Shawn
sheilaFor those of you who weren’t aware, cigarette smoking has been banned indoors in Holland, but weed is still cool, as long as it is smoked sans tobacco. As ridiculous as that is, marijuana has been, and is still legal in Holland.
In the US, however, pot is not quite legal, even for medical uses. Cigarettes are still legal to sell in California.
The decision came after testimony from more than 20 patients who reasoned and pleaded with the Santa Cruz City Council to allow them to inhale their medication while partaking in Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana’s annual WAMMfest. Some accused council members of growing old and more conservative, while others said Santa Cruz was losing both its compassion and its weirdness.
I bet if 20 patients reasoned with the Santa Cruz City Council to make a smoking ban exception for a 1 day festival for cigarette smokers, it would be a no-go.
All council members voiced their support for medical marijuana, but not all were crazy about granting an exception to city rules for a festival celebrating drugs that are illegal without a prescription, fearing it could draw recreational tokers.
It’s interesting that cigarettes are not even mentioned in this article. Think about the hypocrisy. A legal product, which our government endorses by collecting a huge amount of tax revenue is not even a part of this discussion.
Council members approved the proposal on a 5-1 vote, with Councilwoman Lynn Robinson voting against the measure and Mayor Ryan Coonerty absent
Well, there you have it. The idiocy of this blows my mind. I don’t have a problem with medical marijuana, and I have friends that are recreational users. But the logic behind this issue is ludicrous, and I believe it will be lunacy such as this that will eventually destroy the anti-smoking movement.
Filed under: Government Hypocrisy
The issue here is allowing a group of people equal access to a public facility and allowing that group the same freedom of speech awarded to everyone else.
If the city council didn’t allow WAMM to use their medicine, which is both legal under local and state law to do so, they would be discriminating against the sick and the dying.
Marijuana and marijuana smoke have not been proven to cause cancer. Quite the contrary, it prevents cancer. Unlike tobacco, which is a danger to both the smoker and the person sitting right next to the smoker.
Idiocy? Nope. It is a fair ruling by the City Council that allows equal access to the park by all.
The only reason why marijuana and marijuana smoke have not been proven to cause cancer is simply because not enough “testing” has been done on it. There’s no incentive for any non-profit or for-profit organizations to go after marijuana. And the organizations that support marijuana have “studies” that show marijuana to be beneficial.
I suffer from severe panic attacks when I don’t smoke. Would the city council allow me to smoke legal cigarettes at that event? Fat chance. Would they be discriminating against me by not allowing me to smoke cigarettes? Yes, but they certainly wouldn’t see it that way.
In my opinion, it’s a profound case of idiocy and hypocrisy to say that a a legally taxed product cannot be enjoyed, while an illegal (at the federal level) product can.
In a truly free country, there would people smoking pot and cigarettes at the festival, and we’d all get along.