Legalizing pot, endorsing stupidity: DiManno

Locutus

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Jun 18, 2007
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In drug-dabbling days of yore, there was one narcotic that I knew from the get-go could be my undoing: heroin.

With the possible exception of sex, there’s no euphoric feeling on Earth so sweet as a smack rush. And while I don’t accept that dipping into any drug for an experimental adventure — not crack, not methamphetamines, not LSD — will automatically predispose an individual toward addiction and a life of ruin, which is what the drug interdiction racket would have you believe, there’s no denying the siren song of heroin nirvana as a seductive compulsion.

Three times and out, I decided. Also, needles are creepy, even when injecting subcutaneously rather than into a vein.

So, no, I don’t necessarily view illicit drugs as an absolute and unequivocal scourge, though well aware of the harm caused to chronic partakers and society at large, especially where demand transects with supply — the criminality of trafficking, the inefficacy of gazillions spent on law enforcement.

But of all the substances available from your corner dealer, or your office connection, the most dimwitting, the dummy-down rope-a-dope champion, is cannabis.

Not a single habitual user I’ve ever known has been enhanced, augmented even slightly in personality or as good company, by weed. You may think you’re being clever and witty, but you’re merely imbecilic. Mellow, no doubt, perhaps de-stressed — or, if consumed for medicinal purposes, cushioned against pain and depression, thus perfectly acceptable and already legal for some 14,000 registered users in Canada.

Otherwise, it is the stupid of highs.

I trust Justin Trudeau will give dope a wide berth because he’s already the political embodiment of stupid, a callow fellow who’s parlayed genetic pedigree — and not much else — into public office, the putative saviour of the federal Liberal party. Cute but silly, Liberal-lite on policy and vision rather than the transformative figure plumped by Grits yearning for a return to preeminence.

Four years ago, as a rookie MP, Trudeau voted in favour of Bill C-15, which was the first attempt by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives to establish mandatory minimum sentences for pot possession. After twice punted on the parliamentary order paper, the Tories finally passed the law in 2012 as part of an omnibus crime bill.


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Legalizing pot, endorsing stupidity: DiManno | Toronto Star

Rosie got it this time.
 

Cliffy

Standing Member
Nov 19, 2008
44,850
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Nakusp, BC
Rosie got it this time.
Yup, Rosie done got an opinion. Yup! Entitled to it and since you agree, so are you. Is she right? Well, if you agree, then she's right. If you don't agree, she's full o' crap. To me she is just contributing to the schism in the Canadian psyche, the divide and conquer mentality of those who seek to be in control of other people's lives by pitting neighbour against neighbour over stupid and meaningless arguments.

Harper's anti pot stand is counter productive, counter intuitive, cost ineffective and increases the divide between neighbours. The Harper Conservative agenda is a fanatical fundamentalist Christian agenda. The man and his cabal are dangerous to the freedoms and rights of Canadians. His pot laws are as draconian as his personal beliefs. He is smart, I'll give him that. He has implemented his agenda so slowly and incrementally so as to lull some people into a false sense of security, easing the pain of the lose of freedoms by snipping away at them a little at a time. If I believed in evil, I would say he is evil. Instead I just think he and his crew are plain ol' psychopaths.
 

Locutus

Adorable Deplorable
Jun 18, 2007
32,230
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Yup, Rosie done got an opinion. Yup! Entitled to it and since you agree, so are you. Is she right? Well, if you agree, then she's right. If you don't agree, she's full o' crap. To me she is just contributing to the schism in the Canadian psyche, the divide and conquer mentality of those who seek to be in control of other people's lives by pitting neighbour against neighbour over stupid and meaningless arguments.

Harper's anti pot stand is counter productive, counter intuitive, cost ineffective and increases the divide between neighbours. The Harper Conservative agenda is a fanatical fundamentalist Christian agenda. The man and his cabal are dangerous to the freedoms and rights of Canadians. His pot laws are as draconian as his personal beliefs. He is smart, I'll give him that. He has implemented his agenda so slowly and incrementally so as to lull some people into a false sense of security, easing the pain of the lose of freedoms by snipping away at them a little at a time. If I believed in evil, I would say he is evil. Instead I just think he and his crew are plain ol' psychopaths.

Did ya read it cliff? Sheeesh. :lol:


Now, if Trudeau really wanted to be bold — triggering an enlightened conversation — he should float the idea of decriminalizing, not legalizing, all illegal drugs, from cannabis to heroin. Addiction would be best addressed as a health issue and not a matter for law enforcement. Too much money has been spent in a vain attempt to dismantle criminal drug empires while targeting the (relatively) nickel ’n’ dime end of the operation. On the street, lives are lost every week in turf battles among those who view trafficking as entrepreneurship with guns.


Trudeau advocates making government the pusher.
 

lone wolf

Grossly Underrated
Nov 25, 2006
32,493
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In the bush near Sudbury
Complete legalization is a step too far - but it would certainly wreck a getting-away-with-it buzz. Anything that takes profit from organized crime is a good thing. Like any greedy business, dealers will overlook quality in favour of quantity - especially when given free rein as it is now
 

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
120,249
14,867
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Low Earth Orbit
Did ya read it cliff? Sheeesh. :lol:


Now, if Trudeau really wanted to be bold — triggering an enlightened conversation — he should float the idea of decriminalizing, not legalizing, all illegal drugs, from cannabis to heroin. Addiction would be best addressed as a health issue and not a matter for law enforcement. Too much money has been spent in a vain attempt to dismantle criminal drug empires while targeting the (relatively) nickel ’n’ dime end of the operation. On the street, lives are lost every week in turf battles among those who view trafficking as entrepreneurship with guns.


Trudeau advocates making government the pusher.
No matter how the picture is painted, no matter the drug of choice, addiction will always stay at 4% of the population. Legal illegal or in limbo booze or heroin. 4%. That is fact you can take to the bank.
 

Zipperfish

House Member
Apr 12, 2013
3,688
0
36
Vancouver
I don't see the problem with endorsing stupidity. Heck you can watch those awful failblog videos and see stupid people completely screw themselves up, all perfectly legally.

These ediotiral writers are so good at putting together these convincing-sounding rhetorical arguments and they can only be seen in their true ridiculous light when you pull back a bit. "I get heroin but I don't get pot." Well, you know what, in my drug-dabbling days it never even occurred to me to stick a needle in myself to get high, and I can't say, in my dotage, that I really feel like I missed out.

Pot doesn't kill people and people don't kill to get high off it. It is mostly harmless, and harms the users more than anyone with little societal cost. For a few, it is habit forming. Most people just outgrow it.

Also, decriminalization in other jurisidctions has not resulted in the bureacracy she predicts. But again, it is the habit of editorialists not to do any research, just make confident predictions based on scant knowledge.