Posted on 07/11/2013 11:31:53 AM PDT by Kaslin
California's marijuana advocates need to inhale a breath of fresh air and take a long look at their judgment -- or lack thereof.
On Monday, I attended the "International Summit on Cannabis" news conference at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco to hear why Vicente Fox, former president of Mexico, supports legalizing marijuana as a means of curbing drug cartel corruption and violence. Also onstage were Oakland medical marijuana biggie Steve DeAngelo, a Washington state lawmaker, a budding marijuana venture capitalist, an attorney -- and Oaksterdam University Executive Chancellor Dale Sky Jones and her 2 1/2-year-old son.
What, I wondered, is a little kid doing sitting next to a world leader at a news conference about legalizing marijuana (unlike, say, an event for juvenile diabetes, early childhood education or a policy matter that really is about kids)? And the answer was: pretty much whatever he wanted, wherever he wanted.
Like any toddler asked to sit quietly for an hour while a bunch of adults do nothing but talk, he got tired of sitting still. He fidgeted, ran behind the speakers, scooted off the riser, lunged toward the stage and generally tried to amuse himself. He wasn't having a tantrum, but he was highly distracting.
I am not faulting the boy. He's still in diapers. No, I wondered: Did anyone at the pot summit realize that it's sort of disrespectful to have a kid fidgeting and running around while a former leader on the world stage is talking policy?
Everyone has seen parents who treat their children like accessories and drag them where children do not belong. But seeing a kid at a presser while the former president of Mexico discussed drug violence in his country? For me, that broke ground.
When Jones spoke, she told reporters that legalizing marijuana for medical and recreational use is "about the children." And: "This little one is a constant reminder to all of us why we're really here."
Not one participant -- not Fox, not DeAngelo, not the state pol, not the money guy -- bothered to say that legalizing marijuana would not be a boon for tots. Would-be marijuana mogul Jamen Shively stressed that he supports "adult, responsible use" of cannabis. So didn't any of these guys ask: Why was a toddler onstage?
Jones told me that she had not expected to participate in the press event, so she didn't arrange for a sitter. She also said that as a working mom, she frequently brings her son to pro-marijuana events.
"Officially, I am kind of stunned," she said. "You're the first person to make me feel ashamed for being a mom in public." Most people, she added, think it's great that she advocates legalizing marijuana as a mom with her young son at her side.
Not I, and I voted for the 2010 California ballot measure to legalize marijuana. I went to the news conference expecting to write about drug violence in Mexico, as I have done before and will do again. But I walked out wondering what these advocates, who want to convince the public that legalizing marijuana would improve civil society, were thinking. But I don't think they were thinking at all.
You can not legalize one drug and proclaim that the level of violence will be curbed. Marijuana is just one part of a many flavored illicit drug pie. Take away part of that pie and the violence can only escalate for the remainder.
Legalize it all or nothing at all.
Why does smoking cigarettes cause cancer, but smoking marijuana does not?
Um, I dunno... Maybe because marijuana and tobacco have different compositions?
Cannabis and tobacco smoke are not equally carcinogenic
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1277837/
Regards,
Or, to turn it around, why is smoking cigarettes not cool, but smoking marijuana is cool?
I don’t get it why any one wants to smoke that stinking weed
Lookit what that bought us!!!!
Kennedys and Capones!
You're flunking HISTORY RIGHT NOW cause we're repeating it!
Bammys and Sinolas!
I agree! Tobacco is nasty!
Liberal idiots. Expose your kid to all sorts of crap they shouldn’t be, and then expect them to grow up to be decent adults.
same with sex perverts its all about the kids. Remember the pot festival in CO that got messy? All kinds of kids r thee re.
Many advocates pretw end otherwise but they want kids high and vulnerable
“bothered to say that legalizing marijuana would not be a boon for tots”
Perfect- we should limit the freedoms of adults because parents cant control their own children.
If you want to help tots keep their nicotine addicted parents form smoking tobacco around them. Let the government try that battle in their Jihad on Drugs.
“By your standards we should ban booze again!
Lookit what that bought us!!!!
Kennedys and Capones!
You’re flunking HISTORY RIGHT NOW cause we’re repeating it!
Bammys and Sinolas!”
My comment was simply directed at Vicente Fox’s statement that legalizing pot would decrease violence. If you agree with Fox that legalizing pot would decrease violence from the drug cartels, I disagree with you and Fox.
It seems to be a cross between people not being able to mind their own business and thinking that if they can create Nerf World, where all of the sharp edges are rounded over, they can just free-range their kids and not have to do any hands on parenting. Kind of hard to blame them on not wanting to spend more time at home with their kids. Ever meet their kids...? They're horrible people! They whine and they pout and throw temper tantrums.
So you're in favor of Bammys and Sinolas?
Because cannabis doesn't have tons of other chemicals added in processing. Cannabis bud pretty much comes to you right of the stalk after some drying. This is not the case with most tobacco.
Me either!
I tried it once, and despite the fact that, at the time, I was a long-time Pall Mall red (Smelly Pells) smoker and my “FRiends” claims that it was the “Good Sh!t” (Acapulco Gold?), it was the most foul tasting substance I have ever put in my mouth!
Convinced me not to ever touch it again!
Dale Sky Jones, mother of the baby. Gentleman of the jury? She probably smells like weed and spit up.
Kinda cute, but being a doper, probably has the IQ of a turnip.
Furthermore, compounds found in cannabis have been shown to kill numerous cancer types including: lung cancer [9], breast and prostate [10], leukemia and lymphoma [11], glioma [12], skin cancer [13], and pheochromocytoma [14]. The effects of cannabinoids are complex and sometimes contradicting, often exhibiting biphasic responses. For example, in contrast to the tumor killing properties mentioned above, low doses of THC may stimulate the growth of lung cancer cells in vitro .....
Marijuana smoke non-carcinogenic? Well, according to this study, yes ... and No. Marijuana smoke a good idea? No. And sometimes "Yes."
Marijuana was part of the pharmacopeia for centuries. (so was tobacco.)Politics aside, why not put it back and let it be available as an honest prescription.
This has nothing to do with abuse. Oxycontin is a prescription drug of great benefit, and abused every day by millions. Non-prescription marijuana, ditto.
One is a legal discussion, the other a medical discussion. Marijuana users are quite often addicts and like oxycontin addicts, are looking for a medical excuse to get high.
I never claimed that! Straw Man Argument!
One is a legal discussion, the other a medical discussion.
How about conducting an ethical discussion? What business has the gov't (suddenly) sanctioning the smoking of marijuana, tobacco, or lawn clippings? Americans should be free to use or abuse all three.
Regards,
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