MPP’s Aaron Houston debates DEA’s Asa Hutchinson on CNBC

Comments (60)
February 4, 2009

This is a clip from CNBC of MPP’s Aaron Houston debating former DEA administrator Asa Hutchinson.

The opinions expressed below by our viewers and posters do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Marijuana Policy Project. These views are those of the individual authors alone. MPP does not condone or support the illegal use of marijuana. We do encourage open and frank discussion, but if a comment has been posted that is in some way significantly inappropriate, please e-mail us at socialnetwork@mpp.org to report it. Thank you, and we're looking forward to what you think!

60 Comments, Comment or Ping

shaun

AARON!!!! good job man even though they kept cutting you off. hutchinson, thinks he can spit off numbers and quotes because he WAS DEA, he straight up lied!!! HUTCHINSON IS A LIAR!!! and CNBC needs to grow a pair!!!

Feb 4th, 2009
Adam

Not so good. I think Aaron needed to explain how that asshole was lying out of his ass. Also he should have explained how the ‘gateway’ theory is pure propaganda. Poor arguement. They left off with you both have powerful arguements.

Feb 4th, 2009
Freddy

The ‘gateway’ theory is something created entirely by the prohibition of Marijuana. By having Marijuana in the same illegal market as other ‘hard drugs’ it simply gives people opportunity to buy harder drugs. There are no chemical properties existent in Marijuana that would push someone to try more dangerous drugs. By legalizing and regulating it, the whole ‘gateway’ effect is erased.

Also, I can’t believe Asa’s comments about Marijuana being a dangerous substance. Aaron should have asked him, “Tell me specifically what is DANGEROUS about this drug.” Because nothing is. Marijuana has been used for practically all of human history, and not a SINGLE death related to marijuana use has occurred. It’s not an addictive substance, it’s not toxic, and has no real serious long-term effects. When compared to the dangers of alcohol and tobacco, it’s like comparing the dangers of box-cutter to a nuclear bomb.

I feel that in all these interviews I’ve seen, the MPP is being way to conservative, and frankly, somebody needs to sack up. Deliver the truth because we’ve heard the lies long enough, we need to stop looking like idiots and be concise and organized. The only way that this issue can be even somewhat legitimate is if we get exposure to the media that fully, %110 will inform people the truth and get them to join our cause. From what I’ve seen here, I’m pretty disappointed in the effort to do that.

Feb 4th, 2009
marc

I have the same opinion as FREDDY. Its time for all the people to step up and do something real to change the situation that we at; because all I hear is just talk and let me tell you: talk is cheap.

Feb 4th, 2009
Christian Conservative

Marijuana will only be legalized after state and federal government identifies a way to make money from it. If we’re serious about securing our borders, protecting our children from drug-dealing murderers, and pumping some much-needed revenue into the public treasury, we’ll implement a Personal Use and Cultivation Permit, similar to a fishing permit, allowing ordinary Americans to grow a little marijuana in their own back yards.

Sold by the States and splitting the revenue 50-50 with the Federal treasury, if the permit cost $100 per year, and if even one-third of the estimated 30Million Americans who use marijuana each year were to obtain such a permit, it would pump a Billion dollars into the public pocketbook AND rip the guts out of the criminal drug gangs’ cash flow.

Right now, we put our own children in prison with violent criminals for doing something that both our current Democratic President and the recent Republican Vice Presidential candidate acknowledge having done themselves. Let’s put the drug dealing criminals out of business and let ordinary Americans grow a little marijuana in their own back yards.

Feb 5th, 2009
jerry

i think they are all hipacrits cause a drug free america would be without alcohol and tobacco.a gateway drug from my expience started with a drink of alcohol then led to a cigarrete then marijuana.

Feb 5th, 2009
John Guilbert

Thank you MPP for fighting for us on this important issue.

Feb 5th, 2009
tom

If marijuana is a gateway then alcohol and cigarretes are the hinges and handles

Feb 5th, 2009
Bruce

In the Content Tag Words area (above right) you guys spelled “cancer” as “cancner”. And you don’t have it spelled properly anywhere in the tag words. If you want anyone’s search to yield a link to this, someone should fix that. I only caught that because I got by dub-glasses on (I’m high on weed). Hahah… there’s one positive effect of marijuana “Jamaican fisherman syndrome”.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TBT-4T4HP96-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=f3456a86fe3215088d0ac8d1174d845a

Also, I agree with the above poster who said that Aaron didn’t really counter Hutchinson’s bogus claims with a pointed argument that shows how false those claims are. I chock it up to nerves and the usual, too many pundits in the kitchen syndrome.

Oh sure, teen pot use has declined… Yeah RIGHT!!!
Marijuana has become more and more accepted and openly joked about in popular culture. Celebrities brag about using it. People are proud of it and they should be!

The gateway drug theory is so ridiculous. Most people I know who smoke pot, (myself included) will not do anything else and pretty much look down on hard drug use (heroin, meth-amphetamines, even cocaine) as a way of ruining one’s life. I’ve never even TRIED any hard drugs, yet I smoke pot daily. Psychedelics is a whole other story and I believe in their beneficial effects… calling those varieties “hard drugs” irks me because I believe they have amazing benefits and so do the doctors who originated and use them.

I’m Irish and I don’t even drink alcohol. Why? Because pot is my medicine of choice! There’s a history of alcoholism in my family and if it weren’t for this gift from God, I would definitely drink a LOT more often… and alcohol is proven to have a much worse effect on the body AND on the relationships of drinkers. Whereas, I believe marijuana has helped me self-reflect and become a more conscious person.

For Hutchinson to say that Doctors agree that marijuana is a harmful drug is another bogus claim. Many conventional doctors will recommend its use and almost all doctors who I’ve talked to about it have said that the negative health-effects are limited to the sheer carcinogenic effect on the lungs, which DO NOT cause lung cancer, (unlike tobacco)! And that is why there are other ways to administer this medicine other than smoking it.

Pot can be depleting if over-used, but what isn’t like that?!?! Coffee is far more depleting to the body! Every medicine becomes a poison when use turns to abuse. Dosage and frequency (balance) is what everything in life hinges on.

And for anyone who still think pot effects male sperm count or sperm vitality… that argument (old wive’s tale) has also been scientifically disproven and debunked. If anything, the opposite can be shown to be true.

Hopefully this somewhat lengthy rant will post!

Feb 5th, 2009
Troy

It looks like Aaron let Asa walk all over him. Call him out!

Marijuana IS harmless, that’s why doctors endorse it for medical use. 30 year study has shown this.

Drug use has NOT gone down. They are NOT winning, even DEA agents flying the helicopters say they see more now than ever.

Not to mention 13 states with medical marijuana, how is that a win for them? It’s not, because they are in the wrong, and people know better. They lied in all of their ads where marijuana reform is up for grabs.

Amsterdam has seen NO increase in use due to decriminalization.

Studies have all shown that marijuana is NOT a gateway drug, and no data supports this accusation. A drug abuser is going to abuse whether they’ve done marijuana or not.

The DEA, and other anti-drug organizations use misinformation.

You can’t go on national media and play nice, you need to go in there and control the conversation – put them on the defensive, and get the facts out. Asa went unchallenged that entire debate.

Feb 5th, 2009
RICHARD RALPH ROEHL

It is always better to inhale to the Chief… than in-Heil to the Chief!

Pot is a gateway drrrug to crrrack? Well if that is true, then coffee is a gateway drrrug to tobacco and beer… which are gateway drrrugs to $cotch.

The soidisant “War on Drrrugs” (especially against hemp) is a complete fraud. It has fostered huge black market $ystems that go unregulated and untaxed in an economy that is collapsing. The lousy “War on Drrrugs” also fosters an extremely violent gang culture where beheading a police chief and other law enforcement personel is considered to be a common everyday ordinary crime. On top of all this… the $tewepid and idiotic “War on Drrrugs” has marginalized and disenfranchised countless millions of Amerikans who got pinched with a few doobies in their pocket… or maybe got busted for growing a couple of plants in the back patio. And now they have an arrest record and/or a felony conviction that denies them gainful employment. How wonderf-fool for our $ociety: disenfranchise millions of people.

Okay! Stop and think now! There are 2.35 million Amerikans in jail, most of them for non violent drrrug offenses. Yesss… 2.35 million Amerikans in jail (more than half the world’s population of prisoners)… costing the U.$. taxpayers roughly thirty grand a year to keep them there. You fools!

I must ask. Are ewe folks in the Justice Department $moking crack? Eh? Where is your common $ense… in the so called land of the free and the home of the brave? What the F@(K is wrong with EWE? When are EWE going to start acting like YOU?

I MAKE A PREDICTION HERE! In 100 years, and perhaps much sooner, people will look back at the foolish and destructive “War on Drrrugs” (and also Amerika’s corp-rat fascist drrrug laws)… as we today look at $lavery and Jim Crow laws and debtor prisons and child labor, etc.

