Pro-pot ad hits airwaves; opponents say its a gateway drug

Comment by: Aaron Posted: July 8, 2009, 11:38 am

Why does Mr. Francis, a very intelligent man, persist in promoting these scientifically invalid ideas? There is no such thing as a “gateway drug;” that is a public relations idea invented by anti-marijuana activists.

Comment by: Sammual Posted: July 8, 2009, 12:06 pm

““Alcohol is addicting. Has it been proven to lead to other drugs? No,” she said. “Has Marijuana? Yes.”

LOL, is she serious, does she really think anyone is stupid enough to believe this?

How many hard drug users used alcohol first? Probably almost ALL OF THEM, if there is a Gateway Drug its alcohol for sure, not marijuana. I smoke marijuana, and have for 14 years straight, never have I had one problem, I have never had the desire to use hard drugs, and never will. The people who use those drugs are so worse off for it and its obvious. I have never met another pot smoker that was a wreck because of it. There are THOUSANDS OF DEATHS because of alcohol, cigs, and legal drugs each year, and NOT ONE RECORDED DEATH from marijuana in the history of planet earth! This is not brain science people, there are no legitimate fears, only uneducated people.

Comment by: mr. ihavehadit Posted: July 8, 2009, 2:38 pm

Francis the talking mule needs to go back to England he’s not fooling anyone with his slick anti-American talk of prohibition!!!! Lies all lies!!! The concept of any prohibition comes from the definition of a sumptuary law. A sumptuary law attempts to control and divide people into classes by limiting the desires of those considered the lesser class. Generally monarch type governments use sumptuary laws to inflict class separation through prohibiting the lesser class from participating in something reserved strictly by the so called upper class royalty.
Any 4th grade student understands this country was founded on the principles of individual freedoms.” A Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded.” -Abraham Lincoln U.S. President. These same people pushing prohibition would be targeted for treason investigation had they been around during the founding of our country! Don’t Be fooled American people any prohibition enforcement against us is as UN-AMERICAN as Hitler!!

Comment by: Dear United States of Hypocrites Posted: July 8, 2009, 3:46 pm

I’m sick of it!!!!!!!!! I like pot. You like beer. Who’s correct on this? It’s insane.

The millions should not need a buffer like medical marijuana to get smoke.

The intolerant squares (that enjoy a drink) say they just want medical marijuana to get high. And saying it’s medical is an excuse. Well so what. I will never touch crack, coke, or meth. And it’s never been gateway drug for me or any of my successful adult friends.

I get high once every 2 weeks. Why do I have to have excuses? This whole thing pisses me off.

Why not make donuts and soft drinks illegal? They make you fat and give you diabetes. And everyone knows one donut leads to another.

I like pot. So what. Am I a sinner? Have I hurt anyone? Have I stole anything?

You like a drink. I like a puff. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE? Just legalize it, tax it, regulate it. AND END THE CRIME AND VIOLENCE CREATED BY KEEPING IT ILLEGAL!

What a bunch of *%*^$& hypocrites! Think about that the next time you’re watching the big game with a beer in your hand watching a Budwiser commercial.

Comment by: Sober Says Legalize It Posted: July 8, 2009, 4:15 pm

I don’t even smoke. But legalize it, tax it, and focus on REAL PROBLEMS like cocaine and meth.

Pot is not the issue. Prohibition and closed minds are the issue. The same people who say no, were probably drinking at last night at bars across the US… Hypocrites.

How strange is it that every other commercial during a sports game is for beer, and how people at work talk about how they went to a party and got drunk and yet my friends that casually smoke can’t say they stayed home, smoked a little, and watched a movie.

Just treat it like alcohol.

I don’t get when people say they are worried about kids. If treated like alcohol, as the post says above, they won’t be able to get it. The “what about the children” argument makes no sense.

Finally, the US can make tons of money if they tax it.

Comment by: michael-leonard Posted: July 8, 2009, 8:34 pm

And another thing…
“A whopping 76 percents of adults with a high school diploma at most tried at least one drug prior to turning 18, while only 42 percent of those with at least some college report the same thing,” stated the poll. “This provides some evidence that drug use stunts the pursuit of higher education.”
As a former marketing research analyst I have a big problem with this stated conclusion. This one datum could just as easily show that more intelligent people – who would go on to higher education – are less likely to be drug users.
But, since the study was commissioned by the pot opponents, the research methodology could easily be biased toward the conclusions the client wanted. This is more common in research than most people think.
Therefore, I would say that the entire study is suspect.

Comment by: Terry Posted: July 8, 2009, 9:39 pm

Gayle Francis who makes a living off of peoples additions had KeepComingBack.org pays for Ta study found that marijuana use will lead to use or harder drugs in the future. I wonder how/what questions were posed, what is the rate of error that Competitive Edge Research used when putting together this insightful polling. Without knowing this information the poll is worthless…any Journalism student can tell you that.

If Marijuana is a gateway to harder drugs then all those from the 60/70 must be on some wild shit these days. Not to mention that Schwarzenegger, Clinton, Obama and that other GW’tard have all used it on their way to the highest offices they can hold.

