Cato Institute member sez "I smoke marijuana, and I lik

[lucky_lab_rat]

The Cato Institute is a major "Think Tank" in the US. While officially non-partisan they tend to run on the conservative, libertarian side.

One of their members, Will Wilkinson recently wrote a piece basically saying a major reason pot remains illegal is that, for fear of running afoul of the law, people fear admitting that they smoke pot

"We'll make real progress when solid, upstanding folk come out of the cannabis closet, heads held high.

So here we go. My name is Will Wilkinson. I smoke marijuana, and I like it."

article

 

[grifter7]

I use psychedelics and i like it

 

[st.bot.32]

I think that's a good point, but getting a movement like that started is the hard part. Right now it is too gradual. Once in a while it turns out that some highly successful person smokes pot, the media can stigmatize the person rather than make the connection that duh, you can use pot without it hindering you

Here's something very interesting and not surprising from the norml site that went up a while ago.

They compiled a bunch of tables from the 2007 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (USA) and as it turns out... cannabis smokers have a higher rate of full time employment, pretty much the same number are unemployed, and conversely, people with higher education are much more likely to have smoked pot... So in regards to the above topic.. the people are there, and there are millions of them. No wonder society is slowly edging closer to legalization these days than it ever has been. If the ball ever really gets rolling it will be something to see, i think

http://stash.norml.org/who-are-you-ii-industrious-smart-more-samhda-stats-on-adult-marijuana-users/

 

[davebrown]

a friend and I were just discussing this sort of thing.
It's true, nothing can happen until a major politician admits to currently using cannabis. Many have stated that they have used in the past, but rare is it to see a habitual user admit it publicly. A key part is someone major and in lots of power, not just minor ones.
When this starts happening a lot more frequently, legalization is right around the corner.
Once the people can see that the ones they respect are users, I think it will be highly beneficial to the cause.
They can't uphold a law while it's publicly known that the politicians are constantly breaking it.
also, like st.bot said, the people are there. They just have to make themselves known.