cannabisnews.com: Pot Debate is Pointless, Boring and Unending Pot Debate is Pointless, Boring and Unending Posted by CN Staff on September 30, 2003 at 10:39:02 PT By Jeff Poor, Staff Writer Source: Vanguard One is the editor-in-chief of a racy pro-marijuana magazine and the other is a retired DEA agent. Not since that 1968 hit The Odd Couple, starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, has there been two more different people! It is Snoop Dogg meets McGruff the Crime Dog - it is Heads vs. Feds featuring Steven Hager of High Times Magazine and Robert Stutman, the founder of Employee Information Services, Inc.-the nation's largest management firm specializing in substance-abuse for employees-and they are both coming to a college campus near you! Am I the only person who gets bored with this debate about smoking pot? Well, there are probably a few professors that teach Public Speaking 101 who just loathe the persuasion speech portion of the semester. If it isn't creation vs. evolution, then there is a good chance it is marijuana legalization. There is just something about a Jeff Spicoli-wannabe addressing a class about all the uses of marijuana - from medicinal purposes to that absolutely adorable hemp jewelry - that makes me cringe. Hey Tommy Chong, stick to kicking the hacky sack around or dancing to Widespread Panic in your retro '60s tie-dye garb. On the other hand, I am also tired of the damn Ad Council and the Office of National Drug Control Policy with their outrageous scare tactics. Their depiction of your average run-of-the-mill recreational pot smoker looks more like a guy whacked out on industrial strength paint thinner and horse tranquilizers. Yes, public service announcements are your tax dollars at work. I am sure there are many young Americans saying, "I won't smoke marijuana because I don't want my brain to look like an egg in a hot frying pan." I really don't have an opinion either way on the legalization of marijuana, but if I had to pick a side, I would lean toward legalization on the sole basis that this topic would never have to be rehashed again. Aren't there more pressing concerns to the students of the University of South Alabama? As for the University of South Alabama, who besides the campus police are the staunch opponents of marijuana legalization? It seems like a non-issue to me. Overwhelmingly, I am sure the student body wouldn't mind being able to light up a joint. On the other hand, that would probably lead to study sessions with bong hits because some people think they "study better" when stoned, and thus the collective G.P.A. of the student body would likely decrease. People have a lot of stress these days, especially college students. Some have to balance a job, school and a busy social life and they deserve to blow off a little steam. If their outlet involves lighting up a doobie and trying to see if they can synchronize The Wizard of Oz with Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon, more power to them. It doesn't bother me one way or another. The "Pleasure Police" should really find another cause to save people from themselves if this seems like such disturbing behavior to them.Fiscally speaking, legalization would probably save the government money fighting drugs and they could focus more of their effort fighting the more deadly narcotics. They also could tax the hell out of marijuana like they do with cigarettes now. It could be like the Mississippi Hope Scholarship, but instead of funding from casinos, you could say dope paved my way through higher academia. If you're really a hard-core champion of this legalization cause, you probably should look at a 12-step program because you are devoting way too much time and energy to the usage of marijuana. This type of activism seems to be generated by a couple of possession charges or something of a similar nature. That's probably a sign you should cut back on your cannabis consumption. To make a long story short, I think this whole dog and pony show is just a waste of time. But, then again, there are probably less worthwhile causes to work for in your pursuit to make the world a better place, like PETA, for example. I guess all I can hope for is that someone just read this article completely stoned off his or her gourd and thought it was utterly hilarious.Source: Vanguard, The (AL Edu)Author: Jeff Poor, Staff WriterPublished: September 29, 2003 Copyright: 2003 USA VanguardWebsite: http://www.usavanguard.com/Contact: vanlandingham usavanguard.comRelated Articles:Marijuana Debate Gets Heatedhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16115.shtmlDEA, 'High Times' Go Head To Head in Debate http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16103.shtmlLegal or Not? Great Marijuana Debate http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15760.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #4 posted by escapegoat on September 30, 2003 at 20:40:07 PT I should add... ...that bogus doctor piece in the Citizen was not on the website either...IIRC Kegan tried to get a copy and they wanted $16...we eventually did find, and newshawk it. MAP onlu has an except, but the full article is up on the "doctor's" website now. Wow, do I hear ducks? (quack quack quack) [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by escapegoat on September 30, 2003 at 20:35:30 PT I think they meant "Jeff, poor staff writer" BTW, Ron, You're right: canada.com (which owns the Province) does leave out a lot of ourtrageous drug-war cheerleading from their online editions. I've mentioned this to a couple of people, and they seem to think it's more to do with incompetence, not malice...but I do see a pattern. They had this really bogus puff-piece my some GP in the Ottawa Citizen recently. I mean, this guy was so misinformed with outdated info on cannabis, I wouldn't want to go anywhere near him. Not too surprisingly, after some digging on his website, it seems that he's a bit of a champion for increased pay for doctors.Funny, in my life, I've noticed something: be it teachers, lawyers, or doctors, any "professional" who is overly concerned about compensation is almost always proportionally incompetent. (The mother of an old girlfriend of mine was a doctor: she nearly killed her cat by giving it human drugs when he developed a cough, but was constanly whining about how she could only afford *three* vacations in France that year because Bob Rae was "stealing her money"...yeah, okay...here's the world's tiniest violin...) [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by ron on September 30, 2003 at 13:38:19 PT My thoughts exactly, Wolfgang. "There is just something about a Jeff Spicoli-wannabe addressing a class about all the uses of marijuana - from medicinal purposes to that absolutely adorable hemp jewelry - that makes me cringe." "If you're really a hard-core champion of this legalization cause, you probably should look at a 12-step program because you are devoting way too much time and energy to the usage of marijuana." "I really don't have an opinion either way on the legalization of marijuana, but if I had to pick a side, I would lean toward legalization on the sole basis that this topic would never have to be rehashed again.""I guess all I can hope for is that someone just read this article completely stoned off his or her gourd and thought it was utterly hilarious."He may be writing drivel for a college newspaper at the present, but he probably will have a great future in presstitution.Been out of touch for a few days and tried to catch up on Marc Emery's smoke out in front of parliament last week. Hard to believe such an event could be totally hushed up by mainstream media and even the CBC. I did see last Friday's Vancouver Province, but they only had a story about a fund raiser for DARE. When I checked the archives of some papers this morning, I couldn't find any mention of last Friday's DARE story.My suspicions were aroused. Newspapers know that their sycophantic support of the drug war will draw criticism from far and wide because of reprint services like MAP. I think this kind of puff piece is only appearing in the print editions.Anyone else notice this? [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by WolfgangWylde on September 30, 2003 at 12:19:56 PT Pointless and Boring... ...until you're arrested. Then it picks up a little bit, you sanctimonious little twit. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment