Thursday, November 20, 2008

Tequila Sunrise


What's the saying? It's happy hour somewhere on the planet?

* * *

One of the reasons I supported Ron Paul in the primaries is because he is both practical and rational, especially when it comes to the so-called War on Drugs. The man is a doctor, so he knows first hand the damage caused by substance abuse. Still, he does not believe it is the gooberment's job to legislate what we can and cannot put in our bodies. As long as you don't make the rest of us pay for your whack on crack headed behavior, have at it.

Don't get me wrong, it's not like I want drugs legalized so I can go all Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds on myself. Other than alcohol now and then and some Vitamin I a couple times a week, I don't do drugs. I don't even smoke pot. Can't and won't. When I'm high, I get super duper paranoid and eat everything in sight. So a troop of Albuquerque's finest busting in on me while I'm slumming in pilled fleece and digging out the last remnants of Ben and Jerry's Chubby Hubby with my fingers? Not a good look por Moi.

Regardless, I remain oh-so-puzzled why marijuana, despite being one of the least harmful drugs you can put in your body, remains illegal. Certainly alcohol tattoos more insidious paths of destruction through people's lives, right? But I don't hear any Washington suits clamoring to outlaw Dewar's.

Think about it, what would you do if tomorrow your favorite substance or product were outlawed for no good reason other than the government, in its infinite wisdom, decided you could not be trusted with its use? Say it wasn't marijuana or cocaine, but, oh, I dunno, Coca-Cola? Sugar rots the teeth you know. Bacon? Oy. A nightmare of saturated fats. Jell-O? Red dye makes the kiddies koo-koo. Pull it from the shelves. Lipstick? Lead poisoning. High heels? Wrecks the feet. Mini Coopers? Cars kill.

Any good intention, if stretched out far enough towards some arbitrary point in an infinite future eventually just becomes oppressive.

Instead, why don't we all just do what we did when I was in high school? Back then, we had a saying about drugs and their usage: "Dude, maintain."

Too early for a shot, do you think?

26 comments:

sparringK9 said...

i can think of a whole host of things worse than marijuana that are everyday indulgences that are readily available. would you rather ride home in car with someone who had 3-4 martinis or smoked pot?

what should be outlawed is oreo cakesters!! 350 calories in one pack.. grrrrrherhahahahaa

i think golden corral should be outlawed. i see health insurance premiums go up every time i drive by and see the people coming out of there.

did you see Ron Paul grill ben bernake on tuesday. i watched in on my C-Span round up and now the masks are off. these guys just say they are going to do what theyre going to do and nobody can do anything about it.

and the american people stand there. whats next?

h said...

What is Vitamin I?

My first Troll posts were at a Marijuana Afficianado message board. They went like this:

================================

"I knew this kid, Johnny Goode. Straight A-Student. Captain of the Football Team. Then, one day, one of his friends offered him the Devil weed. "Just one toke, Johnny, it won't kill you", they said.

One week later, Johnny was addicted. He was kicked off the team and flunked out of School. He beat up his Grandmother and stole her Social Security Check to feed his habit.

A month later, he was killed by police while robbing a Convenience Store.

Another sad true victim of marijuana addiction. The end.
===============================
That post never failed to generate dozens of enraged responses. "Johnny was a PUNK! I smoke pot EVERY DAY and I've never robbed a Convenience Store". "That just proves that they should legalize it, dude!"

It never dawned on them that I was a Troll. Methinks perhaps long-term Marijuana use destroys ones sense of humor and perspective.

moi said...

K9: Yes. A pox on Ben Bernake and his ilk. I wish them a slow death by Ben and Jerry's sat fat cals. Forkers.

Troll: Methinks perhaps long-term Marijuana use destroys ones sense of humor and perspective. Bwahahahahaha! Unless they're watching Monty Python, that is.

Vitamin I = Ibuprofen.

Jenny said...

Pot: Legalize it. Tax it. Give the money to Teachers/Policer Officers/Fire Men/Women.

I watched an amazing series on the History Channel last year about the History of Drugs; Pot is illegal for political reasons. Anyone wanting a great history of stupid laws, read about Prohibition.

I agree with everything you said said and K9's comments.
For every "story" about how bad it is, there are more about cigarettes and alcohol.

(that was me above, I forget to check out of "Kim". Hee.)

Mandy_Fish said...

I hadn't smoked it in 20 years and then I did in Amsterdam. Holy crap is that stuff hardcore these days! I'm sorry, I'll be the uptight old lady on this one and say keep it illegal. And if the gov't made alcohol illegal tomorrow I'd deal with that and stop using that substance too. Would cut down on the drunk driving. And hell, it ain't good for me. Make cigarettes illegal too while you're at it. Caffeine too. I don't care. If they keep making shit that's bad for me illegal, I'll keep quitting and that's not such a bad thing.

*Shrugs*

*Braces self for unpopularity*

h said...

It's even dumber that most places ban hemp cultivation. It's a whole different thing than the High THC Content types of marijuana. You'd have to smoke a freaking truckload of it to get high.

sparringK9 said...

troll: good thing about potheads: lack incentive to steal for their habit. no motivation. they might shoplift some ice cream though.

Gnomeself Be True said...

I'm ambiguous on the idea of legalizing dope...as I am on many topics.
However, I'm all sorts of against some of the groups of people that want to see it happen.
That puts me on the NO side more often than not.

I will say though that today's pot is about a billion times stronger than the stuff I bought in HS.

moi said...

A.B.: I bet the only reason Big Poppa dated Kim was he musta been high on something. And I don't think it was Mickey's Big Mouth.

Mandy: But what about the Louboutins, dahlink? What if they took THOSE away? Shudder.

Troll: The gooberment's volume of dumb ass laws? I don't think a black hole could deal with that level of denseness.

K9: Nah, they'd just sit outside the 7-11 in their V-Dubs and trade ya some smudge sticks for it.

Iamnot: That's cause it's Super Pot! You know we Americans, always striving for bigger and better.

czar said...

(with apologies to moi)

Stop. Fingers. From. Typing.

Jenny said...

There are medical merits to smoking pot and please no one tell me otherwise... unless you've lost a family member to cancer and watched what a joint did to their ability to function somewhat normally. (Stanford docs were handing out joints in the hospital to my BIL.)

Bwahah to K9.

Iamnot - I stand behind the legalization of it. xoxox. Are you scared of me? And I agree pot is stronger nowadays... but how would you know? ;-)

P.S. and just so no one thinks I believe all drugs should be legal... I don't. My Mother taught me that even presciption pills are deadly.

Mandy_Fish said...

Take SHOES away? Well now you're just talking nonsense!

moi said...

Czar: No, no. That would be: Stop fingers. From. Typing.

A.B.: All the really, really good stuff is prescription. Go figure.

Mandy: Phew. Glad you're on board with THAT one, missy.

czar said...

Having reread your post, I was caught by this comment:

Any good intention, if stretched out far enough towards some arbitrary point in an infinite future eventually just becomes oppressive.

I worked on a very interesting book a few years back that made essentially the same point -- finally saying that even hardcore pacifism could ultimately become evil because of the evils it would allow to take place.

Wicked Thistle said...

1) Never. Too. Early. For. A. Shot.

B) Funny, I was just pondering this topic yesterday. You'd think I'd have more to add to that, but...no.

Aunty Belle said...

Heh.

Double Heh.

Guess whar' I come down on this?

Mandy, Darlin' can we'uns can huddle together an take the tomatoes?

Looky, heah's the thang about marijuana, it ain't easy to get it outa yore system. Alcohol metabolizes rapidly--or ya might vomit it up. No matter--tie one on an 24-36 hours later its gone.

But weed by products is stored in yore fat cells, folks. That means ONE joint is still in yore system 30 days after the buzz. Smoke one a day and it is cumulative. Niiice.

Fer us lady-folk it is even worse--since our fat/muscle ratio is heavier on the fat than men-folks.

Medicinal use administered by medical personnel might be another story--ain't up to speed on that, so I ain't informed enough to say much.

Legalizin' would be a horrendous move--every legal substance gits down to younger kids--marijuana is PSYCHOLOGICALLY addictin' --that is, yore desire to be mellow can become so acute that like any other psych obsession, it rules yore life. Doan want no kids havin'easy access to weed afore their personalities and emotional health is set on "adult" mode.

Moi, they ain't outlawin' Lou's shoes...only CROCS!!!

Aunty Belle said...

Dawg, mebbe the American people is pot smokin' too much--loss they incentive to stand up to the fat cats--or, BO is a former user, so they ain't bothered by washington's doin's...they think BHO will solve all.

moi said...

Wicked: Okay, are you and Czar in cahoots to make fun. Of. Moi?

