Comment of the Week

From regular reader, always brilliant commenter, writer and attorney Eric, responding to the argument that smoking marijuana should be considered a civil right.

"Mmmmmmm--no.

Look, if I had my druthers, marijuana wouldn't just be decriminalized, it would be legalized and states would sell it the same way they do alcohol and tax the hell out of it. My state grows a lot of the stuff and we could use the revenue. And the War On Drugs corrupts law enforcement, ties up court systems with a lot of piddling horseshit, incarcerates a lot of non-violent 'criminals', creates a lot of incidental violent crime via prohibition, and has all sorts of nasty effects.

There's lots of good arguments for decriminalization and/or legalization, in short. More arguments than there are for criminalization.

But 'it's my civil right to do what I want with my body' isn't one of them. Because, you know, it's not really true: first, because society can forbid you from doing things that affect others. Second, because society can implement at least some restrictions to keep you from hurting yourself. And society can implement restrictions to protect people who can't protect themselves. So it is that society can regulate food additives, alcohol sales, smoking, seatbelts, motorcycle helmets, assorted drugs and all sorts of things that one might try and say "it's my body."

There are a number of incredibly irritating marijuana advocates in this country who will annoyingly overstate health benefits, understate health risks, and make all sorts of spurious arguments about incidental and industrial uses of hemp, when all they really want is to get high. If they confined themselves to making the argument that marijuana is almost certainly somewhere between tobacco and alcohol on the spectrum of health and public safety and that society just can't afford to keep processing minor drug offenders through the courts and incarcerating many of them, they'd be on to something. But no. They have to go on as if weed were a miracle plant and all they're concerned with is the general welfare and enlightenment of humanity, blah, blah, blah. You know what it does? It doesn't make anyone want to legalize pot, it fills people who might otherwise favor legalization with an urge to fire potheads out of a very large cannon aimed at the middle of the ocean."

That just about sums it up.

...And the Hits Just Keep on Coming

As promised just a little while ago, my latest post for the Daily Banter is now up -- seemingly in record time -- and it deals with even more backlash in the wake of my Banter/HuffPo piece on pot culture.

Here's the opening shot:

"You know, at some point I want this little debate over 'Marijuana the Amazing Wonder Drug®' to be over, I really do; the thing’s been going on in one form or another for about two months now. But I guess I can’t complain that I cross-posted the original Daily Banter piece on pot culture that I banged out a couple of months ago over at the Huffington Post and now the floodgates have opened. (If nothing else I hope it helps to bring attention to the good work being done here at the Banter.) ..."

Read the Rest Here

Quote of the Day

"It seems to me that marijuana legalization is the only civil rights issue in America where it is still acceptable to mock the oppressed by questioning the selfish motives of those fighting for equality."

-- "Radical" Russ Belville, responding to my piece on marijuana legalization at the Huffington Post

Getting high is a civil right.

You know, I love it when I don't even have to do anything.

But just for shits-and-giggles I'll do it anyway -- later today at the Daily Banter.

By the way, in case you were asking yourself: Why yes, that is Radical Russ pictured at left.

High & Mighty

Just for the hell of it I decided a couple of days ago to post my month-and-a-half-old piece on marijuana culture, with a fresh lede, over on the Huffington Post's politics page. I figured if nothing else it'd be fun to see the reaction from the HuffPo peanut gallery. Unfortunately, for the first time in my four-year history of writing for the site, a piece of mine got kind of buried instead of being afforded pretty good placement. Not quite sure why but I'm certainly not going to read too much into it.

Anyway, I've managed to eke out around 30 comments or so, so far, and as you can imagine they're all highly indignant -- and some of them, as expected, are pure gold.

Here now, a few of my favorites:

"You need to crawl out from under the rock you're buried in and spend ten minutes to actually get educated. I don't use pot in any form right now ... Hemp isn't a legitimate reason to legalize cannabis, even though you admit it's got merits? Medical use isn't legit in any situation because you have seen people abuse the system? I'm sick to death of my tax dollars being wasted imprisoning people for no good reason, big pharmaceutical companies controlling dangerous medications that are less effective, and the most green crop, hemp, being outlawed for absolutely no good reason. Do some reading, maybe you'll even manage to accidentally learn something."

