Thoughts on this TCU mess

emmitt01 · February 16, 2012

Responding to this point, rather than the TCU controversy as a whole ...

Speeding is illegal too. Everyone who does it is perfectly aware they are doing it. Speeding can kill people.

Should an athlete caught speeding be kicked off the team?

I think the prosecution of pot smokers is a crime. How many violent criminals get out early because of prisons overcrowded by non-violent drug offenders?

Thank you very much.

I thought I had addressed all of the fallacies associated with this issue but you reminded me of another. To trot ot the idea that violent felons walk free because of overcrowding caused by pot smokers, aside from being prima facie laughable, is patently untrue. If jails/prisons overcrowd it is the non-violent offenders who are the FIRST to be released. And here's the more inconvenient truth for the weed apologists...and read carefully...weed possession will get you PROBATION for a first offense in Dallas (and Ft Worth where TCU is located). A second offense? More probation. I challenge you or anyone to find me anyone doing significant jail time for weed possession. I'll be honest, given what I do day in and day out this argument is insulting.

And as to your speeding comparison, call me when speeding is a felony. Again, a felony. That's what $200 worth of weed DELIVERED will net you. These TCU players weren't pot users...they were pot sellers.

I see it time and time again on this board, "unless you've ever coached football you can't begin to know how it's done" yet somehow we all have such a firm handle on the dope game. Ridiculous.

Monkeypox · February 16, 2012

There are a number of laws that I think are stupid. I still don't break them, though, because they're illegal and I have more to lose than to gain from it. It's not tough. At such time as the pro-legalization/decriminalization crowd becomes the rational, intelligent, money-wielding votes that the folks in Congress want, it'll happen. Until that day, however....

Full disclosure: My brother is a police officer. I disagree with him on the basic dangers of marijuana, but not on him arresting and charging people committing the crime. Against the law is against the law. I've deserved every speeding ticket I ever got, too.

Rudy · February 16, 2012

Responding to this point, rather than the TCU controversy as a whole ...

Speeding is illegal too. Everyone who does it is perfectly aware they are doing it. Speeding can kill people.

Should an athlete caught speeding be kicked off the team?

I think the prosecution of pot smokers is a crime. How many violent criminals get out early because of prisons overcrowded by non-violent drug offenders?

Are you seriously comparing a class c traffic offense to illegal narcotics distribution?

Eagle1855 · February 17, 2012

I agree with the first sentence of both points 1 and 2. Kinda stopped reading after that.

HA.

rcade · February 17, 2012

I would venture to guess that the number is close to zero as far as pot is concerned, since pot SMOKERS haven't been going to prison around here for the past 40 years or so, and not too many people who aren't dealing get nabbed with felony amounts. I guess growers for personal use could be the exception, since unless it has changed in recent years, growing any amount is a felony.

Emmitt just said delivering $40 of weed is a felony. If that doesn't show you how utterly ridiculous and draconian the pot laws are in Texas, I can't make the point any clearer.

rcade · February 17, 2012

And as to your speeding comparison, call me when speeding is a felony. Again, a felony. That's what $200 worth of weed DELIVERED will net you. These TCU players weren't pot users...they were pot sellers.

I see it time and time again on this board, "unless you've ever coached football you can't begin to know how it's done" yet somehow we all have such a firm handle on the dope game. Ridiculous.

My point is that $200 of weed (you said $40 earlier) shouldn't be a felony. I'd rather see cops spend their time on real criminals.

I don't need to be a cop to know how stupid the laws are regarding pot.

I'm not a smoker, either. I just can't believe we waste so much time on a drug significantly more harmless than alcohol that has genuine medical use.

As for the idea legalizing pot would be political suicide, 50 percent of the public believe marijuana should be legalized, according to an October Gallup poll:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/150149/record-high-americans-favor-legalizing-marijuana.aspx

That's up 25% since 1996.

rcade · February 17, 2012

Are you seriously comparing a class c traffic offense to illegal narcotics distribution?

Are you comparing somebody selling $40 of pot to Pablo Escobar flying hundreds of kilos of coke across the Rio Grande?

My granddad drove a carload of illegal hooch from Iowa to Texas during Prohibition. My uncle George slept on the boxes in his baby carrier. Oh, the shame!

rcade · February 17, 2012

And here's the more inconvenient truth for the weed apologists...and read carefully...weed possession will get you PROBATION for a first offense in Dallas (and Ft Worth where TCU is located). A second offense? More probation. I challenge you or anyone to find me anyone doing significant jail time for weed possession.

