Makes perfect sense
From this, I gather he means we can’t legalize drugs because then we couldn’t kick in doors of people growing weed and get shot. And that makes them heroes.
And explain to me how putting on ninja gear and going in guns blazing over someone growing weed for personal use contributes to the public safety. Seems to me, the public was safe until someone kicked that door in and the gun shots started.
Via Balko.
January 10th, 2012 at 10:10 am
The problem is this approach makes no sense. Kicking in doors of people who have weed is absurd and it costs a lot of taxpayer dollars to do it.
January 10th, 2012 at 10:11 am
Magic flowers, such as cannabis, are a threat to public safety. The public includes everyone. Some people will get hurt by magic flowers, including absolute idiots, complete fools, and those with a disposition towards schizophrenia. Since it’s not safe for everyone all of the time it isn’t safe for the public.
Now it is true that prohibition doesn’t eliminate this threat, and in fact creates many more dangerous threats…but who said we have to be logical in our tyranny?
January 10th, 2012 at 11:51 am
Banning “magic flowers” makes about as much sense as banning guns–they can both be misused but the threat to others lies in the hands of the user. I hate to say it, but if you forced me to choose between giving an “absolute idiot” a magic flower or a gun, I’d give him the drugs. That’s because, in the hierarchy of being-a-threat-to-others, guns rank higher than weed. So at least be consistent: either trust people to look out for themselves or don’t (and kick down their door at the smallest sign of infraction).
January 10th, 2012 at 12:32 pm
Also he makes a pretty ballsy (and WRONG) assumption that all these Ninja Death-Squads are RIGHT when they make a raid, but more than half the time its bogus Intel that they’re operating on when they shoot the dog and the home owner.
January 10th, 2012 at 2:11 pm
“If someone is willing to shoot it out with police, who is self-medicating on marijuana, what’s to say he’s not willing to walk out his house and start shooting his neighbors?” Smith says.
Oh, I don’t know, the fact that his neighbors aren’t kicking his door in and pointing guns at him?
January 10th, 2012 at 3:15 pm
It’s about time that cops get a mandatory few days off, their guns taken from them, and the guns replaced with weed. They need to see firsthand why what they’re saying about the stoners is stupid.
January 10th, 2012 at 4:08 pm
I live in Utah and there’s a follow up to this story every night on the news. The police will not release the search warrant, nor say why they even went into the home. The “suspect” doesn’t have a criminal record. The DA is going to seek the death penalty, yet the police won’t even say what’s in the warrant.
January 11th, 2012 at 3:08 am
Why, I believe he is correct. Getting rid of the 2d amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America PROBABLY WOULD make their jobs easier. But why stop there? Let’s take a walk, shall we?
Eliminate the 5th amendment and things would be MUCH easier for the police. We would have no right to STFU.
How about the 6th amendment? With no right to a speedy trial, or a trial by jury, we could be held indefinitely, or until we admitted guilt.
Definitely the 4th amendment–imagine how easy their jobs would be without the need to mess about getting those pesky warrants prior to searches.
The 8th amendment prohibits excessive bail–without THAT right we would languish in jail.
Yes, our government agents would have a much easier time of governing us if they didn’t have that blasted constitution standing in their way!