Why Marijuana Should Be Illegal

[Jefferson]

Why Marijuana Should Be Illegal

This is the show from Monday October 17th, 2011.

SUMMARY:

* Neighbors and Gross Negligence: Doug McBurney and Bob Enyart present arguments for why marijuana should remain illegal. God does not require society to put up with the risk of neighbors who get intoxicated, which is why drunkenness and recreational drugs should be against the law. For when the normal use of any substance makes a person intoxicated, then the government correctly outlaws and classifies that drug as a controlled substance. Thus while THC and related medications should be available on a prescription basis from a pharmacy, pot use should not be normalized and the marijuana drug should be illegal.




* Eight BEL DVDs that can Change a Person's Life! Help yourself and help keep BEL online for another year! Check out:
- Mount Moriah: Evidence for the Resurrection
- God and the Death Penalty: New Testament Support for Capital Punishment
- Get Out of the Matrix: Bob Enyart Debates a Philosophy Class
- Bible Tour of Israel: Study the Scriptures on Location with Bob Enyart
- Live from Las Vegas: Bob's Debates on the Floor of the Convention Center
- Does God Exist? Volume I (filmed at an Indianapolis seminar)
- Does God Exist? Volume II (filmed at an Indianapolis seminar)
- Bob on Drugs: A Heroin Addict Repents

Today’s Resource: Have you seen Bob on Drugs? "Caller, speak your mind..." It’s Todd, a drug addict, desperate, lifeless, and out of money, who needs help. Did he call the right place? Bob suggests a government program. Well, not exactly! Learn what the Bible says about drugs, and watch Bob offer hope and solutions, through Jesus Christ. And you can enjoy one or two of Bob’s fun and insightful DVDs mailed to you automatically, simply by subscribing to the BEL Monthly Topical Videos service! And you can check out the other great BEL subscription services!

 

[Granite]

Alcohol's more destructive, drunkenness already is against the law, and an irresponsible, illegitimate, and abusive drug war's the last thing we need.

There is not one coherent argument that can be made for pot's prohibition.

 

[Jefferson]

Alcohol's more destructive, drunkenness already is against the law, and an irresponsible, illegitimate, and abusive drug war's the last thing we need.

There is not one coherent argument that can be made for pot's prohibition.

Which one of Bob's arguments do you disagree with and why?

 

[CabinetMaker]

Drugs should be legalized and taxed just like alcohol. No, this is not a perfect solution, it is just trading one set of problems (i.e. drug wars, murder, theft, etc.) for another (i.e. driving under the influence, addiction, etc.).

I would rather take the money away from the cartels and put it back into our own economy since pharmacies would be able to sell the drugs legally. All the problems caused by prohibition are exactly the same problems we are facing with the illegal drug trade.

 

[Granite]

Which one of Bob's arguments do you disagree with and why?

Well, let's see: "God does not require society..." (You can imagine that this would be a non-starter as far as I'm concerned.)

"...to put up with the risk of neighbors who get intoxicated, which is why drunkenness and recreational drugs should be against the law." Which is nonsense: a free society is by nature a risky one (unless, of course, Bob isn't interested in anything resembling a free society in his ideal world). Then again, the sentence makes no sense for another reason: if alcohol's available for sale, you are inherently running the risk of someone abusing it. That's why drunkenness is indeed already against the law: those laws aren't on the books for the fun of it.

"For when the normal use of any substance makes a person intoxicated..."

Define "normal," or "intoxicated," for that matter. There are some folks who can't even smell weed without some kind of adverse reaction and others who function at an exceedingly coherent and effective level while high. Just as alcohol (and different kinds of booze) effect individuals on a unique and differing basis, for that matter. It's foolish to imply (although anti-weed advocates usually do) that marijuana is some kind of one-size-fits-all kind of drug.

"...then the government correctly outlaws and classifies that drug as a controlled substance." Or when the government starts an ill-fated two-pronged war on vices nearly a century ago and uses racism, lies, and propaganda to justify this "war." Or when the government realizes a drug war's a grand way to roll out an abusive, militarized borderline police state. On and on. The drug war is illegitimate, irresponsible, abusive...and extremely lucrative. Prohibition always is: for the wrong people.

 

[Sherman]

Drugs should be legalized and taxed just like alcohol. No, this is not a perfect solution, it is just trading one set of problems (i.e. drug wars, murder, theft, etc.) for another (i.e. driving under the influence, addiction, etc.).
.

The wheel is spinning but the hamster is dead... This is not a good solution and this reasoning just doesn't follow.

Using the same logic: Lets allow kids to have cherry bombs because they are going to pop them anyways. That will get rid of underground fireworks trade.

The solution is a non starter.

 

[Sherman]

The more intoxicated a culture becomes the more liberal it becomes. That is a thought. Maybe that is why liberals want pot legalized.

 

[Granite]

Using the same logic: Lets allow kids to have cherry bombs because they are going to pop them anyways.

Kids had M-80s in the Fifties and weren't the same kind of pampered wimps we have today. Are you some kind of mollycoddle or what?

 

[WizardofOz]

Why Marijuana Should Be Illegal? How about why alcohol should not be legal.

If anyone wants to be taken serious when arguing for the prohibition of marijuana, they will have to also argue for the prohibition of alcohol in order to not sound like they're holding a double standard. Want to give it a shot? Tell us why alcohol should be legal but marijuana should not.

I find it peculiar when conservatives argue for the nanny state.

 

[Granite]

Why Marijuana Should Be Illegal? How about why alcohol should not be legal.

