A conservative that finally gets it

[telcoman]

From New Jersey!

http://blog.nj.com/njv_editori....html

Michael Carrol a conservative Republican from Morris County is trying to get government out of people's lives by backing a medical marijuana bill.Now if only more conservatives would wake up they could eventually perhaps start to win elections again?

From the Newark Star Ledger

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Medical marijuana bill should advance in New JerseyPosted by kheyboer February 28, 2009 05:20AMPhoto by Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesNew Jersey's state legislature is considering a bill to legalize medical marijuana.On Monday, the state Senate passed a bill that would legalize marijuana for medical purposes.

It now goes to the state Assembly, where it is co-sponsored by a couple of assemblymen who "don't usually even agree on the time of day," according to one colleague. Reed Gusciora is a liberal Democrat from Princeton and Michael Carroll is a conservative Republican from Morris County, but both are backing this bill.

Gusciora supports medical marijuana for humanitarian reasons, while Carroll sees it as falling within the wider Republican tradition of getting the government out of our personal lives.

The primary objection to the bill comes from anti-drug activists and from the Fraternal Order of Police, which has been taking out advertisements arguing against medical marijuana on the grounds that "Every law enforcement officer in the state knows the error of such thinking."

That's a bit of an overstatement. Many officers believe that enforcing the laws against recreational marijuana smoking is a distraction from more serious offenses. As for the use of marijuana by the seriously ill, such as cancer patients, it's hard to see why this is a legitimate matter for law enforcement at all.

The real challenge is to ensure that such a bill has the necessary controls so that it doesn't become de facto legalization. Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts says he will make sure that is the case before he puts it before his fellow Democrats. As for the minority Republicans, they should follow Carroll's lead and give the bill serious consideration. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think it is about time to leave the decision on the use of marijuana up to the voters.

Telcoman

Modified by telcoman at 5:11 AM 3/1/2009

Modified by telcoman at 5:13 AM 3/1/2009
Modified by telcoman at 5:15 AM 3/1/2009

[liquid_cool]

im a conservative..not a republican..just to make my point......i think its up to the people if they want to use what ever..as long as they dont drive and kill my kid..im fine with it..wana slam heroin..fine..i dont care..just dont break into my house to fund your fix or ill shoot ya...wana smoke a joint..so be it..just dont run my kid over at a crosswalk...i beleive in the freedom to do what ever ya want as long as it doesent effect peoples lives around you..and true..the government should get there a** and hands out of our lives..as for this governer or what ever..is he really a conservative..or another fool acting as one just for some re-election news coverage like all the rest of the friggin RINO"S "Republican In Name Only" out there...as far as im concerned..all government officials are clueless.

good post thou man.

[liquid_cool]

one more thought......you can sell that over the counter and tax it..then ya can do smething constructive with the tax..like offset the tax on GAS!

[BusyBadger]

Michael Carrol a conservative Republican from Morris County is trying to get government out of people's lives by backing a medical marijuana bill.

I'm not sure if the phrase I quoted is yours or that of the paper, either way the choice of words is a little odd. Most of those on the right are for the government keeping out of people's lives, no news there. Had there been a democrat that thought it a good idea to keep their hands off paychecks and firearms or didn't understand the need for so many senseless nanny laws, that would have been news.

The medical marijuana bill is the news, not which party is pushing for less government intrusion.

[Jacko3]

It si gonna be a war zone out there, once Mary J is allowed to roam free on our streets. We must keep Mary J under lock and key. We ain't done yet with the effects of alcohol and drunk driving--that war is still raging. This is a national security issue.

[telcoman]

It si gonna be a war zone out there, once Mary J is allowed to roam free on our streets. We must keep Mary J under lock and key. We ain't done yet with the effects of alcohol and drunk driving--that war is still raging. This is a national security issue.

I don't think so!

I've been to Amsterdam a few times at that city did not appear to be a war zone to me. Great city in my opinion

Most anything can be abused. Put a G35 in the hands of some 17 or 18 year olds and they very well could end up killing someone with it?

