Plant Prejudice vs. the Constitution

PatriotPost.US ^ | Aug 13, 2008 | Jacob Sullum

[sionnsar]

And possibly even before that, but I'm no scholar of same.

[fr_freak]

Here are my options:

1. Deal w/ drug abuses like we have been doing. We fill up the jails, have drug wars (akin to Al Capone’s alcohol wars in the 1930’s), and basically don’t solve the problem.

2. We follow the Amsterdam example. We legalize it, grade it, tax it. We then get drug parties in parks, still get theft and violence, and still have people ruining not only their lives, but the lives of their families. We still don’t solve the problem.

You are missing an entire part of the equation. Let me give you your two options again:

1) We have a country with drug problems AND an unconstitutional police state.

2) We have a country with drug problems, but no associated police state, and we actually treat the Constitution as if it matters.

Is the choice still difficult to make?

[coincheck]

They have it. It is called Dronabinol(sp?) , or Miranol.

It is used by CANCER pts to control nausea. It is legal.

The active ingredient is THC.

[microgood]

This is the way any federal trial goes. Did you or did you not sell MJ? Anything else is not allowed unless it is evidence that you did NOT sell MJ. Your reasons why don’t matter, and there is no discussion of mitigating circumstances until sentencing.

Also, in fed trials I have watched, the defense can only bring up topics the prosecution brings up, defense can’t bring up a new topic. So the cancer patient was not allowed to bring up a new topic.

That is part of why I am so aghast at this trial. This reminds me of the Soviet show trial they had when our U2 pilot was shot down. No relevant facts are allowed in and outcome is predetermined.

This is part of the problem with the federalization of crime. There is not even a slim hope of any kind of Justice at the Federal level. Noone on the jury even had a clue what happened here. Under these criteria, it is despicable they even used a jury in this way. Our founders are spinning in their graves.

[Still Thinking]

Well, if you’re ever a juror in a federal case, just vote not guilty because the process is tainted.

[microgood]

Well, if you’re ever a juror in a federal case, just vote not guilty because the process is tainted.

It would depend what kind of case it is, but 99% of the cases being tried today at the Federal level are only allowed because of the Supreme Court's perverted interpretation of the Commerce Clause, and in all the cases where they have no legal jurisdiction I would automatically vote not guilty.

[douginthearmy]

Federal drug laws are unconstitutional. Conservatives are perfectly willing to usurp the Constitution when it gets in the way of their agenda and then have the nerve to complain that liberals do it. And the best part is that the conservatives are constantly pushing for beefed up federal enforcers of their pet grievances and then blink in dismay at incidents ala Waco, Ruby ridge etc. when libs have command over their troopers.

It will not be long under an Obama presidency that some guy sitting in a cabin reading his pocket copy of the Constitution will have his door kicked in by the Dept. of Homeland Security and have his entire family wiped out. And then FR will be ablaze with indignant flamefests.

But suggest abolishing the DEA and you might as well stick a needle in your vein and start porkin young boys as far as some here are concerned. And for those anti-drugnazis on their way to accuse me of being an addict, realize that I have volunteered for a job with mandatory drug testing. I not only dont use drugs but I couldnt even if the DEA disappeared tomorrow.

I don't want to use drugs. In fact I would support state bans and fairly strict drug regulations, so long as they were constitutional. I just want to live under a just government. I honestly cant comprehend why some otherwise logical and even brilliant conservatives cant seem to understand that point.

[microgood]

The politically correct fascists will literally defecate!

Actually it will probably more like the drug warrior fascists are currently reacting to medical marijuana.

[microgood]

Federal drug laws are unconstitutional. Conservatives are perfectly willing to usurp the Constitution when it gets in the way of their agenda and then have the nerve to complain that liberals do it. And the best part is that the conservatives are constantly pushing for beefed up federal enforcers of their pet grievances and then blink in dismay at incidents ala Waco, Ruby ridge etc. when libs have command over their troopers.

Well said. The problem with hypocrites is that they are unprincipled. They want what they want and do not care how they get it. As a result many from the far left and far right have much more in common than they would ever admit, but they think the specific things they believe in make the gap infinite between them.

For some reason no matter how long man has been in existence, we always eventually retreat from the Rule of Law to the Rule of Man and end up in the same place over and over again. Look how long our Constitution lasted. It barely made it to 1900, and then completely collapsed in less than 100 years after that.

I am beginning to believe that a certain segment of the population has to always be in conflict. I think if we all agreed to abide by far right principles, that still would not be enough. Same with the left. The notion of live and let live is reserved for the few who think that peace is the natural order of things.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

Actually it will probably more like the drug warrior fascists are currently reacting to medical marijuana.

