valid laws, lady.

Police officers bust up parties so they can arrest weed users? I fail to see the rationality in that...

Another of these alter-adolescents said that it "frees the mind". It does that, all right. It frees the mind of all rational thought. It relieves the mind of the burden of cognitive recognition, of all the restrictions of 21st century reality.

This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever read. Lay off the reefer madness, chief. If our rational though, cognitive recognition, and the restrictions of a 21st century reality were destroyed by smoking weed then how does this website function. How did the people of denver vote to legalize marijauna in their city? Why do doctors recomend marijuana for a variety of illnesses?

She can float around in her own perfect little universe, free of the responsibility of household and motherhood. And when the school calls to say that her child has been injured in a playground accident, she'll be driving to the school under the influence. Or the whole clutch will go, and have a really good time explaining their joint (pun intended) euphoria to the officer who stops them for running a red light. But her mind will be free, for a little while.

I know plenty of extremely responsible marijuana users, business owners, engineers, doctors, lawyers. Chiefs, argument just does not make sense. I have been high plenty of times while driving(not something I'm endorsing) and I've certainly never ran a red light, and in know way does marijuana make people act like complete idiots on the road.

As a police officer I heard these and myriad other rationalizations. And I had to arrest combative kids whose "freed" minds refused to accept that urinating in the middle of a crowded dance floor was not acceptable conduct. Or explain to a stoned kid after the wreck that driving in reverse on a one-way street is not legal, even if the car was pointed in the right direction. And I had to explain to parents that handcuffs are necessary when anyone, even their darling, believes he's Cassius Clay and tries to fight an officer twice his age and strength.

Everyone of these explinations sounds nothing like users of marijuana. This is not to say that a marijuana user could not do these things but rather other factors play signifcant rolls in their actions. (Driving backwards on a one way road does sound stonerish, though)

Then there's the rationale that legalizing pot will provide an abundant tax base with which to control its use and sale. Poppycock. If it were taxed at the exorbitant rate that alcohol is, it would increase its illegal use, requiring more cops, prosecutors and judges in inverse proportion to its tax return.

I think it would be safe to say, considering this guy is a police officer that he is no master in economics. Poppycock on you Mr. Police Man, you don't know what you're talking about.

Unlike alcohol, it can be produced in any back yard, basement or attic. Enforcement of its taxation would only compound existing laws prohibiting its production. And scientists have long recognized it as an addictive gateway drug, leading to the use of harder drugs and more profound addiction. And freer minds, I guess.

Wait.....Alcohol cant be produced in a back yard, a basement, or an attic? I wonder were all the home brews that I have had come from? Alcohol can be produced just as easily as marijuana in someones home or place of residence, and its legal!(as long as you don't sell it) AND marijuana does not make people do other drugs!

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Sorry this is so long. That guy makes me angry.

mbruffee

This guy, police officer or not, obviously did no research whatsoever before writing this article. This article pisses me off so much because it's written like an editorial and yet claims to be authorative. I agree with Cassius in that if this guy were right about EVERY mind altering substance, everything from nicotine to prozac would be illegal. And the world would be one huge blackmarket...

Once again, this police officer-turned-reporter isn't rationalizing, much less thinking at all. Sure those kids are dumb, but are they dumb, crazy, or violent because they're stoned? Or are they dumb, crazy, and violent because they are ordinarily dumb, crazy, and violent? Use your head, man: a loser is still a loser when he's stoned. A dumbass is still a dumbass when he's stoned. Or drunk. Or on nicotine. Or ANY OTHER SUBSTANCE... except those incapacitating ones like morphine in a hospital... {end distracted rant}

I didn't really expect such an idiot to know the facts about this. We all know that legalizing pot, though true it might not create a huge tax base, will DECREASE it's illegal use. Where is his logic? If you legalize it, it's NOT ILLEGAL!!! What kind of a crackpot dumb*** is this guy?

My man, you've hit an all time low for IQ, reasoning, and wisdom. First, Alcohol could be produced in all three places (provided that someone felt like making booze outside)--of course it isn't usually made at home because it's so cheap. Second, marijuana could only be taxed if it were legalized, so IT WOULDN'T BE PROHIBITED TO OWN SOME. Seriously, if I wasn't a pacifist I would personally smack some sense into this man's head. Hard. And third, there are no rational scientists at the helm of the marijuana gateway theory: it's not addictive, for the trillionth time, and it doesn't lead to use of harder drugs. Take a look at me, and you'll know you're a total imbecile.

*Sigh*... If only there were mandatory stonings, pun intended, of dimwits like these. It would be so entertaining...

 

Buzzby

I've been trying to get my mind around this one. He says if marijuana was to be taxed at the "exorbitant" rate that alcohol is, then people would continue to buy untaxed, illegal marijuana. His own analogy defeats itself! How many people refuse to buy taxed alcohol and buy moonshine instead?

