Neil deGrasse Tyson: “No reason” for marijuana to be illegal
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, among the most well-known living scientists this side of Stephen Hawking, said this week that "there's no reason for [marijuana] to ever have been made illegal."
The remark came in response to a question submitted by Tom Angell of the pro-legalization group Marijuana Majority. Angell asked Tyson if he agreed with astrophysicist Carl Sagan that marijuana should be legalized.
"If you really analyze it," Tyson said, "relative to other things that are legal, there’s no reason for it to ever have been made illegal in the system of laws."
"That is extremely rational, which I expect from you, and you're absolutely right," replied host Chuck Nice.
"Alcohol is legal," Tyson added, "and it can mess you up way more than smoking a few J's."
Nice then spent several minutes ribbing Tyson over his archaic choice of marijuana slang.
"The last time I was like, in a cloud of it? That's how people spoke," Tyson said.
Tyson has in many ways followed the late Carl Sagan's footsteps in becoming a well-known evangelist for space science and the scientific method more broadly. Sagan, most famous for the television series Cosmos (which Tyson later rebooted), was a lifelong marijuana user who wrote extensively -- albeit privately -- about what he saw as the benefits of the drug.
"The illegality of cannabis is outrageous," Sagan wrote in an anonymous essay for the 1971 book Marihuana Reconsidered, "an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world."
Tyson has been more circumspect on the merits of drug use, at least publicly. "I don't count myself among active recreational drug users," Tyson said in a 2015 Reddit AMA. "For me, the least altered state of awareness I can achieve is the one I seek, because that one is most likely to be closest to reality."
J's and altered states aside, Tyson's argument against prohibition is on fairly sound scientific footing: public health experts generally agree that relative to alcohol, marijuana is less-habit forming, less toxic to the human body, less of an impairment to driving, and much less linked to violent behavior. President Nixon placed the drug in the most restrictive category of federal prohibition in 1972, overruling the recommendation of his own marijuana task force, which argued that that the drug wasn't particularly dangerous and shouldn't be federally prohibited.
Tyson's remarks were also similar to ones put forward by then-President Barack Obama in 2014. "I don’t think [marijuana] is more dangerous than alcohol," he told the New Yorker. "As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life."
An August Quinnipiac poll found that more than 61 percent of Americans now say marijuana should be legal, 94 percent support the medical use of marijuana, and fully three-quarters oppose the federal government enforcing marijuana laws in states that have legalized it.
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Original article https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/08/09/neil-degrasse-tyson-no-reason-for-marijuana-to-be-illegal/ by Christopher Ingraham Wonkblog https://feedly.com//i/subscription/feed%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fblogs%2Fwonkblog%2Ffeed%2F
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Duh...
@bob-nelson :
All recreational drugs should be legalised for adults.
Would this probably have deleterious results?
Yes.
No It should not, Not Legalized ask any medical professional, one has enough to deal with, seeing the plethora of legal and illegal drugs, paranoia, created, and the dangers in ALL forms of "work/play" will be astronomical!
So what about weed?
EV
No It should not, ask any medical professional, one has enough to deal with, seeing the plethora of legal and illegal drugs, paranoia, created, and the dangers in ALL forms of "work/play" will be astronomical!
I agree with you, it's likely more people will die as a result, but human death hasn't stopped alcohol being legal.
Number of alcoholic liver disease deaths: 19,388
Number of alcohol-induced deaths, excluding accidents and homicides: 30,722
So we are ALL well aware see the Surgeon General report about tobacco from 1827~
then all the reports of Alcohol deaths, so does society need another?
EV
It's about being consistent, that is if human death/health is the actual issue. I suspect it isn't.
08/13/17 07:35:24PM @another-fine-mess: Suspect
Reality IS, that Drugs attract Criminal Activity
Facts are: Criminals do not care about any ones health
Evidence IS Criminals will keep " Pumping out new drugs faster then the Government can legalize " if that is what the populace wants, Talking about " Lemming action "
E.A
Reality IS, that Drugs attract Criminal Activity
On the supply side, primarily as they're illegal, prohibition was a prime example of this.
Facts are: Criminals do not care about any ones health
It would be a strange world if they did.
Evidence IS Criminals will keep " Pumping out new drugs faster then the Government can legalize " if that is what the populace wants, Talking about " Lemming action "
I support legalisation partly to remove the drugs trade from the hands of the criminals.
08/13/17 07:59:03PM @another-fine-mess:
Pardon? So you did not read where it was clearly stated, that the Criminal Underworld will " Create more Drugs " faster then they can be legalized?
