Thread: J.T. Thomas Arrested on Marijuana Charge................Updated: February 1

I think my issue between the choices of drinking alcohol and smoking pot comes down to one thing. Alcohol, or most forms of it, is legal in the United States. You can buy it at a grocery store or a liquor store, and as long as you're 21 years old, there is nothing to stop you. On the other hand, marijuana is, under most circumstances, considered illegal by the federal, state, and local governments in this country, unless you live in California and can purchase it for medicinal purposes like my cousin in San Francisco does. My dad put it best when we discussed this issue the other day: if you are willing to put your freedom at risk to purchase something that others have died over and run the risk of being killed to prevent it from entering the country, you have to be more hooked to the drug than you will ever admit to being. First off, to buy marijuana means that you probably got it from someone who got it from a pusher who probably got it from someone who smuggled the drug into the country from Mexico and other Latin American countries. Those drugs come from the fields run by cartels that sell the stuff over the black market, and they are ruthless and will stop at nothing to sell their product, up to and including killing people for it. So, when a person takes a puff of a joint, think what it could have cost. It could be as innocent as nothing at all, or someone could have died in the process of getting that drug into the country. There are law enforcement officers laying down their lives along the U.S./Mexico border everyday trying to fight drug trafficking.

Now, here is a direct 180 for you. Do I think that marijuana should be made legal here in the United States? Absolutely, along with every other drug that is out there. My thing is, if the drugs can be taxed and sold under a controlled environment, like, say, they do in Amsterdam in The Red Light District, why should the U.S. enforce any laws prohibiting the sale of drugs? This is probably a no-no because I'm going to reveal something that is outside of the realm of TBS, but I am a Libertarian, and I feel like both the GOP and the Democrats attempt to restrict and limit the liberties of the American people for the purposes of making campaign promises so that they give the local, state, and federal levels' constituencies the false sense of security that they must vote for their particular party's candidate for political office in order to receive whatever sacro-sanct entitlement programs this country has used as its crutch(es) since the days of Woodrow Wilson sewing the initial seeds that created the currently "omnipotent" welfare state. The power to tax is the power to destroy in most instances, but there is still a need for some taxation in order to maintain our present government operations. A fair tax on goods and services is certainly a better avenue than an income tax, and I think taxing vice goods (i.e. the various different drugs) is an excellent way to manufacture tax revenue in order to fund only the necessary aspects of government needed to maintain our republican-democracy. Also, allowing the controlled sale of what are now considered illegal drugs would vastly curb the rampant violent crime in this country. How many gang and mafia wars are fought over drugs, and how many people, whether directly involved in those organizations or innocent bystanders, die as a result of a violent death? It is an avoidable thing. Allowing the sale of currently illegal drugs in the United States would put most domestic gangs and mafia organizations out of business in some sense since most of them endeavor in the selling of drugs. It would also clean up the violence along America's border with Mexico as well.

By the way, for those of you who don't know much about what Libertarians are or what they stand for, let's just say that since I happen to be one, most Republicans look at me as being too radical of a conservative to talk turkey with. Also, if you need an example of a couple of Washington politicians who run on a Republican ballot for political office, but are really Libertarians, look no further than at Rep. Ron Paul of TX and his son, Sen. Rand Paul of KY. The Republicans hate them because they demand radical change in Washington, more than what the GOP brain trust is willing to capitulate to.

I'm a thousand times more leery to draft or sign a guy that uses performance enhancers than pot or booze relatively speaking.

This century will bring never conceived before designer drugs and will bring a far greater magnitude of a quagmire both socially and physically. If concussions and head trauma don't lobotomize the league this will.

For the record, I am sorry that I talked politics outside of TBS. I just felt that I needed to explain myself, and the only way to get to the point of where at which I wanted to arrive was by "spilling my guts." I'm a very opinionated individual, sometimes to a fault, and I'm sure that this will, indeed, result in some heavy rhetorical rebuttal and perhaps some hard feelings from some of the other members of this board. After all, as the old saying goes, never talk about politics and religion unless you're willing to rhetorically defend your position vociferously against any potential opponent.

