Monday, March 09, 2009

Glenn Beck: "Let's Legalize Marijuana"



Well folks, I think its obvious that Glenn Beck must be reading the DARE Generation Diary! He seems to have completely changed his tone about marijuana legalization.

Beck starts of this segment saying "I woke up this morning and I thought, we should legalize marijuana."

I have to say, I burst out laughing at first - the resulting combination of joy from seeing this discussion take place on Fox News and the absurdity of his last segment on the subject (not to say I'm not happy that the has seen the light!). Plus, I thought he might be kidding...

But, Beck provided the venue for a fantastic and balanced discussion about the effects of prohibition. This wasn't a discussion about the benefits or dangers of using drugs. We all know that drug use, like most behaviors, can carry consequences. This was a forum about prohibition and a comparison of its failure in the 1920's to its failure today.

Beck's guest for the discussion is Mexico's former deputy foreign minister, Andres Rozental. Rozental provides unarguable testimony and at times makes touching points concerning the devastation that prohibition has caused Mexico. Beck asks Rozental, "explain to me how using marijuana is NOT a victimless crime." Rozental answers beautifully, explaining that, really, the best way to make marijuana use a victimless crime is:
"legalize it, regulate it, make sure that the purity is what it should be, make sure that it pays taxes rather than fill the pockets of criminal gangs, and then be much more reasonable and rational about the way you deal with these things."
Throughout the segment both repeat over and over again the same exact argument that drug policy reformers have been screaming for years; Legalize marijuana! Not because drugs are good and not because drugs are bad - legalize marijuana because prohibition creates violence, prohibition creates and funds terrorists and organized crime. Prohibition is the problem and legalization is the solution.

We are at the "tipping point" friends. Even if our country continues to wage this failed war on drugs, no one can continue to justify it. Not even Glenn Beck.

6 comments:

Irina Alexander said...

HA! What a day!

Anonymous said...

"Can you explain how smoking marijuana is not a victimless crime?"

No, I cannot, because burning a plant and inhaling the smoke does not harm the person or property of anyone else. The crime lies in the prohibition perpetrated on us, the American people, by our well meaning overlords.

rsteeb said...

After that stomach-turning "chat" with Rob Kampia, this is a refreshing turn of events!

Jonathan Perri said...

Why couldn't he show Kampia the same respect he showed Rozental? Both guests held the same position about marijuana's legality.

AMIT said...

Till now i have read about this drug on many sites.Nice post written.

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SunflowerPipes said...

There are many persuasive arguments on why America should legalize marijuana, and the reasons are sound, but the fact that many millions of Americans have used pot has not translated into real political pressure on the people who can change the laws. One of the problems inhibiting legalization is that people that smoke a glass pipe or a joint are not considered serious or mature. It is This stigma that scares many pot users to hide that they smoke pot. Therefore the Reality of who smokes pot and how much the smoke is very different than it seems. The last three presidents were admitted pot users and by my Understanding the same is probably true of the first three presidents as well. Marijuana Legislation is very serious and has everything with how we define what it means to be American. What credence do we as Americans give the rights of the individual to the pursuit of happiness as well as a right to privacy? In the end it is up to us to be public about our choices and to Voice our opinions to the ones that ultimately decide what the rules are. Every hand written Letter that makes it to a representative is considered to be the voice of a thousand people who did not take the time to write. Send an email, send a letter make a phone call and get counted.
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