Wake up… or we’re going to burn down the house that Washington built.

RICHARD RALPH ROEHL
(Be sure and spell my name correctly for the files… comrade!)

Feb 5th, 2009
Patrick

I’m reluctantly going to have to give into the concensus here that Aaron made an effort, which is admirable, but he dropped the ball. But folks, keep in mind that the networks do these so called interviews in their controlled environments. Had they given Aaron the same amount of air time they gave to Asa, then I believe Aaron would have fared much better. But even then, I do feel that the fine folks at MPP and other such organizations really need to be much more assertive and “matter of FACT” in thier tone when do have that little slice of air time; and make sure you STATE THE FACTS WITHOUT AMBIGUITY. I get outraged when I have to listen to fossils like this Asa guy spewing drivel and propaganda, and it goes un-answered. He’s simply perpetuating the negative stigma and myths attached to marijuana, and what’s more even HE KNOWS that what he is saying is pure hogwash! He is reading a script.
Re the comments made by RICHARD RALPH ROEHL – I like your play on words… very clever, but what’s with the repeated spelling of “drrrrugs”?
Is your “r” key sticking on your keyboard?
Anyway, I’m grateful to MPP and all of the other organizations putting in the hard work. Do better next time… try speaking LOUDER but without sounding like a raving, angry, lunatic – it’s a fine line to walk; I realize this, but next time please….MAN UP!! Thanks for all your efforts. You hve my respect and admiration.

Feb 5th, 2009
Patrick

OH YES… One last thing: The young man growing the pot completely FAILED to mention that the ENTIRE plant can be used for MANY things. The stalk can be used to make many things; clothes, paper, fuel, etc… and the list goes on. He only talked about the bud of the plant leading the viewer to believe that this cash crop is only good for smoking and recreation. The buzz is just the icing on the cake. MJ has so many environmental benefits!
That guy made all pot growers look like getting stoned is the only benefit of MJ and/or hemp! I think the news channel probably edited out comments made by him to that effect. They are just as guilty as the Government!

Feb 5th, 2009
ChaChi

Aaron REALLY blew this opportunity! He left out many proven statistics to debunk the agents lies. Is he the best MPP has? They should have had someone from LEAP on there to debate!
http//stopthedrugwar.org

Feb 5th, 2009
Laurie

“Gateway Drug”, an interesting notion. I would venture to estimate that the majority of marijuana users were given alcohol and tobacco before marijuana. Have we really labelled the correct drug here as a “gateway”?

Feb 5th, 2009
CEO,citizens,eyes,open

Let be honest here,pot is far less harmful than the legal ones pushed on us and our kids day in and day out. If the drug war was working, the willfully ignorant would not have to make-up lies and/or twist the truth to make a valid case. Last year more people died from prescription drugs than all non-legal ones. Al capone was a two bit hood until booze was outlawed, he made around a million a week because of it. Same with the street gangs today. It’s a known fact that our CIA has been dealing drugs for decades for the cash it provides. cops breaking into peoples homes, killing people, taking citizens houses, cars, assets, strip searching people in the street. This is easy, anyone that is pushing to keep the drug war going is making money off of it plain and simple, in some form or other,or they choose to be ignorant. It used to be against the law not to grow hemp. If it is a “gateway drug” it’s because of the blackmarket(get ur pot,get ur coke here) and a bigger blame goes to the government for telling lies and tall tales about drugs, remember the tale of the six school kids who took LSD and stared at the sun until they went blind? CNBC is just one of a group of media that is nothing more that a propaganda factory, as well as CBS,ABC,CNN,fox. On a side note, the national crime rate dropped in this country 25% after booze was made legal again and the percent of the population who become addicted to drugs has not changed since 1920, laws or no laws no matter what the governments have done, so put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Feb 5th, 2009
Adam

The ‘gateway’ theory was rolled with the government’s propaganda. I don’t know of any drug that is a gateway to another.

Feb 6th, 2009
Brian

I agree with the comments below how they kept cutting Aaron off every time he was making a point. Also he should have mentioned where marijuana is legal the number of hard drug users and how they diminished. Further more he Hutchinson just kept talking how it would be bad for teens and how teens where affected which is just a political device on its own. He doesn’t talk how it would be benificial to others because he is getting payed to lie.