The Gateway theory in misleading at best: The Institute of Medicine agrees that the marijuana-gateway theory is misleading:
“In the sense that marijuana use typically precedes rather than follows initiation of other illicit drug use, it is indeed a “gateway” drug. But because underage smoking and alcohol use typically precede marijuana use, marijuana is not the most common, and is rarely the first, “gateway” to illicit drug use. There is no conclusive evidence that the drug effects of marijuana are causally linked to the subsequent abuse of other illicit drugs.”
* Source: Institute of Medicine, “Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base,” 1999
Only 9% of Marijuana users ever become dependent.
By contrast, 15% of alcohol users and 32% of tobacco users become addictive

Comment by: grandma Posted: July 9, 2009, 6:08 am

Pop quiz: Consumption of which of these two substances, marijuana or ethyl alcohol, leads to more of the following:
Acts of domestic violence
Traffic deaths
Hospitalizations for acute poisoning
Organ failure (other than brain)
Permanent cognitive impairment
Economic hardship for families
Cases of addiction
Fetal alcohol syndrome

Answer: Ethyl alcohol

Comment by: Legalize, Tax It, Regulate it Posted: July 9, 2009, 3:25 pm

LEGALIZE IT. The people against it dont know anything about it. How can pot be in the same category as meth or cocaine. Get your heads out of your *&#$% and legalize it and tax it.

End the violence and crime caused by keeping it illegal.

And let adults over 21 enjoy it.

Comment by: Paul Freeman Posted: July 20, 2009, 4:59 pm

It seems every article I read discounts the real revenue brought in by AB 390- tourism. Gambling and prostitution are legal in Las Vegas, and their entire tourism industry is heavily dependent on these two vices, and we haven’t brought about the end of the free world letting these things become legal. I need to address arguments I’m tired of hearing educated people embarrass themselves by making.

1. “Marijuana legalization is a bad idea because people shouldn’t do drugs.”
Caffeine is a drug, alcohol is a drug, and nicotine is a drug. These things are legal, but this argument seems to indicate that these also should be outlawed.

2. “Marijuana causes violence and crime.”
Because it’s illegal, and unregulated, people choose violent solutions when business goes bad. You can’t sue someone or take them to a credit agency because they didn’t give you the drugs you paid for. Remove it from the black market and you end these kind of problems by giving the consumers and distributors legal venue for restitution.

3.”People will dodge the taxes so legalizing it won’t make any money.”
People dodge taxes on cigarettes by driving to the next state to get them, and that’s hardly an option here. People are lazy. Booze and cigarettes are expensive but only a motivated minority brew their own beer and grow their own tobacco. Increased cost from the per-weight tax is offset by the overall price reduction as open-air price competition drives the price down. $50 for a $400 oz. is not much. I think the potential tax revenues are badly understated, not overstated.

4. “Legalization would be a public health disaster.”
This overlooks the most important fact, that people smoke this substance because that’s the most cost-effective way. If it were cheaper and merchandise aimed at it’s use easier to acquire, you would see an increase in eating and vaporizing it, both of which sidestep the lung associated problems. Beyond that the only ill effects are the same as those from many legal prescription drugs.

5. “Marijuana is a gateway drug and using it leads to using harder drugs like heroin and cocaine.”
This argument is actually one from the original scare campaign by Harry Anslinger almost a century ago. It has repeatedly been shown that tobacco and alcohol use are more reliable indicators than marijuana use. But let’s not forget the most important effect observed: In order to obtain marijuana you have to enter the world of illicit drug dealing, where anything goes. Dealers profit more from coke, methamphetamines and opiates because they are substantially more addictive. By forcing people to go underground to get pot, you force them to deal with people who want them to use something more profitable. Ironically, prohibition itself becomes the gateway.

6. “People will smoke and drive, and we will need to find a way to test for recent marijuana consumption and intoxication to enforce DUI laws.”
I am good friends with a couple police officers, one retired and one active. They both scoff at this question because both tests already exist and are already used. When you get pulled over, you may notice the officer does not immediately test your breath for the presence of alcohol. First they make you prove you are impaired, by performing several simple tests to established that you are intoxicated. They do things this way because it’s important to establish that the driver was intoxicated and that intoxication impaired their ability to safely operate the vehicle. You can go to jail after only having one beer, if that one beer impaired you. Many of the same impairment tests already employed can be used to detect an operator impaired by marijuana, including testing for horizontal nystagmus (jerky movements of the eyes,) backward alphabet recitation and several others. If the driver fails, you can perform a saliva test to determine if they smoked in the last 4-6 hours.

7. “Large outdoor grow operations cause a significant environmental impact.”
In a country that freely manufactures petroleum products, barely recycles and still drinks bottled water, I am almost surprised to see this argument. The fact is that most of the pollution occurs now as a result of illegal operations in California’s state parks. Legalize this operation and you give people who are growing an incentive to protect the environment- staying out of jail. Like any other business, agricultural or otherwise, this behavior is controlled by the EPA through fines and penalties or jail time.