-- Jeremy Echols (who then proceeded to post six links to articles, more than a few of them from NORML and such, that supposedly proved his point; by the way, Echols is, as it turns out, a serial commenter on pot legalization issues over at HuffPo)

Thanks for the advice. And it's not like there are a handful of people abusing the system here in California -- the system itself is a joke and everyone knows it. My contention is that the reason for this is that the entire notion of a medical marijuana system is a joke. Either legalize it and accept that it's something people enjoy and that they have the right to or don't -- but don't pretend that it's "medication" that some people need and others don't.

"This kind of misinformed propaganda actually does damage to the movement. This Chez guy has got to be a little embarrassed for exposing his ignorance. Peace Chez!"

-- Adobewan

And peace right back at you, hippie.

"The only damage Chez has done is to his reputation as a compassionate human being, if he ever had one that is."

-- The Walker

I didn't.

"You should of gotten high before you wrote this, it would have been more authentic."

-- madkoz

That'll do, madkoz. That'll do.

"'Pot is popular because it messes you up good -- everything else is incidental.' So? 'in the end, you're pushing for the legalization of pot because it makes you feel good.' So? Keep in mind that Morphine is legal. Valium is legal. Alcohol is legal. Recreational sex is legal. The first two have medical uses, as does Marijuana. The second two don't - they just makes you feel good. The fact that something creates a pleasant effect should not make it illegal, and unless it affects you personally, it should be none of your business."

-- DocJoseph

Yup. And I acknowledged all of this in the piece.

"'Maybe pot-smoking can ease the pain of terminal cancer' Not maybe. Not only terminal cancer but the wasting effects of HIV/AIDS patient and those with arthritis and glaucoma. 'Maybe there are religions that require it as part of their ritual' Not maybe. Just because your beliefs don't embrace this ritual, does not mean it is not valid. 'Maybe it's been used throughout the years by brilliant minds and its history is so interesting that university-level classes can be taught on it' Not maybe. Try throughout the history of mankind, Years make it sound like this spans a couple of decades."

-- Peace-riding

It eases the pain of terminal cancer because it fucking feels good. There are undoubtedly a hell of a lot of other things can perform this same impressive feat. Again, not saying marijuana doesn't have its benefits, only that if one of them wasn't the fact that it gets you high, nobody would be arguing. It's promoted for, ironically, the exact same reason it's inexplicably prohibited. As for the religious aspect -- yeah, couldn't care less about that. It's not a legitimate concern. A lot of stupid religious rituals have demanded a lot of odd and even grotesque acts and furnishings throughout history, it doesn't mean they all deserve to be made legal or considered moral.

"I guess bothering to google the facts before you blog is to much to ask of Chaz. I guess the Federal Goverment has run a Medical Marijuana program because the Feds really enjoy getting 4 Americans super messed up."

-- Nicon (whose profile icon is a guy smoking weed)

Wow. Seems like a surprisingly small program.

"Personally, I prefer some lying old fossil with his horror stories of gateway drugs to this kind of faintly patronizing hipsterish put-down. For the record, I've been smoking pot for 55 years. I don't have a medical marijuana card and wouldn't--I can get better quality, cheaper, and the government doesn't know who I am or where I live, and the respect I have for law enforcement on any drug issue has long since evaporated. The issue of legalizing marijuana, to those of us who aren't first-time users, who don't believe that it's a universal panacea, and who aren't giddy with the idea of being able to smoke it in public (because we already do), to such as us, it has less to do with obtaining the government's permission to toke up and almost everything to do with ending forfeiture, the corrupt practice of seizing property, and getting tens of thousands of otherwise harmless people out of jail. And Mr Pazienza, who is apparently unaware of the teenybopper eidolon evoked by his ecstasy use, should be ashamed for hanging his argument on the lamest of stoner stereotypes."

-- flanardiente

Yes, the lamest of stoner stereotypes. Please see several of the comments listed. As for the argument that legalization would end a governmental practice that's ruined the lives of people for no good reason -- no shit, that's self-evident and I even said so in the piece. And yeah, I did ecstasy. Did a hell of a lot of other drugs, too.

"Why doesn't he care about injustice? Or innocent people going to jail? He can't possibly think pot is worth locking people up over! That doesn't make any sense to anybody who isn't a terrible bigot and/or making money off of it. First they came for the potheads and nobody cared ..."

-- Sister Lauren

I want a bumper sticker with that last line on it.

"Oktoberfest? st patricks day? cinco de mayo? happy hour? alcohol poisoning, dui, date rape, fighting... gooooooooooooOOOOOOO alcohol!!!!"