Do you really think that the Criminals will stop a lucrative trade, because the " Government " gets in it?
A.E
Pardon? So you did not read where it was clearly stated, that the Criminal Underworld will " Create more Drugs " faster then they can be legalized?
Do you really think that the Criminals will stop a lucrative trade, because the " Government " gets in it?
It will certainly blunt the criminals involvement, again, look at prohibition
08/13/17 09:12:37PM @another-fine-mess: Prohibition
LOL one card a deck does not make Link a Chain is not a single example of years long gone a " Science fact " dos not constitute many countries world wide do NOT have the drug problem/mentality, of the US of A, and the basic reason for that is the " Military ", if you do not understand what I mean with that, then do some research as to who, where the Originators for Most if not all the drugs now wrecking the economy, family, structure of the US of A
E.A
LOL one card a deck does not make Link a Chain is not a single example of years long gone a " Science fact " dos not constitute many countries world wide do NOT have the drug problem/mentality, of the US of A, and the basic reason for that is the " Military ", if you do not understand what I mean with that, then do some research as to who, where the Originators for Most if not all the drugs now wrecking the economy, family, structure of the US of A
Supply vs demand, and yes, legalised private business can do it cheaper than the criminals.
Far from being repressive authoritarians, Prohibition's largely Protestant champions – a large proportion of whom were high-minded middle-class women – were the do-gooders of the day. Often deeply religious, they saw Prohibition as a kind of social reform, a crusade to clean up the American city and restore the founding virtues of the godly republic. Many were involved in other progressive campaigns, too, notably the anti-slavery movement of the 1850s. And as American cities boomed after the civil war, swollen with immigrants from southern and eastern Europe, the campaigners' hatred of alcohol became steadily more ferocious. They looked in horror on the new saloons of the expanding cities, with their card games and fist fights, their bad boys and good-time girls. In particular, they became convinced that alcohol was a deadly threat to the health and virtue of American womanhood – not, perhaps, entirely erroneously, since papers of the time were full of stories of battered wives and broken marriages.
08/13/17 07:59:03PM @another-fine-mess:
Please read the META article about comments and keeping track, so that we will not have any misinformation, Many Thanks
https://thenewstalkers.com/community/discussion/33342/use-this-as-to-track-commentry-on-08-13-17-060117pm#cm517931
08/13/17 07:35:24PM @another-fine-mess:
Initials are E.A
E.A
Initials are E.A
Sorry I just noticed that, I wonder where I got EV from?
08/13/17 07:45:18PM @another-fine-mess:
From Perrie
so does society need another?
Another what ? Deadly drug ? How about a non-lethal alternative to a lethal drug wouldn't that be nice ?
........................................................................................................
Excessive alcohol use led to approximately 88,000 deaths and 2.5 million years of potential life lost (YPLL) each year in the United States from 2006 – 2010, shortening the lives of those who died by an average of 30 years.1,2 Further, excessive drinking was responsible for 1 in 10 deaths among working-age adults aged 20-64 years.
CDC - Fact Sheets-Alcohol Use And Health - Alcohol
…………………………………………………………………
Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the United States, including nearly 42,000 deaths resulting from secondhand smoke exposure. This is about one in five deaths annually, or 1,300 deaths every day.
CDC - Fact Sheet - Fast Facts - Smoking & Tobacco Use
www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/index.htm
…………………………………………………………………
Marijuana deaths in America in 2015 :
NO Statistics... 0 ?
……………………………………………………………………
......................................................................
Nationally legalize marijuana as the alcohol alternative that it is and save American lives !
Thank you
Marijuana should be nationally legalized and treated just as alcohol and tobacco except the deaths aren't there from marijuana to deal with everyday.
I take such exception to legalizing pot! If I even contemplated sharing my thoughts on this it would be an essay which few people would read in its entirety. And, even after reading it there would be no way to convince potheads.
... and you're a drama queen, so factor that in.
Yes, I am. How did you know that my first vocation was theatre? From the time I was 12 years old, I starred on TV and radio. Good catch!
Bingo!!!! Well stated
I respect your opinion But I so much disagree.
I too have an essay length set of reasons and an even longer life story of why I have my opinion.
I'm glad libertarians stepped up and took a bite out of tyranny here in Colorado. Both the Reps and Dems were opposed but the people got it on the ballot and changed our states constitution. Reject the nanny state government telling people what they can and can't do. Freedom lost is hard to regain and this is one area the people are winning.
I'd be happy if the entire country legalized the personal cultivation and use, and severely limited distribution of marijuana. In other words, if you want it - grow it. Give or trade it to friends and family in one gram max. quantities. Take the government out of the equation in terms of sales and taxation, and require everyone to grow their own shit.
