David Brooks thinks you're incapable of smoking weed and not ruining your life..

It's almost as if he doesn't want the free market to do its job.. thanks for the Econ lesson though David!


Carlin has a great bit about baby boomers and how they became self-righteous and in their hypocrisy they tell kids to not make the "same mistakes" as they did. It's relevant here I think. Great bit too. frick these yuppies!

Some people become alcoholics,too...should the state go back to prohibiting it?

quote:

---

Some people become alcoholics,too...should the state go back to prohibiting it?

---

Sadly, I actually heard people wanting more regulation for alcohol

quote:

---

Sadly, I actually heard people wanting more regulation for alcohol

---

We will always have people who fear freedom.

quote:

---

I am sympathetic to Brook's analysis in one respect, C; and that is that a lot of the populous WON'T be able to exert the discipline in their psyches to tow the work ethic line. They'll end up being a drag on the overall economy. I say this, because I have EXTENSIVE experience in the pot-consumption dynamic, as such affected my own perception, motivation/willpower and values. Pot will change perspective; for the good or bad...depending on the individual. Freedom is wonderful...but only wed to wisdom and a strong will.

---

Agreed.

In regards to the "people become alcoholics" argument, I can only say that we don't need more legalized substances than we already have. It's a weak retort I know, and doesn't hold up well in a debate, but's its all I've got.

quote:

---

In regards to the "people become alcoholics" argument, I can only say that we don't need more legalized substances than we already have. It's a weak retort I know, and doesn't hold up well in a debate, but's its all I've got.

---

So should people be free to succeed or fail on their own terms or would you prefer someone to limit your freedom and tell you what's best for you?

Also, all drugs were decriminalized in Portugal about 5 years ago and drug abuse rates declined...weird, hunh?

Scarborough was going off on a rant this morning about how dumb pot makes you but then admits he has never smoked it.

People just fear things that they have no experience with

quote:

---

By making weed legal, they are creating a situation in which the price will drop substantially. One RAND study suggests that prices could plummet by up to 90 percent, before taxes and such.

---

Not buying, but hope he's right

Wow. Way to reduce his argument to a straw man.

No where in his article does he say CO should go back and make pot illegal. He simply warns that there will be consequences (my favorite lines highlighted):

quote:

---

The people who debate these policy changes usually cite the health risks users would face or the tax revenues the state might realize. Many people these days shy away from talk about the moral status of drug use because that would imply that one sort of life you might choose is better than another sort of life.

But, of course, these are the core questions: Laws profoundly mold culture, so what sort of community do we want our laws to nurture? What sort of individuals and behaviors do our governments want to encourage? I’d say that in healthy societies government wants to subtly tip the scale to favor temperate, prudent, self-governing citizenship. In those societies, government subtly encourages the highest pleasures, like enjoying the arts or being in nature, and discourages lesser pleasures, like being stoned.

In legalizing weed, citizens of Colorado are, indeed, enhancing individual freedom. But they are also nurturing a moral ecology in which it is a bit harder to be the sort of person most of us want to be.

---

Not everything that should be legal is good. If you cannot understand the difference between reading "pot isn't good for you" and "pot should be illegal" then I suggest you miss the whole point of the debate.

This is exactly the model of discussion we should have. Legalize something, then discuss the repercussions of that choice. Individuals can then follow up by making their own decision.

Pouncing on people that want to warn others that pot use may not be the best life style choice (duh) as promoting a nanny state seems at best an over-reaction and at worst counterproductive to the cause of letting adults make fully informed adult decisions.

quote:

---

Pot will change perspective; for the good or bad.

---

I honestly think weed changed me for the better.