Dags, I didn't want to copy over your whole response but it's very legal in Colorado as well as what it takes to get a medical script to buy it amounts to paying about $50-$75 to someone in the medical profession who'll write for you. I'll also explain to you so you can explain to your Dad that it's also legal to grow it here with the appropriate license so what we consume isn't imported and folks who sell it aren't pushers. When I lived in Wisconsin I bought it from a guy I worked with who also happened to be one of the other divisional managers in my company and a corporate fellow VP. I think that's about as far away from a pusher as you can get.

In your world this is the way it is but outside that world there's a lot happening you'd probably be opposed to as well. But this isn't about politics. It's about football and how very little it means to be caught and arrested with a small amount of grass in your possession. Maybe the world's arch conservatives look down on it but the look down on sex out of wedlock too so who knows how many more bad idea they have.

It's just so commonplace these days that it isn't even a matter of concern. It's not in the least bit addicting physically and in that regard it is safer than alcohol, which by the way is also considered a drug by many. If you want to get upset about something then get upset about crack cocaine and meth. I've seen what those can do and what alcohol can do as well and it's far more dangerous than a small amount of weed.

What I got a kick out of is that Michael Floyd has 3 alcohol related offensive so far. Two for underage drinking and the 3rd was a DUI but I don't see anyone saying we shouldn't draft him for that reason and I'd say his history shows more possibility of a drinking problem than a few grams of grass mean to someone who otherwise is a very good person.

Originally Posted by soulman

Dags, I didn't want to copy over your whole response but it's very legal in Colorado as well as what it takes to get a medical script to buy it amounts to paying about $50-$75 to someone in the medical profession who'll write for you. I'll also explain to you so you can explain to your Dad that it's also legal to grow it here with the appropriate license so what we consume isn't imported and folks who sell it aren't pushers. When I lived in Wisconsin I bought it from a guy I worked with who also happened to be one of the other divisional managers in my company and a corporate fellow VP. I think that's about as far away from a pusher as you can get.

In your world this is the way it is but outside that world there's a lot happening you'd probably be opposed to as well. But this isn't about politics. It's about football and how very little it means to be caught and arrested with a small amount of grass in your possession. Maybe the world's arch conservatives look down on it but the look down on sex out of wedlock too so who knows how many more bad idea they have.

It's just so commonplace these days that it isn't even a matter of concern. It's not in the least bit addicting physically and in that regard it is safer than alcohol, which by the way is also considered a drug by many. If you want to get upset about something then get upset about crack cocaine and meth. I've seen what those can do and what alcohol can do as well and it's far more dangerous than a small amount of weed.

What I got a kick out of is that Michael Floyd has 3 alcohol related offensive so far. Two for underage drinking and the 3rd was a DUI but I don't see anyone saying we shouldn't draft him for that reason and I'd say his history shows more possibility of a drinking problem than a few grams of grass mean to someone who otherwise is a very good person.

Did you read my second paragraph? lol I'm all for the selling of drugs. I even think they should sell meth, coke, crack, barbs, PCP, LSD, etc. If it can be taxed, let it be sold.

Go to Libertarian Party | Maximum Freedom, Minimum Government and read up on the Libertarian platform. As you will see, I am no classical conservative. I'm fiscally conservative, but for the most part, socially liberal.

There are certain street drugs you don't want legalized because they're a whole lot more harmful than grass and crack cocaine and meth are examples. There's a huge difference between pharmaceutical amphetamines and painkillers and street drugs that are manufactured or combined with some pretty god awful shit that was never made for consumption. But that's not the point. Your opinions are your opinions based on your value system but not everyone else shares those same values. Better to be less critical of others pursuits when the aren't harming anyone else. Watching Ricky Williams run a few times in the playoffs made me think a lot of RB's should take a few years off and get stoned if it helps them run like that, LOL.