I doubt if an ounce of pot would retail for more than $25, considering how little it costs to produce. If they put a 100% tax on it (more than the tax on alcohol), it would still be $50 for an ounce of good weed. I'd buy that before I'd spend $200 - $400 for an ounce of black market weed.


People make beer and wine in their attics and basements all the time. Generally they put their stills in more isolated areas than their back yards, but if you've got a few acres of woods it wouldn't be much of a problem. It is, of course, illegal to produce your own distilled alcoholic beverages without getting all kinds of federal and state licenses.

Dennis

I just wanted to illustrate how this guy doesn't have the brain power to put 2 and 2 together.

If the school calls and I've had a couple of drinks, I would call a Taxi, get a friend to take me, or worse case drive myself.

Goes the same for pot dumb@$$.

king cola

I agree, if someone is at home having a few drinks and gets a phone call from the school to get their kid, if they are irresponsible they will drive drunk. Look at how many people drive to the bars! Theres cops that wait outside some of them for people to leave and pull over random cars, but you know they aren't stopping everyone. People get drunk and do stupid sh*t, they don't think rational. He talks of people bein irresponsible, theres cops i know of that have driven drunk while off duty, not everyone of them does it, but you find out stuff like this when your friends with bartenders.

Back in the prohibition days people were brewing alcohol in their basements, even now theres still some people that choose to brew their own alcohol but aren't making a profit off of it because it's legalized and the brewery's are making all the profit.

I still can't believe how f*cked up this world is when it comes to legalizing pot. They act like it was never legal. It was used for thousands of years and in the 1930s a bunch of racists come along and get pissed that the Mexicans were coming into our country and bringing some pot with them, didn't matter much anyway because people were already smoking in our country. Before it was banned pot was growing on the sides of roads, openly in fields, people were smoking in public, no one cared until politicians made it into a false problem.

Anslinger started the whole marijuana is a gateway drug when people stopped believing him that it made people violent because scientists did their own research. They found that it just made people happy and laugh a lot. After that his new approach, if you smoke it you will become addicted to Heroin! Then he put a stop to scientists doing anymore research on marijuana. They are still using that gateway drug theory now and the guy did nothing but lie to the public throughout his career.

"As a police officer I heard these and myriad other rationalizations. And I had to arrest combative kids whose "freed" minds refused to accept that urinating in the middle of a crowded dance floor was not acceptable conduct. Or explain to a stoned kid after the wreck that driving in reverse on a one-way street is not legal, even if the car was pointed in the right direction. And I had to explain to parents that handcuffs are necessary when anyone, even their darling, believes he's Cassius Clay and tries to fight an officer twice his age and strength."

Urinating in public! My father had plenty of friends who would do that stuff back in the day when drunk. One of them was even arrested for doing that on a cops leg thinkin it was a pole. Never heard of anyone bein stoned and doing that though.

"The stoned kid drove in reverse on a one way street", was he drinking too, or did he just happen to turn around by backing onto a one way street? Theres people who have been sober that have backed down exit ramps onto highways when takin the wrong exit.

"A kid fought a officer twice his age and strength", was he on meth or alcohol? That has nothing to do with marijuana, it doesn't even cause violence. Someone high gets arrested they usually go quietly.

We should all write a direct response to this paper. This guy writes it up the way he wants and theres nothing to argue against, theres no debate, what he says the people are reading and are probably believing it because hes a cop.

No offense to the cops on this site, but it was a cop that wrote this trash and it's not like cops never lied before, but anyone is capable of lying for that matter. All i'm sayin is can't the guy just stick with marijuana and marijuana alone instead of trying to compare it with other things to try and make pot out to be worse than it really is. People can't blame pot for hard drugs, pot is pot, hard drugs is hard drugs. This guy probably never smoked a joint in his life. Everyone has a right to their view and opinion but it sounds like hes trying to give everything out as a fact, it's not a fact that marijuana lead to hard drugs, it's not a fact that someone was high backing onto a one way street unless theres proof he was, it's not a fact that everyone gets stoned and urinates in public, seems to be more of alcohol for that behavior.

"Then there's the rationale that legalizing pot will provide an abundant tax base with which to control its use and sale. Poppycock. If it were taxed at the exorbitant rate that alcohol is, it would increase its illegal use, requiring more cops, prosecutors and judges in inverse proportion to its tax return."

And just think, they gave this guy a gun and a badge

I'm not bashin him cause hes a cop, that has nothing to do with it. I'm just sayin this is one person whos serving and protecting and yet doesn't know the definition of legalization. If it was legalized and taxed it would be controlled and it would be sold in legit stores instead of out on the street unregulated. The fact that pot is illegal has already created less space in jail, backed up courts, and theres thousands of marijuana offenders throughout the country waiting to be sentenced.