-- sean omearar

Because it's obviously one or the other. Besides, I could easily say, "mild hallucinations, sloth, giggling like an idiot, making shitty music, being a general annoyance to anyone not high, faux-philosophical arguments that make sense only to you, your whole house smelling like hell, sitting on your couch watching How High? for the 138th time and actually thinking it's funny... goooooOOOO weed!!!" and it'd be just as dumb.

And drum roll, please -- my personal favorite:

"What is getting high?? Getting high is altering your consciousness. Altering your consciousness is a form of travel . Travel is a breaking with the routine in order to explore the enviroment in novel ways. Deviating from the preconceived routine is crucial to gain insight into our relationship to life,others and our place in the cosmos. It also provides us with the knowledge that there is more than one way to experience and live life. This is crucial in nourishing curiosity, flexibility and tolerance, all important attitudes in decreasing tensions and promoting sharing among humans. Perhaps Chaz snickers at the pairing of the word cosmos with getting high. Yet mainstream religions are well respected when they promote a quest for the Divine. Unfortunately they then hand out rules saying "And this is the only way". End of curiosity and tolerance. Would Chaz say that prohibiting travel is a legitimate issue determining who you vote for? He would say that travel is a human right, I'm sure. That only dictatorships limit travel. Yet not all of us have the means or ability to travel.Fortunately our centuries of human ancestors have passed down the knowledge of plants that can allow the most humble of us that experience."

-- tbone99

Whoa.

Well that's just, like, your opinion, man.

Quote of the Day

"If you’re basing your vote on who’s going to be president about whether or not they let you roll up a blunt then you’re just an idiot and I hope you don’t have the right to vote anyway."

-- ESPN.com Senior Writer and CNN Contributor LZ Granderson

Yup, that about sums it up.

In case you missed my recent tirade on this topic, here's the full text of the piece that was posted over at the Daily Banter.

"Reefer Madness" (Originally Published at the Daily Banter, 4.20.12)

I’ve never been a big fan of smoking pot. Yeah, I’ve done it a few times, but being that I seem to have lived by the motto “Go Big or Go Home” when it came to kicking off my storied career in drug use — diving directly into LSD and ecstasy rather than going through the various “gateways” — I always kind of found pot smoking to be a bit anti-climactic. Great, so you laughed a lot and ate too much shitty food and were often forced to hang out with idiots who spent hours engaging in long-winded discussions that employed a lot of stoner logic. Sounds like a blast. That being said, I don’t begrudge anyone their habits as long as they’re not hurting anyone else in the process, and I accept unequivocally the absurdity of demonizing a plant simply because it happens to make people feel good; the political pressure to keep marijuana illegal amounts to nothing more than the senseless perpetuation of a puritanical blue law and one that needlessly damages the lives of innocent people. If alcohol is legal I see no reason why pot shouldn’t be as well.

Over the past couple of weeks, though, Bob Cesca and I have had a little debate going on our podcast and radio show about the merits — or lack thereof, in my opinion — of the “culture” of marijuana. I’m not talking about the folks who simply enjoy smoking it on occasion; I’m talking about the organized effort — as organized as a bunch of stoned people can be, anyway — to celebrate marijuana and its many supposed merits in an effort to help it gain wider social acceptance and to essentially destigmatize it. You know, the “movement” full of people who basically take the diametrically opposing side of the argument to those who feel that pot is the devil’s weed, mythologizing it rather than castigating it, claiming that it heals all wounds and has near-magical properties that can be used in the service of mankind if the closed-minded politicians would just give it a chance. The people who actually kind of consider “4/20″ a holiday. The people who always have a dissertation ready on the history of hemp and how it’s different than the part of the plant that fucks you up. The people who swear that marijuana is medically necessary for millions and that they can prove it.

Yeah, that crap.

Here’s my issue with the marijuana culture — the, ahem, “fight” to gain national acceptance of pot beyond the fact that a hell of a lot of people use it or have used it at one point in their lives: it’s for the most part disingenuous. It’s based on a lot of near-comical rationalization, the kind of reasoning a four-year-old comes up with and rattles off when he or she wants to do something a parent won’t allow. Sure, maybe hemp can be made into all kinds of wonderful products; maybe pot smoking can ease the pain of terminal cancer; maybe there are religions that require it as part of their ritual; maybe it’s been used throughout the years by brilliant minds and its history is so interesting that university-level classes can be taught on it; the fact is none of that would make a damn bit of difference to those who advocate loudly for the legalization of marijuana and who rally around it if it didn’t get you really fucking high. If you removed the “it gets you high” element of the equation, the rest of it would pretty much fall apart because no one would give a damn. Pot is popular because it messes you up good — everything else is incidental.

