Title: The Notes For My 4-20 Show
Tags: 4-20, Norml, Marijuana, Pot, Hemp, Weed, Prison-Industrial Complex, Rob Man
Blog Entry: Dear Listener: I made an effort to write out some smart notes, for this show, but when you actually listen to the show, you’ll notice that we didn’t actually say much, we just brought up a topic and riffed on it. Still, I think the show was fun in its own way, and, given the subject matter, it’s acceptable to be a little chaotic. This confusion is also one reason I decided to split my argument into three parts, so I could have guests that are sober and informative on the other two. Mistakes on this show: -Alcohol Prohibition was from 1919 to 1933 in the U.S. -I confused Barney Frank (D-MA) with Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Frank is a Democrat, Sanders is a Democratic Socialist. Now, on with the formal notes: Welcome to the big pot show. Today, we’re talking only about smoking pot for personal, self-destructive use. We’re talking about the freedom to make bad decisions. That’s what freedom is all about. How can you consider a country to even be a free country when you can go to jail for putting something in your own body? NAME THAT DRUG: I’m going to list a drug’s effect, and you see if you can guess the drug: nervousness, irritability, anxiety, tremulousness, muscle twitching, insomnia, headaches, respiratory alkalosis and heart palpitations. peptic ulcers, erosive esophagitis, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (Caffeine) collapsed veins, infection of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, cellulitis, and liver disease. Pulmonary (Heroin) high blood pressure, heart disease, and other stress-related diseases. (Adrenaline, as in skydiving) subtle impairment associated with memory, attention, and cognitive function (pot) stunted growth in teenagers, shrinking testicles, bitch tits, prostate cancer blood clotting, severe acne (steroids) Now, I want to keep the scope of today’s show very narrow; this show is talking only about marijuana. There can be a case made by our libertarian friends that all drugs, even cocaine and heroin and XTC and Roofies should be legal. I think that’s a nuanced argument, and today, we’re taking a very sober, rageaholic look at pot. We’re going to pick, as our starting point, Richard Nixon, and the Shafer Commission. I pick this point because this is the point where the really is no turning back. In 1972, President Richard Nixon, wanting to push his image of the Law and Order president, commissioned an independent investigation into Marijuana, he wanted to get past the news hype, and the exaggerated stories, and expose Marijuana for the menace it was. The only problem? The actual report said, “Marijuana isn’t so bad, and the right thing to do is to make it legal, but discourage its use, just like alcohol and tobacco.” Nixon didn’t even read the fucking thing. Instead, he went ahead with ideology, and announced he would go full steam ahead with his War on Drugs. If there is a problem, a fundamental flaw in social conservative ideology, it’s that government cannot teach morality. It’s not possible. It can only punish. Fear of punishment is not the same as making a valued judgment. Ask any law-abiding Atheist if killing is still wrong. So what is the difference between the two? Keep in mind that the results are the same: The action doesn’t get done, or, there are negative consequences. Now, for a real, easy to define crime like stealing, rape, murder, I don’t care if someone wants to rape and murder me, if he doesn’t because he fears punishment, that’s fine for me. But when it comes to more nuanced laws, like seat belts, speed limits, drinking, drugs, well, the federal government, and in some cases the state government, local, or even any government, really doesn’t have a say. People are going to do what they want. Just ask the high schools in California who have banned candy. Well-meaning laws, but candy starts popping up in a kiddie “Black Market,” at a big markup. The war on drugs is a stupid, self-contradictory, dangerous waste of taxpayer’s resources. Just like most conservative policies. You cannot legislate morality. You cannot legislate common sense. This is monumental waste of resources. We burn through between $20 and $50 billion dollars a year, depending on how you want to measure. We’ve got one out of every one hundred Americans in jail. There is absolutely no way that we, as a country, can be so violent, and so criminal, that one percent of us should be in jail at all times. We arrest over 800,000 people every year for smoking pot. Now remember, Marijuana is the top cash crop in the country, and it remains untaxed. About half of the country has smoked at one point in their lives, and the more serious drugs, like Cocaine and Heroine are cheaper and easier to get. I want to be first one to say this: If Obama is president, that means we’ll have two presidents in a row that did cocaine at one point in their lives. If you can do cocaine and still be president of the united states, there’s just no truth to the idea that drugs can mess you up so bad you’ll never be able to fix it. So, let’s cut to the heart of the matter: Are drugs so bad that they should be illegal? NO! Marijuana cannot kill you. You can’t say that about alcohol or tobacco. So what can we gather from that? Solutions: This isn’t complicated. Make it 100% legal at the federal level, tax and regulate it at the state level.
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