Feb 6th, 2009
Cannabisactivist

We need to tell them that marijuana has never killed anyone in the history of time , prevents cancer (tetrahydrocannabinol & cannabidol as well as delta-tetrahydrocannabinol are anti cancer). Also Cannabis prevents tumors , glaucoma helps with asthma and many other illnesses. Does not kill braincells , does not make you violent like alcohol , and that thats the bottom line. See what the ex DEA says to you. Tell them this on live television because the image glued in viewers minds was that marijuana was a addictive substance that can lead to cocaine and heroin use. No it doesnt alcohol and tobacco have shown to be better gateway drugs than pot. Point out their lies.

Feb 6th, 2009
Cannabisactivist

And their argument marijuana is more potent in our time era. It is? well that means its better for you. More THC & CBD = more anti disease & cell defense as well as + nuroprotections. Also its not marijuana is Cannabis-Sativa/indice marijuana is the mexican term for the word which originated from racial conflict during the early 20th century.

Feb 6th, 2009
Cannabisactivist

And wtf do I never hear from orginizations that pharmacuitical industries , tobacco industries , alcohol industries , religious corporations and many other types of companies lobby to keep marijuana illegal for example. Pharmaceutical industry gets to make pills for headaches , restlessness , pain , Alzheimer’s , convulsions & many other diseases rather than just a single dose of thc or cbd. Another example is that alcohol industry’s make a bundle off of their product if marijuana were made legal their sales will most likely be cut in half. Is MPP Being lobbied?! Idk anymore..

Feb 6th, 2009
Cannabisactivist

Oh and politicians get “donations” from corporations to keep certain contraband’s.

Feb 6th, 2009
Kevin

I think Aaron did a mediocre job in this debate. he should have pounded back the whole gateway propaganda and he should have immediately refuted the statement that marijuana is harmful addictive drug. He could have easily done this by using statistics about alcohol vs. marijuana.

Feb 7th, 2009
Gerard

I think Aaron did a good job though he should have had a better answer ready about the whole gateway BS. He should have explained that what actually is the “gateway” is the black market. Unless you have a “guy” you regularly buy from…dealers aren’t your buddy and their job is to get their product sold as quickly as possible.

A friend of mine went to do a street buy in D.C., asked for some bud, the guy says “no man…you want some rock…right?”( insert threatening look and tone ).

Feb 9th, 2009
Mary

Asa is piece of sh*t….what a hick idiot……he needs to pull his head out of his ass….Marijuane is harmful? Really? show me! i don’t see it…I have been smoking it for over 20 years and /i have a PhD and have raised 2 wonderful kids and have a job in a university where I am a valued faculty member! fearmongering freak = ASA

Feb 9th, 2009
Ron McGill

What about Alcohol being a “gateway drug” . It might have been good to stuff that reality in his face. Or the fact that Alcohol causes 100’s of 1000’s of death every single year and MJ causes ZERO. Not one.

They are only making a case for filling prisons but won’t put it that “bluntly” haha.

Feb 9th, 2009
Gilbert Beneviste

What a missed opportunity. It seems that Aaron Houston prepared and followed a mental script instead of focusing on Hutchington’s arguments and answering questions. Houston should have explained how marijuana is infinitely less harmful than tobacco and alcohol. How death by marijuana overdose doesn’t exist. How a number states are using marijuana for MEDICINAL purposes. And don’t get me started on the whole stepping stone theory. Come on, Houston! You should have been able to dismantle that argument in a nanoflash.

Feb 9th, 2009
Ben

Would you like to put those figures back in your ass where you got them from, Mr. Hutchinson?

Feb 9th, 2009
Juliea

I do also wish he would have told this guy and the people watching that the things the DEA guy was saying were completely FALSE such as it being a gateway drug (if anything, cigarettes and alcohol are gateway drugs – but I really don’t believe in that anyays but I like how they just discount the first two “legal” things kids often try first), it being addictive and how harmful it is. There is NOTHING WRONG with using marijuana responsibly.

LEGALIZE IT.

Feb 9th, 2009
Brian

The only ‘gate’ in gateway that is connected to pot use; is that it is illegal; and when you use it; you break the law. Once you have broken the law; you have passed’ through a gate’.

I bet though – that most kids have broken other laws before using pot; like drinking alcohol; speeding; running stop signs and all the dumb stuff kids do.

I smoked pot in 1969; and I have never used cocaine; or crack; or meth.. gotta wonder; if pot is a gateway drug – well…. how long before I get cravings for other drugs??

What we need to do; is to get pot off the schedule A status – it is not addictive; it has medical uses; and it is the only drug of the same schedule status that was put there ~without~ the input from the medical community.

The arrogance of people that could legalize pot; provide the country with a crop that farmers can grow easily ( hemp).
That and pot – which could provide enough money to help everyone with a drug; alcohol or emotional problem: with the revenue from its sales.

