Canada, Colorado, & Pot

  The two extremes of the drug debate are destroying Oklahoma. Not just culturally, but economically. The people of the Sooner state need to disregard the loud noise coming from both ditches, as we navigate out of the dire predicament our state finds herself in.

  The prosecutor/law enforcement industry loves the power to go after hippy types with the authority that our 1960s teetotaler voter base gave them. That power only grew over the next six decades. We now have pirates acting as cops and taking people's wallets, cars, and even their homes; using the abusive 'civil asset forfeiture' excuses.

  The hippy types have responded in an equally extremist fashion; claiming liberties regardless of the threats posed to public safety and child exploitation. Some of them mask their libertine lifestyles in lofty libertarian quotes.
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​ In reading up on the issue, I found a rather wise dissertation from the comments section of an 8 year old blog post.

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Legalizing all drugs is not a solution. Legalizing some drugs is.

Despite lies told to the contrary, marijuana has been proven not to have any negative effects, either short term or long term. It is not addictive, it is very cheap to grow, and as a depressant, it does not lead to crime or to “smoking and driving”, the latest lie told by the jaytotalers (as opposed to teetotalers). Canada provides a perfect example for the US – a western, civilized country with a similar culture and legal system, yet the legalization of possession has not resulted in any increase in crime; instead, being openly able to possess has actually reduced some amount of convictions.

Legalizing marijuana, and repealing all convictions stemming from its possession and use, would have numerous positive benefits. It would remove a large number of people from prisons and reduce the social stigma that a conviction puts on a person (especially for a non-violent crime). It would also give a legal outlet for those who actually want to use drugs. The myth of marijuana being a “gateway drug” has always been false, but it may turn out to be true in reverse – a gateway from illegal drug habits (methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, etc.) back to legal and non-harmful drugs like marijuana.

There is only one reason I can think of for continuing to keep drugs illegal: to use drugs and other “offenses” (e.g. being part of certain protest groups makes one a “terrorist” to the current “administration”) to create a criminal class, to cause the majority of American citizens to have criminal records. Without wanting to sound like a “conspiracy theorist” crackpot, I have to wonder if that is some political groups’ goal, to turn the majority into a criminal class that is not allowed to vote.

For the record, I hate the stench of marijuana, it smells like horse feces. I also can’t stand the users, many of whom are “party” types.

Posted by T Trimper 

   But as a teetotaler, I have realized my own past selfishness.  My personal convictions seem very sensible, so I decided;

"If my convictions are good enough for me,
then they're good enough for you too!"

  As a young fundamentalist preacher, I scoured the scriptures to find the elusive commandment from God where he bans all humanity from consuming mind-altering substances. Sadly, I could find no such disposition from the almighty. He gave warnings and wisdom, but only limited bans upon people actively on duty in public serve.

  I'm only for anarchy for those marooned on a south Pacific island. For the rest of us who share common resources, there needs to be some sensibility in our quest to celebrate the liberty our forefathers secured for us, and we must secure the same for our posterity.

We can start by acknowledging that not all the hippy drugs are the same. Some are lethal and radically addictive(liquor is one such substance).
​ But some are neither addictive or lethal. They may impair us and make us dizzy, but so does some of the playground equipment at my neighborhood park. Yet we let kids use their own prudence around the swing sets. 

  We have to face the fact that many of our laws are influenced by cultural prejudice, in the same way that my parents gave me that 'disapproving' look when I'd come home from college for holiday break and stay out past midnight with old friends; then sleeping in (past 7am).