LOL I just pictured some old cancer patient bending over his garden waiting for his medicine to grow.
Actually I wasn't laughing I was crying for him.
The cancer patient could be served by the community. Not everyone smokes weed, but they should be allowed to grow it without the threat of government oppression. Government exists off of the earnings of the citizens, and it is currently biting the hand that feeds. Get the government the fuck away from mj, because they are only interested in the profit that can be had by either (a) fines, or (b) taxes. Take the government out of the equation.
nice thought and I used to think that way as well but reality dictates we do have the government involved,
Non regulation of any huge industry is unrealistic. People have little personal restraint on hurting others or the environment for money. Pollution, theft, ripoffs, and no consumer protection from any of that and more..
But It is time it was nationally legalize, regulated and studied. For adults only !
Have you checked out the taxes on cigarettes and liquor?
Why shouldn't pot be taxed? Screw the users like they do to smokers!
Oh, man, lets just grow it! Hey, kids, you need severe chilling out. Join me on the back porch and commence to settling down.
08/13/17 07:14:25PM @dean-moriarty: is one area the people are winning
Is that meant as an endorsement for Drug Dealers? Big Pharma? Undertakers and associated " Industries "?
LOL
Drug dealers... legal or illegal ?
I see legal drug dealers on every corner, halfway down the block and in every 7 11 in the country.
All seem to be doing fine so I'm sure they're keeping busy.
Any establishment that dispenses alcohol, tobacco, prescription opioids and Medical marijuana is a legal drug dealer. All pay taxes as well.
I could add in every coffee shop in America as well.
People have always used drugs, I dont see that ever ending, a non lethal alternative to alcohol is still legal and people are probably dieing because of that. Its long past time americans had the freedom of this non lethal alternative legally available.
When you see your entire immediate family all die of their legal drug of choice (including younger siblings) and your non lethal drug of choice remains illegal it makes you realize just how illogical American laws can be.
08/13/17 07:27:08PM @321steve:
Agreed, but some have " medical uses " and others are just for the $$$$ you can not tell the difference?
"you can not tell the difference?"
O yes you certainly can. Medical Marijuana is dispensed out of a regulated business with a business storefront.
Medical Marijuana dispensaries normally also have a policeman standing in the doorway. Showing people iN and OUT and protecting the cash because no banks or plastic is accepted yet in this "legal" field.
National legalization and regulation including taxes and more legal research is much more realistic than Banning anything, did no one learn a damn thing from prohibition ? NO ! Apparently Not !
08/13/17 07:47:46PM @321steve: NO ! Apparently Not !
08/13/17 07:12:20PM @magnoliaave
End!
I guess you have had no personal experiences with the repercussions!
08/13/17 07:27:08PM @321steve: All pay taxes as well
That IS a Joke right, Criminals " pay Tax
"What criminals ?
I said"Any establishment that dispenses alcohol, tobacco, prescription opioids and Medical marijuana is a legal drug dealer. All pay taxes as well."
Medical Marijuana is legal in many states and yes the pay a butt load of taxes.
08/13/17 07:38:31PM @321steve: Medical Marijuana is legal in many states and yes the pay a butt load of taxes
Just for the sake of the chat::
You are aware of tax minimization schemes?
Are you aware, that a " Business front " does not mean that unlawful activities are not part of the " Business plan "?
As said again, and Again, and .. Why would ANY criminal group stop making DRUGS, any type, for EG:: a Maryjane plant with built in Menthol, remember those tobacco adverts?
Why would any " Youth " not be tempted to buy what is " Unlawful " as they are now?
Would that NOT mean, that the Criminal enterprises are " Like a Dogs Tail waging the Dog " Governments rushing to make Legal, what the Criminals are inventing?
Are you aware that I am not here to play your silly what if game ?
Medical marijuana is legal in some states and they are paying a premium taxes to do so. Criminals who sell drugs dont, that's reality.
08/13/17 10:27:23PM @321steve: I am not here to play your silly what if game ?
08/13/17 07:50:16PM @eagle-averro:
Taking the above, your comment can be seen as a " Personal attack " so be wise and end it here!
A personal attack...... LOL
OMG
Is that how you've shut people up before?
Kinda childish dont ya think?
BTW... Not attacking ... stating and now questioning
PS: You'd know it for sure if I 'd attacked you. So it looks like this is just more games.
Later, maybe.....
08/13/17 10:20:41PM @eagle-averro:
Although pot is illegal in the US currently and Tyson is a liberal idiot, I agree that it should be legalized.