Trooper's widow urges voters to reject legalizing marijuana

Not sure if I am posting this in the right place or not, I suspect i will find out soon enough, but the headline here caught my eye and well, I just have a few points to make about it.

Trooper's widow urges voters to reject legalizing marijuana

BOSTON (AP) — The widow of a state trooper killed by a driver accused of driving under the influence of marijuana is making an emotional plea against a ballot question that would legalize recreational pot. Trooper Thomas Clardy, a father of seven, was killed in March when a medical marijuana patient crashed his vehicle into Clardy's cruiser. In a new web video, Reisa Clardy said she believes there will be more accidents and more fatalities if voters approve Question 4 on the Nov. 8 ballot. The driver, David Njuguna, of Webster, has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter, operating under the influence of drugs and other charges in Thomas Clardy's death. When he was arraigned in May, Njuguna's lawyer, Peter Ettenberg, said Njuguna "absolutely denies he was under the influence of any drugs." Ettenberg declined to comment further Tuesday.

While I am very sympathetic to the widow for her loss, using this story as a way to influence voters is in extremely poor taste. First, I guarantee more troopers have been killed in the line of duty by drunk drivers and guns. Where is the clamor over making alcohol or guns illegal? Second, I also, guarantee if you took a poll of all the troopers in the country, they would tell you if given the choice between dealing with a drunk or someone that smoked a little pot the response would be overwhelming in favor of a pothead, like 100-0. Third, medicinally there is no doubt which one of these would be considered to be more beneficial to one's health issues and it is not alcohol.

Mods, if I put this in the wrong place, I sincerely apologize.

a reply to: searcherfortruth

I totally agree, this is irresponsible! It should be taken off air and out of the print media.

Americans should affirm their RIGHT to us pot, not detract from that.

a reply to: searcherfortruth

Why not legalise heroin too? After all "it's just a plant", just like cannabis is "just a plant".

Or opium? (Same plant as heroin)

Plants can't be dangerous.

/sarcasm

a reply to: TerryDon79

Heroine isn't a plant...

originally posted by: PeachesNCream
a reply to: TerryDon79

Heroine isn't a plant...

It was meant to be spelt heroin. Spellcheck failed lol.

BTW, it's made from poppies, so it is a plant extract. Therefore, made from plants.

Pretty disgusting to use an officers death to wage a political war.

originally posted by: TerryDon79
a reply to: searcherfortruth

Why not legalise heroin too? After all "it's just a plant", just like cannabis is "just a plant".

Or opium? (Same plant as heroin)

Plants can't be dangerous.

/sarcasm

Well....has making any of them illegal really made our country better?

Why do we criminalize psychological/medical issues, anyway? Should we start putting people with the flu in prison, too?

a reply to: TerryDon79

I misspelled it sorry.

a reply to: searcherfortruth

This story is made to be a tearjerker. The author makes sure that we are aware that he was the father of 7 and a police officer. I would rather rather be on the road with someone who has smoked pot than someone under the influence of alcohol any day.

Each person that gets behind the wheel is responsible for the state of mind they are driving in. Are they under the influence of antihistamines, alcohol, pot or any other medication? Are they angry or distracted, are they texting or talking on the phone or too tired? Have they made sure the vehicle is safe to drive? Any of these things could be dangerous. It is the responsibility of the person getting behind the wheel to determine if they are fit to drive.

Calling for non legalization of marijuana because of one death is an emotional one and a knee jerk endeavor at best.

My sympathies but she is out to lunch, prohibition has killed many..and furthermore for anyone with 2 brain cells to rub together + the ability to find info..prohibition does not work!!

yes it's a plant but its purified in a lab. anything purified to a pure substance like sugar is bad and addicting. ever heard of people chewing coca leaves? I am against " Dabbing " but weed is not really that bad coming from someone who used it and no longer does ( It's not addicting ) by the way people eat poppy seeds, a reply to: TerryDon79

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

Not really.

Has making it illegal made it any worse?

Same answer.

originally posted by: PeachesNCream
a reply to: TerryDon79

I misspelled it sorry.

Yeah, so did I before my edit. That's why I thought it was funny

a reply to: TerryDon79

You're kidding right?

originally posted by: FredWreck
yes it's a plant but its purified in a lab. anything purified to a pure substance like sugar is bad and addicting. ever heard of people chewing coca leaves? I am against " Dabbing " but weed is not really that bad coming from someone who used it and no longer does ( It's not addicting ) by the way people eat poppy seeds, a reply to: TerryDon79

I was using it as an example of another plant substance that is illegal. And the "it's just a plant" crap.

So she wants to avoid legalizing because.... what?

I'm sorry, driving under the influence is still a crime. Only difference is the perp was committing two crimes at once, one of which is harmless (and hopefully soon legal) while the other is already a huge deal in this country with alcohol.

Shameful.

a reply to: TerryDon79

I think we should!

Make all of the legal and turn it into a social issue not a criminal one.
Just like we do with alcohol, it is no better than any 'drug' out there.

Has making it illegal made it any worse?

Yes, the war on drugs is an utter failure.

originally posted by: vonclod
a reply to: TerryDon79

You're kidding right?

Nope. Completely serious.

How has making cannabis illegal made your country worse?

It might make it worse for the people getting arrested, but certainly not as a country.

a reply to: Sremmos80

So how has the "war on drugs" made the country worse?

Straw man argument, not relevant to the issue of legalization, same argument as MADD, and attempts to exert an influence to vote the issue based on the voter's emotional response to implied causality of a specific substance rather than the driver's conduct.

Whether the driver who killed her husband was drunk, on heroin or coc aine, or smoking pot isn't relevant to the issue of whether or not a substance is "legal" or not. Her husband's death is directly attributable to the voluntarily impaired state of the driver - even a driving diabetic having a blackout is impaired, although it could be arguable whether or not the impairment occurred "voluntarily" (intentional). Point being that once a driver reaches an impaired state, it matters not how he got there unless you're just interested in stacking on additional charges.

ganjoa