I was thinking more along the lines of marijuana for seniors.

http://www.cancer.gov/cancerto...juana

As for my OP, I discovered Michael Carrol opposes aborition so although he is on the correct side as far as legalizing marijuana he is still too far to the right and may end up job hunting after the next election. Conservatives are fading away in New Jersey as well as most of the northeast.

Telcoman

[audtatious]

Michael Carrol a conservative Republican from Morris County is trying to get government out of people's lives by backing a medical marijuana bill.

"Medical marijuana".......Marijuana has been known to stop nausea for cancer patients and drug companies have created a drug which does the same thing based upon the positive effects of pot. Problem? It does not make you high nor does it alter brain chemistry like smoking pot does. Do those who want to use marijuana as a treatment like this pill? No, because it has the same effects as smoking pot but without the high.

So, again, pot smokers are pressing forth for legalization without admitting to negative effects or real reasoning behind their drug of choice. While I don't care in general that people want to smoke pot, I do care on principal.

[breadbox]

Do those who want to use marijuana as a treatment like this pill? No, because it has the same effects as smoking pot but without the high.

You are once more not completely informed my friend.

Big Pharma invents a synthetic THC, OMG that is so great that we can now make Cannabis extinct because we have a lab made chemical that is Identical to Delta9 Tetrahydracanibinol. That is truely superb except it doesn't work the same as natural Cannabis. Why do scientists think they can do better than nature? They can't do better, but that is not the goal in making drugs. The goal is to make a synthetic of a natural occurring substance and patent it.

Who ever said THC is the chemical that is specific to healing properties? I didn't, I said Natural Cannabis is used as medication for a varieties of illnesses and conditions and it works.

Also shrooms, DMT, and ibogaine are illegal naturally occurring substances that have harmless real world applications.

Shrooms have a natural serotonin which on a case by case basis can be used to treat forms of depression with no residual effects.

Ibogaine is used to treat opiate addiction cold turkey with no to little withdrawal symptoms.

DMT can be extracted from tons of plants, including if I am not mistaken grass.

Once again drugs are not universal and should always be treated on a case by case basis.

If drugs are bad, mmmmkay, why does every one do them?


Modified by breadbox at 12:44 PM 3/2/2009

[audtatious]

Can pot be used to make gasoline? Seems it does everything and simply has no negative aspects.

Why do people use drugs? Instant gratification?

Realize, I'm not anti-pot. I don't care if people smoke pot, snort coke, shoot heroin, etc as long as they do it as consenting and it does not impact myself or my family. Legalize it all and let the shallow end of the gene pool dry up. Break into my house because you are too stoned or high to keep a job and you may just be shot. Gov needs to simply let people start learning the hard way.

[breadbox]

Gov needs to simply let people start learning the hard way.

QFT

Yes, Cannabis can be used to make fuel.

And I wish you the best of luck shooting unwanteds in your house.

[telcoman]

You are once more not completely informed my friend.

Big Pharma invents a synthetic THC, OMG that is so great that we can now make Cannabis extinct because we have a lab made chemical that is Identical to Delta9 Tetrahydracanibinol. That is truely superb except it doesn't work the same as natural Cannabis. Why do scientists think they can do better than nature? They can't do better, but that is not the goal in making drugs. The goal is to make a synthetic of a natural occurring substance and patent it.

Who ever said THC is the chemical that is specific to healing properties? I didn't, I said Natural Cannabis is used as medication for a varieties of illnesses and conditions and it works.

Also shrooms, DMT, and ibogaine are illegal naturally occurring substances that have harmless real world applications.

Shrooms have a natural serotonin which on a case by case basis can be used to treat forms of depression with no residual effects.

Ibogaine is used to treat opiate addiction cold turkey with no to little withdrawal symptoms.

DMT can be extracted from tons of plants, including if I am not mistaken grass.

Once again drugs are not universal and should always be treated on a case by case basis.

If drugs are bad, mmmmkay, why does every one do them?

Modified by breadbox at 12:44 PM 3/2/2009

+1

[intermilanrox]

If drugs are bad, mmmmkay, why does every one do them?