Aunty: I'm not disputing the fact that marijuana, if abused, doesn't have detrimental effects. ALL drugs do, and in my opinion any desire to escape responsibility from your life on a long term basis is harmful. But my point is, why this relatively harmless weed, in comparison to, say, alcohol?

I know a long term pot user, daily, 25+ years. I also know a long term alcoholic, daily drinker, 20+ years. The pot user, while not problem free (who is?) is nonetheless a responsible, business-owning, relationship nurturing member of society. The alcoholic on the other hand is right now as I write this struggling for his life in the hospital and has so damaged his central nervous system, he will most likely never be able to hold down a job. Or stay sober for that matter. I imagine the end of the line for him is a slow withering away out on the streets.

Nothing is worse than the abuse of alcohol in my opinion. Yet it's as legal - and available to all age groups – as any other drug out there today.

NYD said...

Shit, I don't need to spark 'ol doobie anymore. If I want to get stupid all I need to do is whack myself in the head with a stick a few times.

When it comes to anything, making it legal or restricting it's use doesn't really affect the public. People will find a way to get what they want. Speakeasys thrived during prohibition and even helped put a president in the Whitehouse.

Anonymous said...

It's not what you do. It's how you do it.

I smoked dope daily for 20 years, did well at work, maintained a marriage, raised two good kids . . . and was psychologically addicted and had lost all self-esteem because of it. This is not everyone's story, but mine. I ended being disgusted with myself because there was an entity controlling me that I could not control. All you posting libertarians should appreciate this perspective.

So I end up in NA, which gave me a new way to live and because of which I maintained a clean and sober status for a little over 10 years, now gone.

Marijuana was my drug of choice, but in a room of heroin and crack addicts there was still a lot I could relate to.

And while I've not gone back to smoking dope, I'm finding that I like alcohol a lot better than I used to. I virtually never drank during those 20 years, and I don't drink it to excess now -- only enough to give me the high that the old-time reefer used to. Yes, I've heard too that the modern crop bears no resemblance to the old stuff. And best that I stay away from it.

Should it be legalized? Using the logic that alcohol, tobacco, etc. are already legal, of course it should be legal. Excessive use of alcohol destroys the health and often interpersonal relationships, and tobacco is the only product that if used as its marketers intend can only lead to an earlier death.

Long-term marijuana use? Personally, my memory is shot all to holes. There are vast elements of my past with which I have no connection.

VintagePurseGal said...

OK, I hate to get all parental here, but if I found out my kids were doing drugs--ANY drugs, including pot--I'd be extremely upset. I don't like when they abuse ice cream, either. But I'd rather see them a little overweight than stoned.

moi said...

NYD: And all I need to get stupid is the Shoe Salon at Bergdorf's. Everyone's got their poison.

Anonymous: Thanks for sharing your story. Cigarettes were Moi's drug o'choice. Once I realized, after 20 years of merrily puffing away, that I couldn't imagine myself drinking my morning cup of coffee without one, I knew I had no control whatsoever over the damn things, which pissed me right the fork off, so I quit then and there. I still miss smoking terribly, though. That's the kind of grip those things have.

Wendy: I agree with you. My condoning the decriminalization of currently illegal drugs in no way condones their USE, either by adults or children. And certainly, they should always remain, as does alcohol, forbidden to anyone under 18.

czar said...

Moi: That would be 21, unless you're in a state that doesn't want federal highway funding. I'm not sure there are any.

Interestingly, there is a movement among many university presidents to have the drinking age lowered back to 18. I think they are tired of the liability issues.

Jenny said...

Anonymous and Aunty speak to an important thing...PSYCHOLOGICALLY addictive drugs (which includes alcohol and chocolate.) When any substance replaces coping mechanisms, more than just your memory or liver are affected.

But we cannot mandate good sense - just like you can't tell someone NOT to turn their house into a cash machine and spend money on crocs.... and busting a cancer patient for 1/2 ounce isn't the kind of drug dealers and criminals that are doing the real damage to our children and society.

Legalize it. Tax it. Take the money and give to Police Officers to bust the real criminals.

Doris Rose said...

Very interesting discussion.

The Poet Laura-eate said...

The trouble is that drugs DO have an effect on society.

Even weed makes people dopey, slows their responses when driving, and has the cumulative effect of making them less caring about others/less likely to volunteer or offer their help to others.

Even if drugs don't always lead to obvious social breakdown and crime, they are contributing in subtle ways every day to a worse and worse society where we fragment and cease to interact meaningfully with one another.

Escapism (in all its forms)is a worrying syndrome.