Not that war, and not that other war either, no, I'm talking about the War on Pot. Setting aside the larger War on Drugs, the War on Pot coupled with pseudo-legalization of some forms of pot use (and continued criminalization of its commercial cultivation) has created a tremendous tension between local and federal law enforcement in the many states that allow Medical Marijuana.
Prof. Bainbridge notices (by way of commenting on this New Yorker article), and comes out for full legalization (and hints that he may actually inhale from time to time, like probably a good 50-75% of his UCLA colleagues (all departments, not just Law).
(and that statistic is entirely made up, but given the political leanings, the age ranges, and the social classes that make up the faculty, it wouldn't be at all surprising if at least half of the faculty are at least occasional social users of the stuff, if not full on chronic chronic tokers)
So why the hell won't either McCain or Obama come out for full legalization of marijuana at the federal level, along with full amnesty for non-violent offenders currently incarcerated?
Seems like a no-brainer policy position, that actually has widespread support across the political spectrum (for more evidence, at the conservative Michelle Malkin site, in a post about the success the DEA has had transforming themselves into a counter-terrorist organization as well as a drug interdiction agency, a good many commenters advocate for legalizing most drugs, especially pot). Obama used to be sort of for the possibility of thinking about trying on an interim basis a pilot program decriminalizing marijuana (OK, I lied, his position is even slipperier and more namby-pamby than I make it sound).
There's room for either candidate to come forward with a pro-legalization position during the debates, or at the very least a pro - get the federal government out of interdiction of marijuana and leave that particular matter up to the individual states - position. It wouldn't be entirely inconsistent with what either of them have said in the past, and even if it would be portrayed as a 'flip-flop' they could both claim that realities on the ground have changed, the cost of this particular "war" aren't worth it, and the potential windfall that a change in federal policy on this issue could bring far outweigh any possible deleterious social effects caused by an explicitly state's rights stance on marijuana policy.
UPDATE (sort of): Can you update a post that you never got around to posting in the first place? Above was what the original post was supposed to entail, but I got called away before hitting the big orange 'publish post' button, and never got back around to digging up the mentioned links, checking the spelling, and tidying up any poorly worded passages (or at least, poorer than I usually let escape). Below are things added today, July 31st. This post was also partially inspired by this Carrie Rickey list of stoner comedies, which I mostly disagree with. My Stoner top ten would be as follows (and thanks to Bill at So Quoted for jogging my memory with this post):
1. Big Lebowski (nothing more to be said, really)
2. Cheech & Chong's Next Movie (by far, the best of the C&C films, if you want a truly surreal experience, though, the bowdlerized version they showed on broadcast Fox has to be one of the top ones. They managed to elide all mentions of drug use from a Cheech & Chong film, and somehow transformed the huge bag of pot that Cheech's cousin Red was carrying from pot into diamonds. The sheer audacity and stupidity of creating a version of a Cheech & Chong film that has somehow magically become a non-druggie film just boggles the mind. I doubt you could find this version anymore, I'm sure the DVD version is the original, and I doubt Fox, or anyone else would ever broadcast it again, so, if you saw it, you know exactly what I'm talking about, and if you haven't seen it, then you don't know what you're missing)
3. Dazed and Confused (More about the end of high school than about getting high, and Rickey mentions two people who really didn't have big roles in the film, where the biggest star of the film was clearly Abraham Lincoln head)
4. Friday (seriously, any stoner comedy list that doesn't have this classic included, is very, very misguided, or at least very, very white)
5. Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (More about the American Dream, than about getting high, but the NPH stuff saves this from being stupid and lame, instead of stupid and awesome)
6. Zardoz (I know you may object to calling this a stoner comedy, but seriously, this film is hilarious, and everyone in it had to have been high as a kite while making it, plus Sean Connery in big red diapers)
7. Topper (Alcohol is a drug, dammit, and this film is damn funny, and seeing ghosts seems pretty trippy to me, so I'm calling this a stoner comedy, and if you don't like it, tough)
8. Pulp Fiction (The first and only 'heroin comedy' ever) UPDATE: Bill in the comments reminds me that Pulp Fiction isn't the first or only 'heroin comedy' as Liquid Sky exists (I just didn't remember it, and when I did remember it, remembered not liking it much), also this review makes a case for Trainspotting being a 'heroin comedy', but I'd classify it more as a drama with occasional comic and absurdist elements.
9. Head (The Monkees film, this film is trippier than it has any right to be, and despite being as dated as hell, has some pretty absurd moments that approach being actually kind of funny)
10. Pineapple Express (This film tentatively holds a space in the top ten, Franco and Rogen together again seems like brilliant casting, and I don't see how this film could possibly go wrong)
UPDATE, TOO:
Meant to link the video clip (above) of Obama talking about the possibility of decriminalization, along with the post where I first mentioned it (no jokes about short-term memory problems, please). Of course, the only time this came up in a debate last fall,
above, he "mistakenly" raised his hand to indicate he opposed decriminalization of marijuana (that's a pattern that seems to repeat itself with The Presumptive One), yet he's been very quiet on the subject since, and besides denying changing his position on the issue, has not made any firm commitments as to how he would fight to legalize the ganja as President, or even propose legislation as a Senator (which he could have done for the past 3 and a half years, yet never seems to get around to doing, guess he's too busy doing curls, playing basketball, and running for President).
3 comments:
Can't believe I forgot this one, ever seen Liquid Sky?
Saw it on VHS while still in high school, don't remember it much, remember thinking it was too NYC art scene-y for me, though.
Come to think of it, if this list went up to eleven, I think Altered States would make the cut.
One of the better, not sure if it was intentionally or unintentionally comic non-comedies involving scientests and experiments with trippy substances and isolation tanks, ever made.
Also, I was very tempted to say, if this list went up to eleven, then This Is Spinal Tap, would make the cut, but despite the blissed out and dumb nature of the boys in the band, I wouldn't really consider that a 'stoner' picture.
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