People do drugs because they're stupid (no offense to any druggies out there), but they do drugs then go out and do stupid s*** because they dont have full control over themselves, much like people drinking and driving. Now I am by no mean saying get rid of alchol, pot, and all other drugs, but if you make pot legal, all hell will break lose, there are too many pot heads at there already doing stupid things and making @$$ES of themselves. Clearly, there are medical reasons why it is illegal as well. Otherwise America would have capitlized on it, selling it and taxing it a ridiculous amount (as someone else said), much like they did with global warming.

[OriginalWheelman]

People do drugs because they're stupid (no offense to any druggies out there), but they do drugs then go out and do stupid s*** because they dont have full control over themselves, much like people drinking and driving. Now I am by no mean saying get rid of alchol, pot, and all other drugs, but if you make pot legal, all hell will break lose, there are too many pot heads at there already doing stupid things and making @$$ES of themselves.

I don't think intelligence has much to do with it. Some of the smartest people I've known toked. Stupid people do stupid things. A lack of marijuana will not change this. I'd rather deal with 10 stoners in a group than 10 drunks.

Clearly, there are medical reasons why it is illegal as well. Otherwise America would have capitlized on it, selling it and taxing it a ridiculous amount (as someone else said), much like they did with global warming.

It's illegal because the social conservatives ran the US when the drug laws were made.

[intermilanrox]

If theres nothing wrong with it, go ahead and shoot up some heroin, snort some coke, and tell me how it went. Then come back when you are like 60 and your health sucks and your lungs are barely working.

[OriginalWheelman]

When did I say nothing was wrong with it?

You attitude to the situation shows your ignorance to it. Coke an heroin are entirely different chemicals, derived from entirely different sources, that do entirely different things.

[intermilanrox]

True, you never did say it wasn't wrong but, you hinted towards the facts when you said that "the only reason it's illegal is beacuse of social conservatives".

How does it show my ignorance?

[OriginalWheelman]

True, you never did say it wasn't wrong but, you hinted towards the facts when you said that "the only reason it's illegal is beacuse of social conservatives".

You added the only.

How does it show my ignorance?

You equate marijuana, coke, and heroin.

[intermilanrox]

You added the only.

You equate marijuana, coke, and heroin.

Ohh, I'm sorry that i added the "only"Whether its pot, coke or heroin, its still a DRUG. And when people takes DRUGS they do stupid $#!T, regardless of what drug it is.

[Jacko3]

Mary J can make a man forget the day he was born. Why do we flirt with MJ in this nation??

[OriginalWheelman]

Ohh, I'm sorry that i added the "only"Whether its pot, coke or heroin, its still a DRUG. And when people takes DRUGS they do stupid $#!T, regardless of what drug it is.

Caffeine is a drug too. You going to argue that we ban that? Don't tell me it's not. I had a friend in high school who was treated for a caffeine addiction after she overdosed on caffeine pills. How about prescription drugs?

Here's a brain teaser for you, which of these chemicals is an illegal drug?

[intermilanrox]

Please, your ridiculous. All I'm saying is that drugs should not be legal because they make people do stupid stuff, and there is already enough stupid people out there. When was the last time u saw somebody kill themselves or others by driving under the influence of caffeine?

[Armelius]

Mary J can make a man forget the day he was born. Why do we flirt with MJ in this nation??

Really? Take a shower and you will remember. But for those who has cancer it might be just what the doctor didn't order.

[OriginalWheelman]

Please, your ridiculous.

No, I'm not. Note how similar the two chemicals are. The top is Hydrocodone, the drug contained in Vicodin and other prescription pain killers. The bottom is heroin.

All I'm saying is that drugs should not be legal because they make people do stupid stuff, and there is already enough stupid people out there.

The stupid people exist without drugs. Drugs are ancillary to the situation. Unless you are talking about hallucinogens, which we were not.

When was the last time u saw somebody kill themselves or others by driving under the influence of caffeine?

http://xnet.kp.org/newscenter/....html

http://www.daily-times.com/ci_11816368

http://www.wfsb.com/news/11423885/detail.html

[telcoman]

Ohh, I'm sorry that i added the "only"Whether its pot, coke or heroin, its still a DRUG. And when people takes DRUGS they do stupid $#!T, regardless of what drug it is.

