The Extreme Centrist

As I was reading the news I came across an article about a case which is going to the Supreme Court. They will be taking up a case that started when a student named Joseph Frederick and some of his friends held up a banner which stated, “Bong hits for Jesus,” across the street after they were excused from class so they could watch the Olympic torch passing by. The school believes that the high school principal was acting in accordance with the school’s anti-drug policy when she suspended the student. After reading about this I couldn’t help but think about all of my struggles in the past with school officials regarding free speech and drug use. We began supporting the legalization of marijuana back in 1968 when I first started smoking pot. I was only thirteen which was very young for someone back then. Being that it was in Texas it was even rarer for someone my age. . I couldn’t help but noticed that the person taking up the case for free representing the schools side was no other than Kenneth Starr. The same special prosecutor that spent so much time and money going after Bill Clinton. So now he seems to think that this is something that he must be involved with.
I can remember well one time back in 1969 when I and some other guy were having an argument about legalizing pot. I had made a bet with this person that pot would be legalized within a year because I thought that the drug so harmless that it would have to be legalized. Wow, did I ever loss that bet. I also remember that this same person that hated hippies and drugs, turned into a hippie drug user the next year. So maybe you can see why when I read about Kenneth Star getting so upset about this harmless expression of free speech that I have to wonder what’s the real problem here. I’ve seen this kind of reaction too many times over something so harmless. So why is it that we can not even mention something like a bong hit without getting these squares all upset? To me, putting Jesus and pot together makes perfect since because pot makes people so peace loving. It’s like putting pot and Bob Marley together. I believe that not allowing people with medical conditions to have access to pot is a crime. Just think about that for a minute. Just try and imagine if you were in great pain or if you had a hard time eating because of being on chemo therapy as millions of others do for real. So why is it such a great crime to wish for some relief? Just what makes a healthy person want to deny these people this medicine that so many of us know can help them greatly? To me it seems like some kind of devil that wishes to cause harm in a very real way. What else could it be? If someone next to you has there hair on fire and you refuse too give them the bucket of water that you have in your hands, what other reason could it be other than evil. I’ve had a lot of years to think about this and I can see no other reason. Just imagine if pot were legalized for everyone. Crime would fall in great numbers almost overnight. Many people wouldn’t feel the need to have to take dangerous drugs like crake or alcohol because they could afford something better that made them feel so much better. I know someone that’s against pot being legal. I sometimes will bring this person a copy of many articles that talk about the good this drug can do. When I show this person the article and ask them to read it, they will become very upset and refuse to even read it. This is, I’m sure the same kind of reaction that Kenneth Star must have had when he see’s something that may support legalization of pot. I’m sure that’s why he had to get involved with this case. If the same student had held a sign saying, “Jello shots for Jesus” I believe he would not care about this case. It’s just that mention of a bong hit that makes him so upset and willing to work for free. Just try and imagine how many life’s were ruined because of people like him that see pot as being so bad and feeling the need to place these people in jail. To me, it’s like putting people in jail for being Christians. I understand that it’s because people become so peaceful after smoking pot that it’s hard to get people upset enough to change this law. If you studied history than you can see how violent people became when they made alcohol illegal. It didn’t take too long before they made legal again. That can’t happen with pot because pot smokers are too peace loving. I know that pot is not for everybody. Many have tried it and are happy not to smoke it. That’s normal. So why is it that our government seems to believe that a majority of people need to be smokers before they will legalize it? Why can’t there just be a large minority of smokers and still have it legalized? Why after so many years proving how harmless this drug is, is it still compared to much more harmful drugs? I think many of the older people like myself can still remember those silly school movies were they showed people doing insane things after smoking a joint. So what makes someone take the most harmless drug and then treat it like it’s the most harmful drug? Many still today cling to this outdated belief. Like believing the world is flat and nothing can change there mind. If you try and show the many ways of proving that the world is round and having these people refuse to listen to anything that may prove them wrong. The only difference is that pot can help people with there suffering. I think that it would be better to have someone believe in a flat world than believe that pot was bad. If someone would deny someone a drug that could help them then they should not be surprised if they are denied relief in the next life. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If you cause someone pain than expect pain in your next life. Is that so hard to understand? Does it give these people some kind of pleasure in bring more suffering to these poor people? Maybe you should ask Kenneth Star.