Now, this is a 'political' video in actuality, but it does bring up important facts about marijuana effects:
At the end, he is open to discussing legalization, but only so long as all the facts regarding its harmful effects on the human body and present social statistics are taken into account. many of us do not buy the 'it is harmless' mantra, nor do we believe that many of the social problems associated with marijuana (and, for that matter, most intoxicants) will go away with a flick of the pen.
Here's a rule of thumb: the stronger the intoxicating effect of a substance, the more it will lead to abuse. Marijuana's potency has tripled since the 1970s.
It is funny that many of the same people who see no problem with getting baked on marijuana DO see a problem with tobacco and sugar. Now that I am starting to fight my own battle with sugar, I do see how someone could think that banning Twinkies would be a good idea. But, wouldn't it just be more of the same?
Supply is a problem, but the bigger problem is how we live. I know I eat sugary treats because a) I eat when I am stressed, and b) my wife bakes cookies to relieve her stress. No, I am not kidding: she bakes to deal with her problems, but won't eat the darn things. I do, and it shows.
Perhaps I should not inject my own struggles into this post, but I think I would probably not have gotten so far into the sugar problem I have now if I had really seen the consequences... and done a better job of managing my own stress levels.
These are two things we don't do these days. We do not teach one another to live lower-stress lives, and we are almost pathologically terrorized by reasonable exchanges of ideas. Totalitarianism is all the rage right now, making it virtually impossible to discuss important issues.
But, we need to talk these things through. We need to look at even the unpleasant facts, and stop insulting people we don't agree with even if we think we have every right to... because, in fact, we don't. calling someone a 'bigot' or a 'fascist' or a 'commie' does nothing for the conversation except shut it off.
Getting back to stress: what we are taught these days is to dope up when we feel stressed. We are not taught to stop doing what is stressing us out, and we certainly don't get a complete picture of what self-control really is.
So, we get a one-sided representation. One group will say you can't control your sexual impulses, but you can control your thoughts about race. Another group says you can control your sexual impulses, but you can't control your judgment of others.
In each case, there are demands for self-control, yet there are also losses of self-control which are excused. It is high time that we get honest and look at these matters in a reasonable way. we must stop looking at our fellow man as the enemy.
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