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Actually kind of a interesting question. Half of it may be age, with older folks stuck on reefer madness, but I don't think thats all of it. I think the rights been more of a "law and order" focused bunch as well, and think thats the other half of it.
fun fact-some polls indicate blacks and Hispanics are evenly split on legalization, while whites are more for it. Wonder what causes that?
Here are the facts from a PEW poll two years ago;
Approval percent;
Total: 52%
White: 52%
Black: 56%
Hispanic: 51%
Used in past year: 12%
Used ever: 70%
So only 12% are current users which means 40% don't use but support legalization.
I asked a liberal/progressive friend who is a non-pot-smoker about this. He immediately agreed that it is far more prevalent on the left. He explained, "we're more relaxed; we're not as uptight as the right."
Why are so many on the left enamoured of smoking the wacky tobacky?
I think the word "enamored" is a bit odd in this context. Is someone who drinks a couple of beers on the weekend "enamored" with beer? In any case, I think your liberal friend was on-target. I'm just not uptight about the sorts of things that social conservatives tend to be uptight about. Logically, the laws regarding pot should be roughly on par with laws regarding booze. They are the sorts of things that can be abused or misused, and they can cause problems (e.g., drunk driving). From what I've seen, however, the potential problems with alcohol are, overall, far worse than the problems with pot. Alcohol is more addictive and it is more likely to cause aggressive antisocial behavior in some people. Society would be far better off if booze were illegal and pot were legal, but I don't think that either of them should be illegal.
Part of what's irritating about the illegality of pot is the blatant moral overtone. Pot is like pornography in this respect. Some people don't like it, so they want to have laws to make sure that no one can have it. Historically, the moral conservatives got the upper hand, which is how we ended up with so many "blue" laws that logically make no sense at all (e.g., laws against selling cars on Sunday, laws against oral sex, masturbation, etc.). Laws against pot are basically like "blue laws" - they exist because people who had certain moral views were able to impose their moral views on everyone else via the legal system.
Bottom line: It's not "pot" exactly, that I'm "enamored" with. Rather, I'm enamored with the idea of eliminating stupid laws that currently exist only because, historically, some segments of society were able to impose their prudish, mostly-religious-based moral preferences upon society as a whole.
And, BTW: These are stupid laws because they force governments to pointlessly devote money and law-enforcement resources arresting people who are, in general, no more harmful to society than most other average folks. We have to dig ourselves out from under this historical manure pile.
Last edited by Gaylenwoof; 05-13-2015 at 07:26 AM..
Actually kind of a interesting question. Half of it may be age, with older folks stuck on reefer madness, but I don't think thats all of it.
What generation today, with the exception of maybe a few still left, that were born in the early 1900's, are "stuck" on reefer madness. The baby boomers are now our elderly, and I do not know one of them that believes the reefer madness bull****.
More often, there is a segment of the population that still believes the myth that pot leads to harder drugs.
You know, the story about someone's poor kid who was smoking a joint one day and became
a heroin addict overnight
An interesting revelation from the MJ legalization currently under way in my state has been how popular pot smoking is among denizens of the left. The Seattle City Attorney celebrated legalization by buying some pot and bringing it to the office. Seattle's Attorney Pete Holmes Takes Pot To Work, Apologizes (And Smokes)
I guess that there is probably less alcohol consumption on the right due to the number of conservative Christians, but other than that I don't see a difference in right-wing vs. left wing boozing. But there is this huge dichotomy when it comes to marijuana use. No doubt there are some right-wing libertarians who indulge, but in my experience they are mostly ex-users. A local libertarian candidate here said that (paraphrase) 'we are gun-toting economists on drugs.' But like most Libertarians, if he ever used drugs it was probably over 30 years ago.
I asked a liberal/progressive friend who is a non-pot-smoker about this. He immediately agreed that it is far more prevalent on the left. He explained, "we're more relaxed; we're not as uptight as the right."
Why are so many on the left enamoured of smoking the wacky tobacky?
They are sick, I'm sorry, but they are going to have even more problems with people driving intoxicated from weed....
I tried weed and there is no way on God's green earth, that when you smoke a joint, you can drive...your perception is much slower....and it will be like a bunch of drunks driving all over the place. Now add texting to that and talking on cells....
Liberals are all for breaking laws when it suits them...and they don't think about the consequences ahead....which is called the "trickle down effects".
They are sick, I'm sorry, but they are going to have even more problems with people driving intoxicated from weed....
I tried weed and there is no way on God's green earth, that when you smoke a joint, you can drive...your perception is much slower....and it will be like a bunch of drunks driving all over the place.
Curious, when you smoked weed, did YOU have the urge to drive. More folks are driving while intoxicated on
prescription drugs that should not be, than your concern for folks who smoke pot.
Curious, when you smoked weed, did YOU have the urge to drive. More folks are driving while intoxicated on
prescription drugs that should not be, than your concern for folks who smoke pot.
Speaking from experience, I have no desire to drive after a few puffs. I'll let my wife drive.
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, with the exception of maybe a few still left, that were born in the early 1900's, are "stuck" on reefer madness. The baby boomers are now our elderly, and I do not know one of them that believes the reefer madness bull****.
I'll let my wife drive.