Again, I have no issue with people wanting to make themselves feel good — I did drugs for years for exactly that reason, although I never felt the need to concoct a “holiday” honoring my use or to create a feeling of solidarity with other drugged-up idiots just like me — but for fuck’s sake be honest about why you like weed. You like to get high. That hemp-is-beneficial-to-mankind and I-need-it-as-medicine horseshit is exactly that: horseshit. If you require proof of the farcical nature of the latter argument, you need look no further than Venice Beach, near where I live in Los Angeles. Got a hundred bucks and a headache? Congratulations, there are 800-some-odd “doctors” available right on the shore who’ll be happy to give you a medical marijuana card — because it’s, you know, medicine.

Yesterday, the front page story at the Huffington Post was, for a time, a mildly outraged report on how the feds had cracked down on a popular Oakland pot business with the amusingly high-clever name “Oaksterdam University” and how it represented the most pronounced salvo yet in “the Obama administration’s nationwide assault on medical marijuana.” The article detailed the ways in which President Obama’s justice department had targeted medicinal marijuana dispensaries and users and even included the inadvertently hilarious line, “There’s no question that Obama is the worst president on medical marijuana,” from Rob Kampia, Executive Director of the Marijuana Policy Project. While I couldn’t agree more that expending federal resources and tax dollars on fighting marijuana use is a monumental waste, I also can’t work up a whole lot of indignation over the fact that Barack Obama isn’t doing right by the pot bloc. Hitching your political wagon to the singular question of whether or not the President of the United States is friendly to your desire to do drugs is way beyond ridiculous. And again, you can attempt to couch it in whatever supposedly principled terms you’d like — in the end, you’re pushing for the legalization of pot because it makes you feel good.

There’s nothing wrong with feeling good and the government shouldn’t play nanny and decide how good is too good to be permitted. But those who excitedly ballyhoo weed and the use of it like they’re doing important, necessary or admirable work need a serious reality check. You like to get high and it’s nothing more noble than that. Admit it.

Reefer Madness

Happy 4/20, everybody!

Yeah, right -- fuck that nonsense. As a friend of mine said on Facebook this morning, if you're above the age of 19 and are excited that it's 4/20, kindly do us all a favor and kill yourself.

With that in mind, my latest piece for the Daily Banter is up and it's specific to this hallowed day in the life of every dipshit stoner you know and wish would just leave you the hell alone (because you likely don't care that he or she came into this really great batch of purple haze and is, like, so mellow right now). Over the past couple of weeks, if you pay attention to the podcast and my only occasionally active Twitter feed, you know that Bob Cesca, myself and a couple of other players have had a minor debate going back and forth over the good, bad and ugly of the pot-praising subculture in this country. Last week, we kind of left it at the fact that I merely wasn't into the whole thing and that it's simply a matter of opinion -- and that's true, to an extent. But I also do have a legitimate beef with those who loudly proclaim the wonder of weed -- and that's what today's piece deals with.

Despite my obvious distaste for stoner culture, I think it's pretty even-handed. Then again, you know what my idea of even-handed is.

Here's the opening shot:

"I’ve never been a big fan of smoking pot. Yeah, I’ve done it a few times, but being that I seem to have lived by the motto 'Go Big or Go Home' when it came to kicking off my storied career in drug use — diving directly into LSD and ecstasy rather than going through the various 'gateways' — I always kind of found pot smoking to be a bit anti-climactic. Great, so you laughed a lot and ate too much shitty food and were often forced to hang out with idiots who spent hours engaging in long-winded discussions that employed a lot of stoner logic. Sounds like a blast. That being said, I don’t begrudge anyone their habits as long as they’re not hurting anyone else in the process, and I accept unequivocally the absurdity of demonizing a plant simply because it happens to make people feel good; the political pressure to keep marijuana illegal amounts to nothing more than the senseless perpetuation of a puritanical blue law. If alcohol is legal I see no reason why pot shouldn’t be as well.

Over the past couple of weeks, though, Bob Cesca and I have had a little debate going on our podcast and radio show about the merits — or lack thereof, in my opinion — of the 'culture' of marijuana..."

Read the Rest at the Daily Banter