The general decline in standards today

[jamespowers]

Especially if they're still moving. Then we could make money off the odds of hitting a twitching target. I like it. The economy will rebound and the world will be a safer place for all.

Like Great America and the piano player.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I like to drink as much as the next guy, but I don't understand drinking yourself stupid. I'm always the sober guy among drunks and just look at the people and think 'what idiots.' Why would anybody think making an ass of yourself in public is a good idea?

 

[Matt Crunk]

Actually, Prohibition worked very well in Maine for over eighty years. And you'll still find people here, from old Maine families, who will tell you that Repeal was a mistake. I am one of them, and I see evidence of it around me every day of the year in lives destroyed by the culture of intoxication.

I hate that we are on opposite sides of this issue, LizzieMaine. I usually agree with your posts and find we mostly see eye to eye.

But if Prohibition worked in Maine, then it was the exception, not the rule. I grew up and live in the deep South where dry counties still exist. It doesn't keep anyone from drinking. Those who want to drink just go to another county and buy it, or else they make their own (which is getting more commonplace of late, thanks to all the Moonshine shows on TV).
Laws against marijuana aren't any more effective than laws against alcohol were/are. It only costs the taxpayers a whole lot of money for very little, if any, return.

Personally I abhor potheads, pillheads, drunkards, and anyone else who feels they can't get through life without some substance as a crutch. In my book they are losers of the highest magnitude who are really just wasting space here on Earth. But on the other hand, I see absolutely no difference between taking a toke and taking a drink, and further I see nothing wrong with the occasional recreational indulgence of either.

Basically the way I look at it, if people are acting a fool, no matter what they are on, arrest them. Arrest them and throw them under the jail. But if people are behaving themselves and just enjoying an occasional buzz, for God's sake, leave them alone.

 

[jamespowers]

I like to drink as much as the next guy, but I don't understand drinking yourself stupid. I'm always the sober guy among drunks and just look at the people and think 'what idiots.' Why would anybody think making an ass of yourself in public is a good idea?

Well, that is where the title of this thread comes into play.....

 

[Matt Crunk]

I like to drink as much as the next guy, but I don't understand drinking yourself stupid. I'm always the sober guy among drunks and just look at the people and think 'what idiots.' Why would anybody think making an ass of yourself in public is a good idea?

That's where responsibility and self-control come into play. Most people have it, but a lot of people don't. That's why I say, "Why penalize the majority who have it just to curb the few who don't?"

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Sadly, those few bad apples cause a lot of problems.

That's where responsibility and self-control come into play. Most people have it, but a lot of people don't. That's why I say, "Why penalize the majority who have it just to curb the few who don't?"

 

[Benny Holiday]

A genuine Bacchanalia. Hmmmm. Police in riot gear with rubber bullets and clubs would do it.

Unfortunately bud there are too many 'civil libertarians' here who, whilst clearly a minority, need only cry out once to have every politician and judge prepared to bend over backwards to appease them. :eusa_doh:

 

[MikeBravo]

The slackness of courts has something to do with it. We have an infamous case here in Australia at the moment of Jill Meagher who was raped and murdered and had her body dumped in a shallow grave out in the country.

It turned out that the man who raped and killed her was out of jail on parole. His crimes? He had committed 22 rapes.

I will repeat that in case you missed it. He had committed TWENTY TWO RAPES!


And there's more: AUTHORITIES were warned that Adrian Bayley was a risk of attacking a woman before Jill Meagher was raped and killed.

The Herald Sun can reveal that months before the 29-year-old ABC employee was raped and strangled, Bayley's parents met authorities and pleaded with them over their grave concerns about his behaviour

 

[LizzieMaine]

Personally I abhor potheads, pillheads, drunkards, and anyone else who feels they can't get through life without some substance as a crutch. In my book they are losers of the highest magnitude who are really just wasting space here on Earth. But on the other hand, I see absolutely no difference between taking a toke and taking a drink, and further I see nothing wrong with the occasional recreational indulgence of either.

Basically the way I look at it, if people are acting a fool, no matter what they are on, arrest them. Arrest them and throw them under the jail. But if people are behaving themselves and just enjoying an occasional buzz, for God's sake, leave them alone.

When you see someone you love destroyed by that taste for an "occasional buzz," when you see someone who is very important to you left a crushed shell of the vibrant young person she once was, and you know that she developed the taste for that "occasional buzz" thru contact with a culture that winks and nods at intoxication and excuses and justifies it because "it's always been there," you may change your view. I will never forgive, and I will never forget.