If anyone wants to be taken serious when arguing for the prohibition of marijuana, they will have to also argue for the prohibition of alcohol in order to not sound like they're holding a double standard. Want to give it a shot? Tell us why alcohol should be legal but marijuana should not.

I find it peculiar when conservatives argue for the nanny state.

I don't. They're not "conservatives" or in favor of small government at all. Big government suits them just fine when it does what they want and controls who and what they oppose.

 

[CabinetMaker]

The wheel is spinning but the hamster is dead... This is not a good solution and this reasoning just doesn't follow.

Using the same logic: Lets allow kids to have cherry bombs because they are going to pop them anyways. That will get rid of underground fireworks trade.

The solution is a non starter.

The two are not synonymous. The illegal market for fireworks is orders of magnitude smaller than than the illegal drug market. The illegal drug trade is responsible for uncounted deaths is Mexico and many other countries around the world. It is all fueled by the huge sums of money Americans (primarily) and others are willing to spend to get high. Taking that money out of the illegal trade will destroy the cartels and gangs that currently thrive on drug money. We can tax the sale of drugs just as we do alcohol to provide for more and better police enforcement of the DUI laws.

As I said, it is far from perfect. It is a case of picking between two evils. And that is all it will ever be until we are willing to deal with the problems in society that drive people to get wasted in the first place.

 

[waterbear]

Cabinetmaker, please stop parading your bigotry against people who don't share your cultural prejudices. Your reasons for pot prohibition reflect the hypocrisy of allowing two most lethal intoxicants to continue to cause massive amounts of deaths and destruction of human lives, I'm talking about alcohol and cigarettes, while coming down like a ton of bricks on the mildest and least damaging of any known intoxicant. Try looking at actual clinical statistics showing which drugs are sending the most people to hospitals and morgues before you try to slander marijuana usage.

 

[Lighthouse]

How is a person high on pot dangerous to their neighbors?

 

[some other dude]

The more intoxicated a culture becomes the more liberal it becomes. That is a thought. Maybe that is why liberals want pot legalized.

That's 'cause pot makes you stupid and liberals are....

....

 

[Lighthouse]

Pot certainly makes people stupid; and lazy.

If a cop stops you as you're walking down the sidewalk and asks if they can search you do you have to let them?

 

[aCultureWarrior]

The more intoxicated a culture becomes the more liberal it becomes. That is a thought. Maybe that is why liberals want pot legalized.

The more intoxicated a culture becomes, the more DEPENDENT upon government it becomes. That's why liberals want pot and other recreational drugs legalized.

 

[Ktoyou]

Kids had M-80s in the Fifties and weren't the same kind of pampered wimps we have today. Are you some kind of mollycoddle or what?

Yes, true, the cigarettes were the cool thing then, not MaryJane.

 

[aCultureWarrior]

Why Marijuana Should Be Illegal? How about why alcohol should not be legal.

If anyone wants to be taken serious when arguing for the prohibition of marijuana, they will have to also argue for the prohibition of alcohol in order to not sound like they're holding a double standard. Want to give it a shot? Tell us why alcohol should be legal but marijuana should not.

I find it peculiar when conservatives argue for the nanny state.

Because consumption of alcoholic beverages isn't immoral. Getting drunk (or in the case of recreational drug use, getting "high") is.

Take a look at these statistics and tell me who is the cause of big goverment:

Evidence Of Connection Between Domestic Violence & Substance Abuse

•About 40 percent of children from violent homes believe that their fathers had a drinking problem and that they were more abusive when drinking.


•Childhood physical abuse is associated with later teen drug abuse.


•Fifty percent of batterers are believed to have had "addiction" problems.


•Substance abuse by one parent increases the likelihood that the substance-abusing parent will be unable to protect children if the other parent is violent.


•A study conducted by the "Department of Justice" of Murder in Families found that more than half of defendants accused of murdering their spouses, as well as almost half of the victims, had been drinking alcohol at the time of the incident.


•Teachers have reported a need for protective services three times more often for children who are being raised by someone with an addiction than for other children.


•Alcoholic women are more likely to report a history of childhood physical and emotional abuse than are nonalcoholic women.


•Women in recovery are likely to have a history of violent trauma and are at high risk of being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
http://www.drug-alcohol-addiction-recovery.com/domestic-violence.html

How many of these people are on public assistance? How many are in government funded drug abuse recovery programs?

If you want more government, you got it if you're for the legalization of recreational drugs.

 

[Ktoyou]

The more intoxicated a culture becomes, the more DEPENDENT upon government it becomes. That's why liberals want pot and other recreational drugs legalized.

Not so. Nobody actually wants that, other than those who fear the alternative.

 

[Granite]

Because consumption of alcoholic beverages isn't immoral. Getting drunk (or in the case of recreational drug use, getting "high") is.

Getting drunk in the privacy of your own home isn't a crime. Why should smoking pot in your home be against the law? Getting drunk in public isn't even necessarily illegal--if you don't act too disruptive and call a cab, it's not like someone can call the cops on you. So, again, why would someone getting high in public constitute behavior that is any different in any way from consuming alcohol?

Take a look at these statistics and tell me who is the cause of big goverment:

Ham-fisted fascists like you who demand more and more laws, usually. The war on drugs has caused all kinds of massive government bloat.

•About 40 percent of children from violent homes believe that their fathers had a drinking problem and that they were more abusive when drinking.

So, do you want to ban alcohol? Because every single bullet point you rattled off has to do with booze, ASC.