Yesterday I wrote this article about something I heard on 1210 WPHT’s morning show and I think I owe a bit of an apology to Chris Stigall. Today, Stigall cleared up my misunderstanding. I actually agree with him 100%. I also said in my article that he probably wouldn’t read it. Well he either read it or did a really good job of BS’ing. I wish I had the audio for the past two days because I’d like to share with you exactly what he said. Unfortunately I cannot, so I’ll try to summarize. He made it clear that he is not in favor of the nanny state. He does not think we should be rounding up the pot smokers, but he says there are more serious and more egregious acts by government that we (we as in libertarians and republicans pretending to be libertarians) seemingly don’t care about. Hell, about half our income is stolen by some form of government, but that isn’t getting anywhere near the play the issue of legalized pot is getting.
However, I do think that my article is still relevant, but just cross out “Stigall” and replace with “many Republicans”. I probably shouldn’t have gotten all up in arms, but legalizing pot is an easy one. It’s an easy way to teach liberty. When people say things like, “They want it legal to sound cool,” it rubs me the wrong way because there is a huge opportunity to teach people about liberty. The more people who understand why government has no right to kidnap you over a plant, the more people who will want government out of healthcare, schools, energy, speech, guns, food, drinks, cars, TV and radio, insurance, investments, inheritance, alcohol, etc, etc, etc.
While I agree that legalizing marijuana isn’t the most pressing issue, imagine how much less money would have to be confiscated to support the War on Drugs if we legalize and do not tax it. Imagine how much space would be freed up in our prisons. I’d be willing to bet that street crime would decrease like it did when alcohol prohibition ended. People with drug problems would not have to hide, we could help them instead of locking them in a cage….I think even Republicans can support that!
While I don’t always agree with Stigall, I usually do, and I do think he has an entertaining, thought-provoking show with a nice local Philly spin to it. Check him out if you’re in our area.
