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Pot, Poker and Prohibitionism: Do Republicans Want To Be the Party of Unprincipled Killjoys?
Townhall.com ^ | April 16, 2014 | Jacob Sullum

Posted on 04/16/2014 8:57:26 AM PDT by Kaslin

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To: Kaslin

Answer: Sheldon Adelson pays the bills.


21 posted on 04/16/2014 9:55:47 AM PDT by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
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To: All

I noticed that redefinition of marriage wasn’t brought up. A lot of people say, “I think the government should just get out of marriage, period. “You hear that a lot. I can’t get my mind around how it’s supposed to work.

As far as things like marijuana and gambling go, I hope that these wouldn’t be ploys to attract a younger demographic to the party. These things seldom go well. If a candidate or politician actually has a principled case for the position, then state it. If things are bumped down to the state level, and some certainly should be, then politicians at that level will have to deal with them. Those people, state legislators, for example, have party affiliation. So whatever it is will still become associated with one party of another.


22 posted on 04/16/2014 10:02:32 AM PDT by crazycatlady
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To: 1010RD

Using that logic you must want to bring back the 18th amendment.


23 posted on 04/16/2014 10:04:13 AM PDT by DManA
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To: Kaslin
So why on earth is Lee co-sponsoring a bill introduced last month that would ban online gambling throughout the country...

good question for Goober Graham ,too.

24 posted on 04/16/2014 10:06:17 AM PDT by TurboZamboni (Marx smelled bad and lived with his parents .)
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To: DManA

Using that logic you want to bring back opium dens?


25 posted on 04/16/2014 10:13:26 AM PDT by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
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To: 1010RD

There is no logic in this topic. It is 100% emotions.


26 posted on 04/16/2014 10:20:43 AM PDT by DManA
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To: DManA

True. What’s that have to do with adults smoking pot?

................
I was in the first generation of pot smokers at my high school back in 1970. It came through one summer. There was a big cultural change. Suddenly half the school kids were smoking pot.

I don’t know how it was in the 1990’s.

But these days the kids at my old high school are back to smoking pot again.

It did me no good in the 1970’s. It took me two decades to kick the stuff and beer and cigarettes and such. Those days are lost to me.

I regret the time I wasted on cheap thrills.

Pot will do the newest generation of pot smokers no good.

My desire to keep the laws firmly set against pot smoking is just a desire for younger folk not to make the same mistakes I made.

Do you draw the line of illegality at heroin? Or cocaine? Or LSD? Or Mescaline? Or crack? Or are those ok too.

This is an important question. Once you redraw the line in the sand. It make the new line even tougher to hold.

For example, the liberals have all but normalized homosexual marriage. Next up is polygamy. Are you ok with polygamy?


27 posted on 04/16/2014 10:26:33 AM PDT by ckilmer
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To: Kaslin

I don’t like pot and gambling but Republicans look old when they tell people under 30, sorry, you’re not allowed to do that on our watch.

That is what conservatism passes for these days - telling locals Washington is always right.


28 posted on 04/16/2014 10:37:55 AM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: ckilmer

Point is, when you delegate this issue to the Federal Government citizens have no say in what will be legal and what won’t. So arguing which pallet of drugs citizens should be allowed to partake in is irrelevant. We don’t make that decision. Bureaucrats do.

If there is enough political pressure, yes heroine would be legalized. Alcohol might be made a prescription drug.

So arguing which pallet of drugs citizens should be allowed to partake in is irrelevant. We don’t make that decision. Bureaucrats do.

All I’m saying is we should keep this power to ourselves. The decisions should be made in our respective state legislatures.


29 posted on 04/16/2014 10:39:26 AM PDT by DManA
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To: ckilmer

>>>>It did me no good in the 1970’s. It took me two decades to kick the stuff and beer and cigarettes and such. Those days are lost to me.

I regret the time I wasted on cheap thrills.

Pot will do the newest generation of pot smokers no good.<<<<

Having been in the same neighborhood, I agree with your sentiments. And I witnessed the same changes you noticed in my small town in Connecticut circa 1973. I also regret my pot smoking period. I feel grateful to have gotten out as well as I have.