Seems like a colossal waste of court and probation system resources to me.

Since you're the expert, how about comparing what you see weed doing to people versus what meth is doing to people?

cwb · February 17, 2012

You know what pisses me off? The seat belt law. Yes it is the right thing to do. But it should be a choice. If motorcyclists can ride with no helmet, why must I be fined for no seat belt?

KRAM1 · February 17, 2012

You know what pisses me off? The seat belt law. Yes it is the right thing to do. But it should be a choice. If motorcyclists can ride with no helmet, why must I be fined for no seat belt?

Well, for one thing it helps the rest of the taxpaying public to not to have to support you in a vegetative state as you lay in a hospital bed with injuries for the rest of your life that could have been prevented had you been wearing a seat belt...or a motorcycle helmet for that matter...just from a purely economic standpoint that is.....lots of other reasons, but since the logic of the seat belt law seems to escape you, I thought I'd add one that maybe you had never considered. If you want to up your chances of being killed or very seriously inured in a traffic accident, so be it...you make your own choices, just don't expect the taxpayers to bail you out......even if you have insurance, lots of the coverage is woefully inadequate to cover the long term care necessary from such situations.

Just ask any family experiencing such a situation if you think I am off the ball here.....some folks know that reality up close and personal.

emmitt01 · February 17, 2012

Well, for one thing it helps the rest of the taxpaying public to not to have to support you in a vegetative state as you lay in a hospital bed with injuries for the rest of your life that could have been prevented had you been wearing a seat belt...or a motorcycle helmet for that matter...just from a purely economic standpoint that is.....lots of other reasons, but since the logic of the seat belt law seems to escape you, I thought I'd add one that maybe you had never considered. If you want to up your chances of being killed or very seriously inured in a traffic accident, so be it...you make your own choices, just don't expect the taxpayers to bail you out......even if you have insurance, lots of the coverage is woefully inadequate to cover the long term care necessary from such situations.

Just ask any family experiencing such a situation if you think I am off the ball here.....some folks know that reality up close and personal.

Add to this the taxpayer burden of EMS personnel who respond to on site crash injuries that were preventable, the fact that it's been proven that full grown men can become in car projectiles during the crash (causing unjury and/or death to other passengers) and the increased loss of control of your vehicle during the collision because your body doesn't stay at rest.

I don't think anyone should have to wear a seat belt...as long as they never drive on a public roadway.

Monkeypox · February 17, 2012

My point is that $200 of weed (you said $40 earlier) shouldn't be a felony. I'd rather see cops spend their time on real criminals.

I don't need to be a cop to know how stupid the laws are regarding pot.

I'm not a smoker, either. I just can't believe we waste so much time on a drug significantly more harmless than alcohol that has genuine medical use.

As for the idea legalizing pot would be political suicide, 50 percent of the public believe marijuana should be legalized, according to an October Gallup poll:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/150149/record-high-americans-favor-legalizing-marijuana.aspx

That's up 25% since 1996.

50% of the people might think weed should be legalized, but they're not willing to make that a prime factor when voting. The laws on marijuana might be stupid or draconian, but nobody cares enough about them to get them changed. And so, as a candidate, having that as part of your platform is going to alienate 50% of the populace for a potential 50% that doesn't care to vote on this issue anyway. Political suicide.

All of these arguments are irrelevant, though, because the simple fact of the matter is... it's still illegal. People know this. These football players knew this. If you choose to still take part in the distribution of it, then you deserve the consequences. That's it.

I always wonder how politically active those are who challenge the laws on these things. I wonder about their voting records. Have they called their Representative? Written e-mails and letters? Organized a march?

And I believe it should be legalized... but, again, I'm not going to vote based on that issue. And I'm not going to say, when someone gets arrested for breaking the law, that we should disregard the law because it's dumb. It's not like it's a SECRET law.

The Fake Lonnie Finch · February 17, 2012

It's real simple to me - enough people harm other people under the influence of alcohol. Why in the hell, then, would you throw legalized marijuana on top of that?

There aren't enough traffic accidents caused by drunk drivers? Now we've got to have both drunk and/or stoned people on the road?

Stupid.

"Oh, Fake Lonnie, being stoned is different than being drunk."

Really? Both slow down reaction time. How is this a good thing when driving an automobile? Motorcycle? Comfortable with an airline pilot having a few hits of marijuana before your next flight? Hey, some of them already drink right? What's the harm in piloting an aircraft of innocent people after a few drinks and a joint when it's legal, right?

Crazy.

