Posted on 04/21/2014 6:23:08 AM PDT by Kaslin
Sure… Sunday was Easter Sunday (the most important day of the year for the world’s 2-3 billion Christians). But, c’mon! It was 4:20 dude! And while millions of Americans flocked to their churches and Cathedrals, the Denver Post thought the front-page story of the day ought to be Colorado’s annual “toke-out” at Civic Center Park in Denver. Heck… The 15 year anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting was even pushed back to accommodate the “high times” of Civic Center potheads.
Living a mere handful of blocks from Denver’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, I can personally attest to the contact high received by Colorado’s largest Catholic congregation on their way to Easter Mass. (I also assume that a decent portion of the congregation took communion simply because they were starting to get the munchies.)
The Post’s decision to highlight the illegal marijuana smoke-out (getting blazed in public is still frowned upon by authorities... yeah, even the ones in Denver) underscores New-New-York’s divorce from propriety. And, no: I’m not about to rail against pot legalization… But, I’m not really going to defend it either…
Colorado’s experiment in drug legalization isn’t really the prominent issue for most traditional conservatives. After all, it’s somewhat difficult to argue with libertarians on things like marijuana prohibition. (Not because they’re right… It’s actually just frustrating because they tend to be a little high.) The big question on the minds of most marijuana skeptics, is whether or not we are applying an adequate amount of scrutiny to “Mary Jane.” After all, cigarettes come with Surgeon General Warnings. Alcohol comes with some pretty serious restrictions on consumption. Even Sudafed requires scrutiny from an administering pharmacist.
Yesterday, while millions of Christians celebrated the Resurrection of the Lord, potheads descended on Colorado’s capitol building to light up a joint. It was 10 in the morning when I caught the whiff of Colorado’s new state plant wafting from Civic Center while I walked to the Cathedral (yeah… I go to the late Mass). If I showed up with a group of drinkers in Civic Center, on any Sunday morning, to drink beer and proclaim my right to indulge in alcoholic beverages – the only news story written would be about the group of drunkards who were arrested over the weekend in front of the Capitol building. And that story would be quickly followed up by an intervention, and my first sobriety chip.
Even Saint Patrick’s Day (the drunkard’s very own 4:20 style holiday) sees a different perspective on alcohol consumption than the Post’s celebration of downtown Denver potheads. Drinking a beer on a public street? Arrested. Being visibly intoxicated in a public place? Ticketed, arrested or escorted out. Coverage of Denver’s St. Patrick’s Day festivities are generally told through the creative narration of police reports – not front page puffery.
I mean, most of us would agree: People who feel like getting wasted on 40’s and handles of tequila at 10am on a Sunday morning are usually encouraged to go to meetings. Most doctors tend to hand out pamphlets on the dangers of alcohol if you admit to having more than three alcoholic beverages each day. But potheads are invited to appear on the front page of Denver’s only hometown paper… And the rest of us are supposed to shrug our shoulders and roll our eyes as hipster yuppies “blaze one” in downtown Denver on Easter Sunday.
So, maybe we should reevaluate how we look at Colorado’s new tourist drug before getting too excited about legalization. And, maybe, a rearrangement of the Post’s priorities should be in order as well.
Happy Easter 4:20, Colorado!
Hey, now that we’ve used the publc schools to make the next generation ignorant, let’s get them stoned as well.
.....Oh PLEASE!
In just one generation, they have created a country in which decent people would not care to live. And they celebrate the accomplishment non-stop.
We had a big discussion about this on Easter Day around the table because one of my relatives is planning to move from Rocky Mountain High to Missouri next weekend. The relatives that are planning to help her are a little concerned that she won’t leave her weed in Colorado and that someone will get arrested around Goodland, KS where apparently the police and sheriff have stops for cars coming in from Colorado.
That being said, if a large swath of the population wants to anesthetize themselves with wacky weed, I say let them. They are chill, sleepy, eat a lot and generally don’t cause much trouble.
I don’t want to fry my brain with it, but I am not opposed if others do.
I predict Colorado’s little experiment will have consequences they didn’t expect. I imagine we’ll more fully understand where the phrase,”going to pot”, came from after seeing a few years of the effects of legalization.
I will NEVER step foot in that state. Not even a connecting flight.
These stoners make perfect tools of the state.
Good point.
To all concerned, I would keep up on the race for Governor in CO. and especially the number one Republican Candidate, Mike Kopp.
http://www.coloradoforkopp.com/
“They are chill, sleepy, eat a lot and generally don’t cause much trouble.”
Gang-bangers smoke a lot of weed. It doesn’t just make you mellow, it also can make you psychotic.
Weed was made illegal for a reason. It got to the point where all people wanted to do was “sit around the house, get high and watch the tube” so to speak.
The fact these people blazed up in public speaks to the apparent problems, as the writer points out. The whole weed legalization argument was based on “What people do in their own homes is none of the government’s business”. Well, this wasn’t anyone’s home.
As with the author of this commentary, I lived a few blocks away from the Cathedral and the Capital Building when I lived in Denver in the early 1980s. The neighborhood is called Capitol Hill and a lot of young people lived there when I was there and it was not unusual to smell pot smoke while walking around.
What a spectacle. Pot smoking being promoted by the government. Are the democrats really that desperate for the votes?
By that logic almost everyone celebrating St Patrick's day in countless towns are alcoholics. I remember starting drinking at 7-8am in Scranton, PA before the parade. People are always stumbling and vomiting by 10am.
Drunks have their drinking holidays. 4/20 is the smoker's holiday.
Drug warriors and anti gunners are exactly the same - they both shed fact and logic like ducks shed water.
Or more accurately, did not think through. I am more interested in the economic debate put forward by libertarians which I lean to. One of the predictions of my economic model of legal pot would be that illegal pot would increase in Colorado because the state following tobacco laws, would make pot so expensive people would revert to illegal pot. This was not a difficult economic predictor given that when the state increases taxes on tobacco we see increase in bootlegging cigarettes from other states, Canada and just unstamped packs.
From articles I have read, my prediction has come true that illegal pot and organized crime has increased in Colorado. Obviously, high prices in the legal market have created demand for a lower cost alternative.
But it maybe worse than I predicted. I read that tax revenue is double than anticipated. This would indicate a "win" for the pro-legal crowd that hoped by legalizing pot that at least the state would get taxes. However, this could also mean a win for social conservatives who predicted that legalizing the drug would create more demand. (some of the taxes can be attributed to pot tourism). More demand means greater potential for the black market.
Exactly. And FR is filled with drug warriors who simply don’t have a clue about the consequences of the WOD
“Weed was made illegal for a reason.”
Yes, to easily arrest people who were against the corrupt government. Also to keep alcohol/tobacco taxes coming in.
Every negative you can say about pot can be found even worse in alcohol, tobacco and Rx pills. Unless government bans ALL the far more dangerous/addictive/toxic substances too, pot prohibition is just another obvious case of government corruption for money and control.
It’s not for our health, it’s not for road safety, it’s not for productivity, it’s not for the children. It’s just another case of robbery and citizen abuse. Period, end of story.
Today is national surprise drug test day. :=)>
“Every negative you can say about pot can be found even worse “
Perhaps not. Colorado will be the canary in the coal mine. Do stoners just go on the government dole and smoke dope all day? Remember, there is still weed being sold on the street which I think is still illegal. What to do?
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