Rue, I'm glad to see you around again, and thanks for the kind thoughts.

 

[HudsonHawk]

When you see someone you love destroyed by that taste for an "occasional buzz," when you see someone who is very important to you left a crushed shell of the vibrant young person she once was, and you know that she developed the taste for that "occasional buzz" thru contact with a culture that winks and nods at intoxication and excuses and justifies it because "it's always been there," you may change your view. I will never forgive, and I will never forget.

Not to speak for anyone else, but I have seen that. Up close and personal. It's tragic. It's unimaginably painful. But it doesn't change my views on individual liberty and personal responsibility.

 

[Feraud]

I can't remember if I've posted this before, but even so, it might be worth repeating.

My father believed that history will eventually recognize 1973 as the high-water mark of American culture. He said that before the 1973 oil crisis, the typical American family could comfortably exist on one income, leaving the other parent free to raise the family offspring. After 1973, more and more families required at least two incomes to meet their needs. This is because families began wanting more things and because the ’73 energy shock increased the prices of most consumer items as measured in real dollars. Thus, after 1973, more and more American children started being raised by someone...or something...other than a parent.

No question about it, my father was often prone to over-simplifying complex issues. But I’ve always thought he might have been correct in his thoughts about this.

AF

Those sound like very wise words by your dad.

Might have said this before..but my youngest child(Son) went to a small Christian school ..for many good reasons. One of which is: The teachers personally cared. The younger kids looked up to the upperclassmen..and in turn they helped the younger kids and established their friendship and respect. Best thing I ever did. My son is now in his second year of college. In my view..the relationships he made in that type of school are invaluable.
My three older Daughters went to a big public school..and had mixed feelings about what they experienced. A whole different atmosphere and not all so pleasant.
HD

I attended a Catholic junior high and public high school. I have no doubt of the quality of education and attention to student welfare between parochial and public school systems. When my wife and I had our son there was little question he'd attend a Catholic school. We are not rich by any means and it made a large impact to our household budget but we don't regret for once second having sent him to a Catholic junior high school. The education and attention by the entire staff is something I wish every child could have. Our son earned a full academic scholarship to high school and college, where he just finished his first year majoring in Biology with a 3.9 grade point average. He is involved with our church and assists the music teacher at his high school. *Please excuse that bit of parental pride showing through*
My wife and I did this in the face of great adversity as family members criticized our parenting choices the entire time and mostly us.
Our son walked away from high school with the intelligence, morals, manners, and a dignity you cannot put a price on.

Your son experienced the same thing my sons experience now. I like it---as I have said before. It may cost more now but it will cost less later in therapy sessions.

I totally agree! Better to be a parent now than their bailbondsman later.

When you see someone you love destroyed by that taste for an "occasional buzz," when you see someone who is very important to you left a crushed shell of the vibrant young person she once was, and you know that she developed the taste for that "occasional buzz" thru contact with a culture that winks and nods at intoxication and excuses and justifies it because "it's always been there," you may change your view. I will never forgive, and I will never forget.

Rue, I'm glad to see you around again, and thanks for the kind thoughts.

Lizzie, I am right there with you. I have family members who are an empty shell of what they could have been due to long term drug and alcohol use. To look at them one might see a "functioning" member of society but a slight scratch at the surface will uncover maladjusted, dysfunctional, degenerate leeches stuck on the backside of society. It's mostly due to their insistent "recreational" use of drugs and alcohol.
It makes my blood boil in this current climate as people advocate for the legalization of weed. People are willing to throw medical information and common sense out the window for the sake of getting high. The myth of the benign weed smoker is just that, a myth. Of all the issues people could use their voices to support and some choose this. It would be funny if it weren't pathetic.

 

[LizzieMaine]

There's a heavy push on in Maine right now to legalize recreational marijuana, and it's being supported by a well-funded, tightly-organized lobbying group operating under the guise of a "grassroots" movement. Much of this support, especially the internet-based aspects of the movement, is being pumped in from out of state, by people who have no sense of what this place is all about, and no concern for the damage they leave in their wake. I intend to fight this movement down to my last breath.

