THE PLANK JULY 14, 2009
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Most days, Barney Frank can be found talking about the economy, the bailout, and the like. The constant focus on finance can make you forget that Frank has other pet issues as well--one being the legalization of marijuana. In this interview with Esquire's John H. Richardson, Frank takes time to make sure responsible adults can get their weed fix without getting charged up to $1,000 for a single joint.
Via Wonkette, the most entertaining passage:
ESQ: That's my second question. There's already been a lot of change in the country. Thirteen states have decriminalized pot. What's holding up Congress?
BF: This is a case where there's cultural lag on the part of my colleagues. If you ask them privately, they don't think it's a terrible thing. But they're afraid of being portrayed as soft on drugs. And by the way, the argument is, nobody ever gets arrested for it. But we have this outrageous case in New York where a cop jammed a baton up a guy's ass when he caught him smoking marijuana.
ESQ: You're kidding.
BF: Actually, I've just been corrected by my partner - it was a radio he jammed up the guy's ass, not his baton.
ESQ: Small radio, I hope.
11 comments
Why hasn't the American government finally gotten around to legalizing marijuana?
Choose one:
1] because the liquor industry doesn't want the competition
2] because the liquor industry doesn't want the competition
3] because the liquor industry doesn't want the competition
This is yet another classic example of how an issue is couched in the rhetoric of moral turpitude when it has far, far more to do with dollars and cents.
There is nothing in America that can't be reduced to a commodity. And once something is a commody it's all about the Benjamins.
geoege walton
- iambiguous
July 14, 2009 at 6:18pm
Good advice George....always follow the money. It's not always obvious where the moneyed interest lies, but you can figure it out if you look at it long enough. It applies to virtually every political and religious issue.
Also, decriminalized pot would be much cheaper pot. Something the pot dealers might not like since they've taken all the risk and spent most of the big money on the "infrastructure" up til now.
- desertdog
July 14, 2009 at 6:46pm
I'm not sure that the pot dealers have much of a lobby yet.
- dsabath
July 14, 2009 at 6:56pm
Nice try, George. Most lucrative player benefiting from marijuana prohibition is hardly the liquor industry. It'd be convenient if it were the case, though, since you'd get to look good blaming the prohibition on another of the vice lobbies. Also: marijuana--agricultural product and all--has always been a commodity, no surprise there.
- thetraytiger
July 14, 2009 at 7:20pm
traytiger, you don't think the liquor industry is a major reason marijuana is illegal? C'mon. It may not be THE biggest beneficiary -- that's the Puritans-As-Described-By-Mencken Lobby -- but it's up there.
- WoodyBombay
July 14, 2009 at 11:23pm
George and Woody, are you being serious? What evidence is there that liquor companies have anything to do with this? It is not enough to say they are beneficiaries and therefore they are responsible. Millions of untrue conspiracy theories rest on that reasoning (Israel benefitted from 9/11, drug companies benefitted from AIDS, umbrella companies benefitted from rainy weather this June etc.)
I think it's just a matter of precedence. If we'd all been smoking weed for millennia and someone invented alcohol, it would probably be banned.
- WillPastor
July 14, 2009 at 11:48pm
tiger:
Nice try, George. Most lucrative player benefiting from marijuana prohibition is hardly the liquor industry.
george:
Yeah, I think you're right. Also, if pot became legal the liquor industry would probably just add it to their current menu. What with their sophisticated, nationwide distribution infrastructure, they would be he obvious folks to spread it around.
I guess I should have put the joint on the coffee table before I started typing.
gw
- iambiguous
July 15, 2009 at 1:33am
I'm suspicious of whether the liquor industry benefits from the prohibition of marijuana, but even if they do, you'd think their influence would be more than countered by the snacks and pizza lobby.
- ratnerstar
July 15, 2009 at 10:18am
Big Beer and Uncle Jack are keeping the herb down 'brohams.
Maybe so, maybe not. I can think of an example here in Arkansas that seems similar. Casio gambling is legal in Mississippi and Louisiana, but not here in Arkansas, even though we have a horse track and dog track with electronic gaming machines. There is always a lot of opposition from religious organizations here when casion legislation comes up and where do these religious organizations get their funding............MS and LA casions and those that benefit from all the additional traffic from AR coming into their states to gamble and spend money of course.
Of course, I have zero proof for this theory, but it works for me.
- mghogwild
July 15, 2009 at 11:03am
From my reading, most drug experts disagree with the penalties attached to weed. However they seem to be in general agreement that today's weed is a lot more dangerous than yesterday's which carries serious health implications that cannot be simply ignored.
I've also read many convincing arguments that large sections of the government are somewhat "addicted" to the drug war. It is amazing how far and wide anti-drug money is spread around. From the National Parks to your local police force there are a lot of proverbials in the trough, good original intent notwithstanding.
Of course the argument that all of this money is spent on drug interdiction is difficult to make, but the concern is that if the "war on drugs" ends abruptly then so will this funding.
- Nari224
July 15, 2009 at 11:12am
casino, damn me can't spelt.
- mghogwild
July 15, 2009 at 11:20am