that they're making a blog. it's going to suck.

Great post man, taking the debate out of the realm of statistics and policy? What a load of crap

if they're planning to allow people to add comments and discuss or will it be like the ondcps?

Facts and Stats aren't necessary if you create climate of fear.

I seem to remember there was this little film back in the mid 30s chock full of "personal stories".

What is the over/under on them posting a story about an axe murder in the next 6 months?

I sense that you're not really that interested in drug policy. I'm not going to try to convince you otherwise.

Could you stop calling us losers, though? I, for one, care about this issue for very personal reasons as do many others.

1. I've known two cancer patients that are now dead, and who insisted that marijuana helped them when they were alive.

2. I've had friends treated differently by the criminal justice system according to their race.

3. I've seen great students suffer the destruction of their academic careers because their recreational marijuana use was discovered.

4. I've voted for medical marijuana in D.C. at age 18, only to watch the U.S. Congress intervene and take away my voice in a democratic society because it disagreed with the will of the people in my city; a city which purports to be a beacon of democracy shining brightly around the world.

I could go on, but hopefully you get my point. Am I a loser because I care about these things? Do you stand by your characterization of me and the people who read this blog?

You care much more than I thought. Your instinct to defend the status quo is as strong as our opposition to it. Who are you? What brought you here?

I've explained why I care about these issues. Perhaps you could tell us something about yourself.

Where shall I send the $500 check?

If one believes, as you clearly do, that marijuana is terribly harmful, isn't that a design flaw? Most plants offer something helpful to people, i.e. fruits and vegetables are good for you. You're saying that of all the helpful plants out there, just a few have learned to trick people into liking them, while actually harming their users.

I think these harms are relative. I agree that one can overdo it with pot, but most marijuana users are doing fine. Absent intervention from the criminal justice system, pot smokers mostly quit on their own. It seems excessive to invest in a result that will occur independently in most cases anyway.

Do you think marijuana users should be arrested?

If you aren't already scheduled to write for the upcoming DEA Blog, I really hope you'll start one of your own. I've enjoyed this conversation considerably, and while I'm more aware of many of your arguments than you suspected, I still really appreciate hearing what you think (except for the part about how we're losers, over and over again).

The only thing that would help me at this point is to know specifically what your credentials are. I'm surprised you haven't volunteered this, since I'm sure you realize there's nothing we can/would do to you. As you stated earlier, the two so-called "sides" in this debate are more or less incompatible. Unfortunately, ONDCP is so polished and politicized that I can't even learn anything from them. I'm much more interested in opposing viewpoints than you may have suspected, but there's really a shortage of good straightforward pro-drug war rhetoric for me to read.

What do you recommend? Have you written anything on these subjects? If you'd like to share this privately, contact me at smorgan-at-drcnet.org. And maybe let me know what brought you to our site in the first place.

Otherwise have a nice day, seriously. And we'll do our best not to ruin the world with our naivety and loserdom.

Do you think he typed that all with one hand?