8. “Marijuana can be laced with other substances like crack, methamphetamines, PCP, and even embalming fluid.”
Once again, this happens because marijuana is running with a bad crowd. Because law enforcement treats it as the same or similar, it winds up being sold by the same kind of people (people who have no qualms about contaminating a largely non-addictive product with one that is more addictive.) Legalized, you can prevent this- competition would motivate businesses to sell a product free of contaminants. Many marijuana users are purists, too- products contaminated with pesticides and additives are unlikely to do well, especially with the majority of California having an infatuation with organic products.

9. “People will make stupid mistakes while under the influence of marijuana.” Really? I’ve seen this one posted often enough to warrant replying to it, even though I find it laughable that anyone would make it. Listen up, all of you people who get drunk and stoned and do stupid things you regret: [b]you are still responsible for the things you do because you made the decision to impair yourself.[/b] I am beyond sick of hearing people sidestep responsibility for the things they regret doing. If you know that you have poor decision making ability when you drink or smoke, don’t put yourself in a position where you might have to think. If you know you tend to drive after having a six pack, hide the keys or don’t buy the beer. Don’t tell people alcohol should be illegal because you have no self-control.

10. “Legalize marijuana and what’s next? Crack? Prostitution? Murder?”
Now the argument has taken a truly desperate turn. This is what’s known as the slippery slope argument. It evades the question at hand and sets up “straw men” (points that are impossible to argue against but are not related to the argument.) Not very many Americans want to legalize crack. But the debate is not about crack, the debate is about marijuana. Do you really think they’re both the same? Nobody breaks into a car to get the two bucks in change so they can get a hit of weed. The only withdrawal is psychological, not physical. People get psychologically addicted to World of Warcraft, eating, and shopping for heaven’s sake.

11. “Legalizing this drug is surrendering to drug cartels and drug dealers.”
Perhaps this is the most frustrating argument yet. Legalization means that the drug dealers are out of business, and the cartels funded by them are cut off from a major source of income. Legitimate businesses are required to keep records and pay taxes, and even if a drug dealer found himself motivated to start a business selling what he sold on the street, he would quickly be squashed by legitimate businesses already in place. Legalization is the magic bullet, the one thing we can do to hit cartels and dealers where it really hurts: in the wallet.

12. “We can’t legalize because our youth will start using marijuana too.”
I have some news, friend. They’re already smoking it in record numbers, because it’s forbidden. They will also drink. These things will happen whether or not alcohol and marijuana are illegal. But instead of getting medical care when they’ve done something stupid they will risk death so their parents don’t find out they were smoking pot. As a youth it was easier for me to get weed than alcohol because the penalties for providing a minor with booze were stiff and adults preferred to drink with other adults. They saw little reason to take that initial risk when they could drink legally with their friends. But with marijuana they’d already committed a serious crime just by having it, so it wasn’t a tough transition to provide it to minors.

I’m sure I’ll think of more later, but this kind of flawed argumentation really bothers me. I think there are some very good reasons to legalize and some reasons might not want to. But people please- think about whether your argument is valid before you trumpet it from the mountaintops. Think before you speak!

I challenge any and all comers to refute me, especially politicians. I seek the truth, even if it means I’m wrong. But I also expect you to be true to yourself. You don’t win a debate by yelling your invalid argument louder than your opponent. You do it by being right.

Comment by: Eric Posted: July 29, 2009, 3:56 pm

This article is a pathetic piece of “journalism”. I realize few people are going to read this far in the comments, but it is absolutely essential for a journalist with any sense of ethics or integrity to at least mention the fact that the organization that wrote the questions to the cited poll — the National University System Institute of Policy Research — WAS FOUNDED BY STEVE FRANCIS.

So, Gayle’s propaganda website commissions a study to be undertaken by Steve’s propaganda “non-partisan research organization” and then SDNN reports on the findings as some sort of legitimate news???!

Shame on you, Hoa Quach. And shame on you, SDNN.

Comment by: Don Posted: September 5, 2009, 6:46 pm

Any drug,including drinking can be fatal in the wrong hands,legal or not. Every single drug can be addicting to an addict. Food can be addicting and fatal to an addict.

I’ve known people who have smoked weed just about every day for years and have performed with excellence at their highly skilled jobs. I’ve also known people that smoked every day and could not even tie their shoes - burn outs with fried brains.
My 15 year old son is addicted to weed. Has been for a couple years. He steals money from cars,from me,from my wife,from my daughter. He has no real friends - only his dealers. He does not read anything.He has no hobbies.He falls asleep in class.He spends 15 hours a week in Therapy. No girlfriends - only Mary Jane. He used to like,Astronomy,camping,surfing,football and hiking. We’ve spent lots of time together. No more.I have his phone tapped,so I know what he’s using and when and who he’s buying it from. He almost never leaves the house. When he does leave I call the cops to see if they can arrest him,but so far they haven’t found anything on him.It’s sad,I know.

He has a severe medical condition known as depression. As devastating as any form of cancer.Maybe even worse. He goes to sleep most every night hoping he won’t wake up in the morning. The pain is unbearable for him.In his words,”It’s terrifying”. There is no color in his world-only shades of gray. He does not want to kill himself but without weed, he just may.
Drugs are like guns - in the wrong hands,they will kill the innocent.

Don