However, pot emerged despite stringent laws against it. The famous Rockerfeller laws in New York did not stop it. What is needed is strength of will and a change of attitude, such as what is happening with tobacco. The culture has to change. Of course, that ain’t happening with the current push towards legalization and relaxed standards for pot use. The predictable (and unpredictable) consequences will emerge to curse our descendants. Until then, though, those of us with sad experiences will have to pave the way for the eventual realization that the stuff is crap.


30 posted on 04/16/2014 11:18:13 AM PDT by redpoll
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To: ckilmer

Those days are lost to me.

Presumably what you were doing was illegal. Would your life have been better if you’d been caught, convicted, and spent time in a Federal or State penitentiary?


31 posted on 04/16/2014 11:25:57 AM PDT by DManA
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To: eclectic

32 posted on 04/16/2014 11:28:57 AM PDT by Svartalfiar
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To: ckilmer

Hmm... I’m pretty sure when the Feds wanted to ban alcohol, it required a Constitutional amendment to do so. What makes marijuana any different?


33 posted on 04/16/2014 11:30:27 AM PDT by Svartalfiar
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To: DManA

Presumably what you were doing was illegal. Would your life have been better if you’d been caught, convicted, and spent time in a Federal or State penitentiary?
................
Now there is a tough one.

I finally quit at age 40 by coming to Jesus. But I was motivated to quit because I knew I would die by age 50 if I didn’t quit. I was afraid of dying.

However, if I’d had the crap scared out of me at a younger age I might have stopped at a younger age.

Hard to say.

My pastor says most young pot smokers won’t stop until the crap gets scared out of them by some close encounter with death or a close encounter with the law.

I tend to agree with him because that was my experience.


34 posted on 04/16/2014 11:45:08 AM PDT by ckilmer
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To: Svartalfiar

We have Executive Orders for that now.


35 posted on 04/16/2014 11:50:39 AM PDT by TurboZamboni (Marx smelled bad and lived with his parents .)
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To: DManA

Mine is based on facts, logic and personal experience. Although, emotions aren’t bad, per se. They have their place in debate.


36 posted on 04/16/2014 1:22:24 PM PDT by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
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To: Responsibility2nd
I can’t decide if this article is an attack against Republicans or Tea Partiers. Probably both since it has a libertarian smell to it.

libertarians hold up a mirror to that is hard to look into for Republicans and some tea partiers. Mostly because those two don't really have a problem with big, intrusive, in your face abusive government...just so long as it's not goring their oxen. Those two seem content to use all that power to punish their political opponents and people who aren't living the way they think they should. Leaving people alone and minding their own business just aren't part of the approved script.

37 posted on 04/16/2014 1:44:00 PM PDT by Orangedog (An optimist is someone who tells you to 'cheer up' when things are going his way)
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To: The_Reader_David
How about letting the states decide matters of criminal law, whether it’s about pot, prostitution or poker? It worked pretty well back in the 19th century.

Nooooo! America was a wasteland of drug crazed, zombie rapists! It was so awful that the zombies ate all of the photographers, which is why there are no pictures of the drug crazed zombie rapists sacking cities and towns across the country! (sorry, no sarcasm tags provided to the retarded)

38 posted on 04/16/2014 1:49:35 PM PDT by Orangedog (An optimist is someone who tells you to 'cheer up' when things are going his way)
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To: Orangedog

Blah, blah, blah....

Libertarians are less relevant than even pro-amnesty RINOs.

But the fact this site is becoming less and less tolerant of you people is comforting.


39 posted on 04/16/2014 1:52:44 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd (NO LIBS. This Means Liberals and (L)libertarians! Same Thing. NO LIBS!!)
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To: ckilmer

“My desire to keep the laws firmly set against pot smoking is just a desire for younger folk not to make the same mistakes I made.”

Right. It’s for the children.
Because doesn’t every child need a good nanny?


40 posted on 04/16/2014 2:02:26 PM PDT by snarkybob
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