Pitiful Response

[Ganjarden]

I'd like to thank former police offer Lyndon Lafferty for his ad hominem attack on me on the editorial page of the Times-Herald ("Wrong on marijuana," March 6). The prejudice and hyperbole manifested in your letter makes a far better case for ending marijuana prohibition than I could ever hope to.

The origins for cannabis prohibition were steeped in racial hatred (mostly directed at Mexicans and African Americans), misinformation, and fear mongering. Inflammatory accusations against marijuana and marijuana consumers were typically unsubstantiated, while evidence refuting these claims often went ignored. As evident by Mr. Lafferty's willfully ignorant and culturally bigoted remarks, little has changed.

The criminal prohibition of cannabis is a morally bankrupt policy -- as evident by the fact that its most ardent defenders, like Mr. Lafferty, must resort to personal attacks rather than engaging in the civil exchange of ideas.

Today, the enforcement of marijuana prohibition remains every bit the cynical culture war that it was 70-plus years ago. Those who wage it on the front lines, such as Mr. Lafferty, do little to hide their bias. As he writes, "Our laws are designed to protect people like us from people like you." Apparently, the ideas I've expressed this paper are so threatening to Mr. Lafferty that he feels the need to be legally protected from them. How telling -- and pitiful.


News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Vallejo Times Herald
Author: Paul Armentano
Contact: Vallejo Times Herald
Copyright: 2009 Vallejo Times Herald
Website: Pitiful Response

 

[Keith Lake]

ad hominem attacks = last ditch effort from one who's lost the argument but not yet admitted it to himself

The more the prohibitionist won't discuss the merits of an argument the quicker the public will see through the smoke

 

[michaelkaer]

I have talked about this on other sites and i see all great ideas go through many stages. The first stage is denial , then ridicule then there is some sort of back lash and then acceptance. We have already gone through the lies and denial, the hippies where ridiculed in the 60's and 70's, we saw the backlash from Nixon to ray gun to the 2 bushes and now we are ready to gain acceptance. The ones who are still in denial and lies are way behind the times and now they are the ones ridiculed. Mass acceptance will be as soon as more than 33% of the states start to get on board with medical Marijuana and the the second third quickly adopt what is already working, then the hold out states will be under tremendous pressure to yield to the will of the people. In the US that means when around 20 states pass medical marijuana laws, then you have your critical mass. I could see that happening with in a year or so. Are you up to 14 states now? I have lost count. I predict that once you have about 18 states on board the next 20 will be quick to sign up then the last stragglers will hold off a bit. The first 1/3rd takes the longest to get.