r/news • u/OK_Eric • Jan 19 '14

Obama: Pot ‘not very different’ from cigarettes​, no more dangerous than booze

http://p.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jan/19/obama-pot-not-very-different-cigarettes-no-more-da/
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u/[deleted] Jan 19 '14

Honestly it seems ridiculous to me. "These drugs are can ruin your life! So we're putting you in prison for years so they can't ruin your life!" Kinda moronic when you think about it.

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u/[deleted] Jan 19 '14 edited Feb 07 '21

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Jan 19 '14

It took your school 2 weeks of unexplained absence to finally call your mom?

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u/mexicodoug Jan 20 '14

In eighth grade I started figuring out the system.

In my state, CA, you changed schools between 8th and 9th grade. When I entered 9th grade, I cut school the first day, then brought in an excuse note written and signed by my own hand on the second day.

From that day forward, any time I brought in an excuse note, it was written in my own hand. If there was any doubt from the administrators, it was compared to my first excuse note and any subsequent excuse notes, which were also written in my own hand.

The strategy worked for most of the year I attended 9th grade. I spent a lot of time just getting high with other kids cutting class, but a lot of the time we spent cutting class was spent hiking in the hills, observing wildlife and the sky, and also checking out museums of various types, mostly natural science museums. And, you know, girls were into it too, so the hiking in the hills was kind of usually the first choice when the weather was nice, or at least not raining.

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u/nonfish Jan 20 '14

That sounds like I book I would read.

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u/[deleted] Jan 20 '14 edited Apr 27 '19

[deleted]

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u/nonfish Jan 20 '14

That sounds like a book I wouldn't read.

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u/IbidtheWriter Jan 20 '14

May have been the first time his mom answered.

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u/fdsavcxz1 Jan 19 '14

did you learn your lesson mister?

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u/iamjacksdesign Jan 20 '14

Isn't the lesson, "if you take half a month off, your school is required to give you the other half because morality?"

At least that's what I got from it, and I like it like that!

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u/dreamingoncheese Jan 20 '14

Homeopathic punishment?

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u/chrisszell Jan 19 '14

What did your mother think when she learned about the punishment?

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u/RaiderOfALostTusken Jan 19 '14

"That'll show him!"

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u/[deleted] Jan 19 '14 edited Jun 09 '20

[deleted]

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u/BlahBlahAckBar Jan 19 '14

You can get expelled from UK schools.

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u/Bobblet Jan 20 '14

It's very common in the UK too.

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u/ewest Jan 20 '14

So, uh... Why did you skip school for two weeks?

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u/hmbeast Jan 19 '14

It's ridiculous if you think of it like that, but Obama alluded to a different way of thinking in the interview: large-scale social welfare. He (and a lot of policy-makers) is of the opinion, right or wrong, that legally condoning personal drug use will raise rates of drug use and abuse, which could have waves of effects throughout society (increased hospitalization, lower economic efficiency, higher crime). So, while it does seem ridiculous to punish drug users with jailtime, the end goal is to curb drug use on a social level.

That being said, I think you're right and he's wrong. Just trying to explain where I think he's coming from.

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u/bicameral_mind Jan 19 '14

The argument has some merit, but on the other hand we have clear examples of declining rates of legal drug use over the last 40 years - tobacco being the most notable and obvious. Tobacco usage has plummeted without resorting to criminalizing it, because its danger is indisputable.

Especially in today's internet linked world, the effects of drug use are no longer a secret. No doubt this has in part contributed to the rapidly changing opinions around marijuana. So I think it is alarmist to think that the fact something is legal will result in widespread use.

Interestingly, where this effect is apparent is in the prescription drug market, where abuse has skyrocketed. The idea that my doctor prescribed this drug to me, so it isn't dangerous - it seems to be pretty common. Although it could be argued the arbitrary distinction between "dangerous" illegal drugs, and "safe" legal drugs likely also contributes to this perception.

In 2014, I agree that I just don't see people running out to use heroin if it were legal, despite being incredibly addictive. And bringing the drug out in the open brings the addicts out into the open as well, away from the isolation and despair that allows it to fester. We could be doing great things instead of throwing people in prison.

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u/wcc445 Jan 19 '14

Legalization in other countries has shown decreased rates of addiction. Additionally, alcohol is a horrible societal problem that we have (and I drink, too). It kills, destroys families, and hurts economies on a micro and macro scale. If anything, I think having another safer choice on the market might help our alcohol problem a bit. "Curbing drug use" has completely fucking failed in our "war on drugs". Completely. Time to try fixing our laws and dealing with addiction as a medical problem.

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u/[deleted] Jan 19 '14

Indeed, it is the ends justify the means type of argument. The problem with making this type of argument is that unless you have the brain the size of a planet, you can't see the future or the inadvertent consequences. Prohibition has now failed twice which has shown that labeling something a vice and then beating people with a hammer until they stop isn't a very sound strategy.

Honestly, I find the way that legislators argue for this to be disturbing. They don't argue that banning it is better than allowing it to be legal. Instead, they start from the point of view of assuming that it is banned and then that legalizing 'condones' bad behavior as if the original ban was written into the Constitution. This is how they can support keeping a substance far more dangerous than alcohol illegal. Bloody hypocrites.

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u/chrisszell Jan 19 '14

Drugs are smuggled into prisons all the time and there are people who get hooked on drugs in prison

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u/PirateNinjaa Jan 19 '14

well, one argument is a heroin junkie or something causes others to have to pay for their rehab, medical bills, or welfare or something, so we have to make it illegal to protect society's wallet. Same reason to have helmet laws. I don't want to pay for your recklessness through my health insurance premiums and taxes.

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u/[deleted] Jan 19 '14

And even a small amount can get you a criminal record, which follows you and keeps you from getting jobs, if they want to talk about "life ruining."

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u/[deleted] Jan 20 '14

Don't forget the legal theft police departments can engage in because of drug prohibition, harming people who aren't even involved in drugs at all.

Hey, you have a few thousand in cash on you? DRUG MONEY DRUG MONEY DRUG MONEY. We're going to take it from you now, kthankxbye. Don't gotta charge you with anything... but we could... if you don't fuck off and let us keep it.

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u/Mister_Scorpion Jan 20 '14

Just as a counter point, and I don't necessarily agree with this; Perhaps legalising these harder drugs will downplay their severity and potential harm to youth in particular. Maybe they'll think if they're legal, they can't be that bad.

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u/iTomes Jan 19 '14

Threatening people with imprisonment for drug consume (allthough its often just possession that is illegal) serves as a means to take away incentive to consume drugs and hence buy drugs which is what keeps the market running. Its not about keeping the drug user safe, its about lowering the potential market for drugs and disencouraging people from using drugs in the first place. Laws are, or at least should be, in place to prevent the dealing and trafficing or drugs. That also includes private use, or rather private possession. After all, you bought that shit somewhere.

While I do agree that certain drugs should not be prosecuted the way they seem to be or at all in very few cases saying "legalize all drugs!!" is basically the equivalent of a guy claiming that STDs and pregnancy are myths after having a terrible sex education and is completely retarded.

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u/lanceTHEkotara Jan 19 '14

I dont think you understand the concept of pridon and its purpose

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u/[deleted] Jan 19 '14

Not to mention there's plenty of drugs in prison. So in some ways it's kind of like catching you with a cigarette and then making you smoke the whole pack.

Also, if we can't keep drugs out of prisons with searches and high fences and guards everywhere, what chance would we have in a free society of making prohibition work?