There is nothing medical about marijuana.

I think it should be legalized, but don't try to con me with that "medical" bullshiite.

Smoking anything is bad for you, but this left wing political correctness with marijuana, drugs and tobacco pisses me off.

And if you want to allude to me being some sort of a fascist, you have made an enemy...

The druggies, like the sex perverts, can only perpetuate an ever increasing market for their filth by molesting the bodies and minds of the young ones.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

Look how long our Constitution lasted. It barely made it to 1900, and then completely collapsed in less than 100 years after that.

Marijuana is nowhere in the Constitution.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

People should not have to inhale smoke to get the benefits of a medicine. Make it available legally and in another form.

Exactly...

I think marijuana should be legalized, but these medical marijuana pushers are lying left wing scum.

[microgood]

Smoking anything is bad for you, but this left wing political correctness with marijuana, drugs and tobacco pisses me off.

I guess you are alluding to the fact they think tobacco is evil and drugs and marijuana is OK. I agree with you on that.

And if you want to allude to me being some sort of a fascist, you have made an enemy...

I never said you were a drug warrior fascist. But they are definitely out there. Anyone who would deny a dying cancer patient or even a suffering one of whatever they want for relief is a drug warrior fascist. Marijuana was recognized by the AMA as having 31 different uses before it was outlawed in the 30s, so the notion it is not a medication and was one for 4000 years until 1937 in the US is absurd.

The druggies, like the sex perverts, can only perpetuate an ever increasing market for their filth by molesting the bodies and minds of the young ones.

The whole idea that someone who smokes pot is some evil filthy person but someone that drinks alcohol is not is absurd on its face. And the fact that marijuana is illegal is what creates the drug dealers. I have not seen too many alcohol dealers on the streets. If you believe that alcohol users and pot users are that different, you are just plain wrong. There are more extreme drugs like meth, heroin, and crack that rise to a different level, but you simply cannot make the case that alcohol is virtuous and pot is evil and filthy. That is personal prejudice and has no basis in reality. In fact, a very good case could be made that alcohol is way more harmful and evil than pot.

Your statement may have more credibility if you condemn alcohol as being filthy and evil, but I did not see that in your statements.

[microgood]

Marijuana is nowhere in the Constitution.

Prohibiting is nowhere in the Constitution.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

Prohibiting is nowhere in the Constitution.

Marijuana is nowhere in the Constitution. Not mentioned one time...

Like I said, I think it should be legal for adults like alcohol, but don't try to bullshiite me. Smoking anything is not medical, it is a health hazard.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

The whole idea that someone who smokes pot is some evil filthy person but someone that drinks alcohol is not is absurd on its face.

I never said that.

But, I hate drunks as well...

[microgood]

Smoking anything is not medical, it is a health hazard.

Chemotherapy is an extreme health hazard, but often better than the alternative. If the government would allow it, pot could be used with vaporizers or inhalers. It will help future generations but the stigma of pot will last until many of us are long gone and needless suffering will occur because of it.

As someone who buried my best friend who died of an injury related addiction to pain medications last July, pushed by the medical community, I know I will never accept the current medical profession's solutions to chronic pain. And if I ever get cancer, they can shove their opiods up their collective asses.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

Chemotherapy is an extreme health hazard, but often better than the alternative.

Chemotherapy simply doesn't work very well at all. A lot of people die from it before the cancer can kill them.

---

If the government would allow it, pot could be used with vaporizers or inhalers. It will help future generations but the stigma of pot will last until many of us are long gone and needless suffering will occur because of it.

Marijuana as a pain medication is a total crock... One good pint of Gin has more power than a pound of marijuana.

Like I said, and will reiterate repeatedly, I think it should be legal for adults like alcohol (and I would support Constitutional alcohol prohibition), but don't try to bullshiite me about marijuana as a magic drug...

[metesky]

Why is it people automatically assume that whatever the solution to a particular problem is, it has the be the same solution for everyone?

One size fits all!
;O)

[fr_freak]

Marijuana is nowhere in the Constitution.

That's correct. But what you forget is that the Constitution is an enumeration of powers for the federal government. That means that any power not listed specifically in the Constitution, is assumed to be forbidden to the federal government (also check the 9th and 10th Amendments). The fact that neither Marijuana nor drugs in general are mentioned in the Constitution means that the federal government has not been granted any power concerning drugs. If the Founders had wanted the federal government to be able to regulate drugs, they would have written it in. That is also why prohibition of alcohol required a Constitutional amendment.