For Nicotine they stand out in the cold to smoke and slowly destroy their health and lungs

Time to double the tobacco tax

[OriginalWheelman]

For Nicotine they stand out in the cold to smoke and slowly destroy their health and lungs

Time to double the tobacco tax

Can't believe I'm about to say this, but you exactly right. Legality does not equate safe and vice versa.

[intermilanrox]

I fully understand you're argument, but I still feel that all drugs including pot, should be illegal. I know tons of kids in my school that destroyed their life from pot. Pots just a starting point. Then its shrooms, speed, lsd, etc. etc. So why give kids a starting point for a life of drugs?

It just doesn't make sense to me. Am i wrong?

[OriginalWheelman]

I'm not saying your wrong. I'm arguing my opinion, which is contrary. I believe there are far worse drugs being prescribed legally than certain illegal drugs. I spent my youth IN the drug culture. I would say, from my personal experience, that Cigarettes are more of a gateway drug than anything else. I know a lot of people that smoke pot and do nothing else. While I would agree that people who do heavy drugs also do pot, I would strongly disagree that people who smoke pot go on to heavier drugs. I've see far, far more people abuse legal pain killers obtained legally or illegally, than I have seen do coke, schrooms, and most other illegal drugs. People go and get high however they can. I watched a kid destroy his life with cold medicine. He lives in a pshyc ward now. Do I think we should ban cough medicine? NO. That would be stupid. His emotional problems caused him to abuse the drug he could most easily get. Blaming the cough syrup is fallacy. The problem was Anthony, not they drugs he did. My friend Mark is in the ground now because his friends got high and left unattended candles burning near drapes. The house burned and he died in the fire. He died while we were in high school. Do I think that justifies pot being illegal? No. I think pot, like all drugs should be used RESPONSIBLY.

[intermilanrox]

I understand that you are arguing your opinion, however where I am in CT, things are a little different. A good majority of kids at my school do drugs (pot, shrooms, speed,etc.) Now I know a few kids who just smoke pot an nothing else. But MOST do go onto to stuff like shrooms, lsd, even speed because they want something different, something stronger. Hell we have had Oxycotin busts this year in the school. Just on friday 3 kids (in my grade) were suspended for getting drunk in the middle of school and one was so drunk he threw up in the middle of the hallway. I know a kid who I used to be friends with, good kid, great parents. Then the kid started smoking pot. That was 7th grade, now he's a mess. In November he was high, skate boarding in his driveway and a kid walked by and for no reason he beat the $#!T out of him and he had to go to court. Now hes coming to school on speed snorting ridilin and all this other stuff, just because he started smoking pot. Now, this may not happen in all cases, but in many instances it does. I believe in people making their own choices but we really need to step up drug information programs to inform kids before they do something stupid.p.s. sorry for your loses. I just hope i dont see the same things happen at my school.

[liquid_cool]

howard 100...they have doubled the tobaco tax..heres the deal your all missing folks..freedom...you should be free to do what ever in your own home when ever..without anyone telling you what to do...as long as it dosent effect others lives in a harmfull way...btw..you can make the arguement that making things leagal will make people not really want them..becouse its not being defiant..

its common sence..if ya smoke a bowl..you get high...if ya slam heroin..ya get high persay..if ya do a line of speed you get high..but after a while of doing said drugs it takes its toll..education in a realist sence would do more to stoping using than to actually ban dope..show kids what happens on the down side and scare em to reality....but..give people the freedom to screw there lives up if they want..its really noones bizness till that person harms there life in some way...

[wawazat8402]

I know a kid who I used to be friends with, good kid, great parents. Then the kid started smoking pot. That was 7th grade, now he's a mess. In November he was high, skate boarding in his driveway and a kid walked by and for no reason he beat the $#!T out of him and he had to go to court. Now hes coming to school on speed snorting ridilin and all this other stuff, just because he started smoking pot. Now, this may not happen in all cases, but in many instances it does.

This is the main issue I have with most anti-drug people. It wasnt "just because he started smoking pot". It was because his parents weren't doing their job. Its NOT the governments job to raise your kids. Its not society's job to teach them right and wrong. Its the parents' job. When a kid is playing with a gun left unattended and shoots his friend, its not the guns fault. Its his parents' fault. The lack of accountability in this country amazes me.