MeanGreenTexan · February 17, 2012

I've never been drunk, but I love beer & wine.

There are people out there (albeit not many) who are like me.

So, FACT: Not everyone who drinks gets drunk.

I've never been high either. The difference is (from my understanding), there's no other reason to smoke marijuana other than to get high. Is this correct, or is there a way to smoke half a joint or something and only get less than buzzed? If so, do people actually do this? My guess would be no.

So, although this argument is brough up incessantly, it is not equal.

Monkeypox · February 17, 2012

I've never been drunk, but I love beer & wine.
There are people out there (albeit not many) who are like me.
So, FACT: Not everyone who drinks gets drunk.

I've never been high either. The difference is (from my understanding), there's no other reason to smoke marijuana other than to get high. Is this correct, or is there a way to smoke half a joint or something and only get less than buzzed? If so, do people actually do this? My guess would be no.

So, although this argument is brough up incessantly, it is not equal.

Your argument is based on lack of information.

You can smoke enough to get buzzed without being completely stoned, just as you can with alcohol. And, yes, people do it all the time. I've got more friends that are functional potheads than functional alcoholics, actually.

Drinking til you're drunk and driving is against the law. Smoking pot is against the law. People still do both. It isn't that suddenly weed smokers (who already engage in an illegal activity) are going to be out there on the road. They already are. They're equally dangerous, despite the differences in their physiological impairment.

I DO know this - no one I've ever known has died of marijuana poisoning.

And, again, all of this is irrelevant to whether or not someone should be punished for breaking the law.

foutsrouts · February 17, 2012

I've never been drunk, but I love beer & wine.
There are people out there (albeit not many) who are like me.
So, FACT: Not everyone who drinks gets drunk.

I've never been high either. The difference is (from my understanding), there's no other reason to smoke marijuana other than to get high. Is this correct, or is there a way to smoke half a joint or something and only get less than buzzed? If so, do people actually do this? My guess would be no.

So, although this argument is brough up incessantly, it is not equal.

Smokers old enough to remember the 60's and 70's, would probably tell you that buzz vs. stoned depends on the potency of the weed, and that the potency of the weed these days will generally knock your socks off compared to the weed of the olden days. So I'm not so sure that just getting a mild buzz these days is very practical, unless of course you're a rare person who seeks out the weak stuff.

cwb · February 17, 2012

Add to this the taxpayer burden of EMS personnel who respond to on site crash injuries that were preventable, the fact that it's been proven that full grown men can become in car projectiles during the crash (causing unjury and/or death to other passengers) and the increased loss of control of your vehicle during the collision because your body doesn't stay at rest.

I don't think anyone should have to wear a seat belt...as long as they never drive on a public roadway.

I guess my point was missed. I am not anti seat belt. My point was that if I have to clean my room, why doesn't my brother have to clean his?

Censored by Laurie · February 17, 2012

I guess my point was missed. I am not anti seat belt. My point was that if I have to clean my room, why doesn't my brother have to clean his?

Your parents simply love your brother more. Have you never seen Stand By Me?

cwb · February 17, 2012

Your parents simply love your brother more. Have you never seen Stand By Me?

I don't blame them. Think I'll go look at a dead body.

MeanGreenTexan · February 17, 2012

Your argument is based on lack of information.

You can smoke enough to get buzzed without being completely stoned, just as you can with alcohol. And, yes, people do it all the time. I've got more friends that are functional potheads than functional alcoholics, actually.

Drinking til you're drunk and driving is against the law. Smoking pot is against the law. People still do both. It isn't that suddenly weed smokers (who already engage in an illegal activity) are going to be out there on the road. They already are. They're equally dangerous, despite the differences in their physiological impairment.

I DO know this - no one I've ever known has died of marijuana poisoning.

And, again, all of this is irrelevant to whether or not someone should be punished for breaking the law.

I'm very surprised to hear that, honestly. Still very skeptical though.

UNT90 · February 17, 2012

Seems like a colossal waste of court and probation system resources to me.

Since you're the expert, how about comparing what you see weed doing to people versus what meth is doing to people?

Or, more Importantly, how often marihuana is found right along side meth, coke, ecstasy, and heroin in drug busts.

Let me answer. Over 70 percent of the time.

I guess we could just turn this country into a bigger version of Amsterdam.

UNT90 · February 17, 2012

You know what pisses me off? The seat belt law. Yes it is the right thing to do. But it should be a choice. If motorcyclists can ride with no helmet, why must I be fined for no seat belt?

Right there with you. Texas was blackmailed by the federal government into passing this law.