Wrapping it in the guise of some perverted "libertarianism" is just the latest attempt to bamboozle the public, now that the "medical marijuana" gambit hasn't gotten them what they wanted. Sure, there's plenty of quack doctors willing to hand out pot for every self-diagnosed ailment on the books, to be used with no supervision whatever, but that isn't enough for them -- they want it with no strings, and they'll lie and twist and distort facts into infinity to get it. For the record, the liquid THC that contributed to my friend's tragedy was sourced, it has been determined, from a 'medical marijuana' dispensary.

"Absolute liberty, on the contrary, is impracticable; it is a foolish challenge thrown by a new-born insect buzzing against the universe; it is incompatible with more than one pulse of life. All the declarations of independence in the world will not render anybody really independent. You may disregard your environment, you cannot escape it; and your disregard of it will bring you moral empoverishment and some day unpleasant surprises." -- George Santayana.

 

[Edward]

I wouldn't be surprised if the tobacco industry are neck-deep in that lobby; I remember reading twenty years ago that Marlboro had spent a mint trying to secure the rights to the trade mark "Marley", obviously seeing a marketing niche.

 

[Feraud]

I wouldn't be surprised if the tobacco industry are neck-deep in that lobby; I remember reading twenty years ago that Marlboro had spent a mint trying to secure the rights to the trade mark "Marley", obviously seeing a marketing niche.

I totally agree with that Edward. I've mentioned to folks who advocate for "individual choice/recreational use" that as soon as weed is legal and the market looks good the boys from tobacco are going to unveil themselves and we're back to the bad old days of the population being hooked on cigarettes. I've no doubt the marketing will follow those old patterns too.

 

[HudsonHawk]

I totally agree with that Edward. I've mentioned to folks who advocate for "individual choice/recreational use" that as soon as weed is legal and the market looks good the boys from tobacco are going to unveil themselves and we're back to the bad old days of the population being hooked on cigarettes. I've no doubt the marketing will follow those old patterns too.

The logic of "legalizing marijuana will cause non-smokers to start smoking cigarettes" makes no sense. Furthermore, alcohol prohibition is no panacea either. There are legitimate concerns about both, particularly with legalizing marijuana. Pointing out those will go much further in supporting your argument than fear mongering.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I wouldn't be surprised if the tobacco industry are neck-deep in that lobby; I remember reading twenty years ago that Marlboro had spent a mint trying to secure the rights to the trade mark "Marley", obviously seeing a marketing niche.

Oh Great. Meet the Marlboro Mon. :doh:

 

[Feraud]

Regarding how people start smoking let's say in one influence marketing works.

I don't advocate prohibition but would rather point out the lack of science, honesty, and common sense in the weed smoking culture. With regards to the law I'll state it again, of all the problems in this country it's a damn shame this is what people are focusing their time on.

I'm not mongering fear but talking about the serious detrimental effects based personal experiences with family members. This is the hard truth the advocates are in total denial about.

I won't have anyone try and bullsh*t me with how benign smoking weed is, how little it effects people, and how mellow and harmless it all is. Anyone who has grown up around this knows the truth.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

I knew even at a young age, as soon as my parents explained to me that Liberace was...well...you know...that the world was getting more "screwy" every year that came and went.

The "pot" issue is a heated debate driven by the influence of big money that is blind to the truth of harmful conduct it leaves in it's path. Some influenced by that big money whom jump on the band wagon for it, are totally clueless other than what they personally will get paid under the table for supporting the "cause".

I personally think a person should have a choice, a smoke if you will, a choice right before that firing squad..."you may have that Camel non filtered or...that joint now"..,"any last words"? NOT to say the Camel is in the same league as a joint, either. Self destruction should never be a choice taken.

If they want to really make something legal, that is not legal now, or not being done now,...humm...a policy that those that make the policies have to give the rest of us, all their income upon demand or request. It would stop all this garbage dead in it's tracks!

 

[HudsonHawk]

I'm not mongering fear but talking about the serious detrimental effects based personal experiences with family members. This is the hard truth the advocates are in total denial about.

I won't have anyone try and bullsh*t me with how benign smoking weed is, how little it effects people, and how mellow and harmless it all is. Anyone who has grown up around this knows the truth.

This is my point. There are plenty of these issues to point out. Opponents of the legalization crowd would be better served pointing to these rather than leaps in causal logic.

 

[Feraud]

Except it isn't opponents of legalization who are making leaps in causal logic. The pot crowd has a long way to go in convincing anyone with common sense and experience that their culture is benign.