These are hard times; and we need to stand together; and we need to act; and this is an action that could provide needed jobs and revenue.

Oh and let sick people live.

My cousin is undergoing chemo following the removal of a breast tumor. The secret to chemo – is that you have to take ALL of the treatments; and take them on time. Skip a session; and you can defeat the treatment.
So; if pot helps a person eat; and keep food down; so they can receive all the chemo treatments a cancer patient needs.
Who is the government to say no – because it could be a gateway drug to a dangerous drug?

Pot may not have killed anyone ( other than a guy named Juan who had a bale of it fall on him) – but Drug Czars kill thousands – by not allowing sick people medication.

I am sick of this stupid ‘war on drugs’.

People use drugs because people like to change their reality.

They do it by buying a new car; getting a new haircut; getting a new job; buying new clothes; going to church; parachuting; mountain climbing; fishing; hunting; falling in love; falling in lust.
WE are creatures that crave changing our reality.
As long as we are human we will have the desire to change our reality.
Warring upon pot; to try and change the nature of humanity- is quite insane.
It hasn’t worked; it will not work.

I think Aaron did a good job – considering he was taking fire from all directions. But if I was blind to the facts; I would have given the debate to Asa Hutchinson.

Thats OK – Aaron won by remaining cool under fire; and under unfair constraints.
Aaron – don’t be afraid to stick a point in where it hurts them: there are people dying for you to win !!

Feb 10th, 2009
fighting4commonsense

Everyone who does not know the lying source of our current marijuana laws should do their homework and read chapter 4 of “The Emporer Wears No Clothes” at http://www.jackherer.com. Then read chapter 2, “Why Not Use Marijuana to Save the World?” (especially the last page of chapter 2) You will be shocked and disgusted & pissed off enough to never let fear shut you up again!

Feb 10th, 2009
Drea

He should have said that it is not harmful, because it is not. http://www.webmd.com, boasts about its medical uses. How could something that is used to treat an illness be considered bad? Aaron really could have done a better job to stress this point. This would have ended the argument immediately.

Feb 10th, 2009
Lauren

Asa Hutchinson is an idiot. THE END. Way to quote false information and make up bullshit facts. I’m sick of this drug war nonsense. It doesn’t work and it’s a waste of taxpayer money

LEGALIZE MARIJUANA.
Get rid of the prohibition!

Feb 12th, 2009
Mark

Yeah, the dude was an idiot but I don’t understand why he wasn’t made to look like one.. His arguing points were almost all baseless and he kept spinning all of his statements into the whole “OH MY GOD ITS A DRUG AND ITS GOING TO DESTROY YOUTH”

Why didn’t you call him out on his facts, or perhaps the numbers of patients that the DEA arrested and stole from, maybe even mention President Obama’s statement claiming that if Doctors were prescribing it, he didn’t want any federal spending to go toward the DEA circumventing state law?

You could and should have been much more aggressive, sir, the man clearly had no idea what he was talking about. Just another puppet feeding their hate machine.

Feb 12th, 2009
okbutdontask

Hutchinson did LIE ! The DEA knows the benifits of cannabis,and they know its not addicting.Because they did a study on it.
There are onley two gateways to hard drugs,
1.Alcohol
2.Weak minds.
I know many people here in northern california who use cannabis,and none of them use drugs of any kind.
And the only alcohol they consume is a beer or glass of wine once in a while.
Hutchinson and people who lie (yes bushchaney im referring to you) are the cause of all the problems this nation is going threw.
Not Cannabis!

Feb 12th, 2009
Stever

It’s very hard for me to believe that after all of the GOVERNMENT studies that have been done over the years and the overall failure of marijuana policy in particular for well over 60 years that a man like Hutchinson could still have his head up his ass. He seriously has to realize that we’re not buying the propaganda anymore. THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE!

Feb 12th, 2009
Steve Ruhl

“Marijuana is a gateway drug leading to the use of hard drugs”

Answer: “You know I’ve heard a lot of people say that, but a careful examination of that statement shows that Marijuana PROHIBITION is actually the gateway to the black market and exposure to drugs that are harmful. Regulating marijuana would break that government funded gateway to organized crime and reduce it’s ability to prey on our society.”

Feb 12th, 2009
JustinFriese

come on is there anything else tht these people can complain bout. yp tht dea fuk said tht all addictive drugs or substances should be banned. well take coffee any kind of chocolate substance off the shelf. and itss not a getway, ive been smokeing since i was 10 and i have never done anything more. think of all the alcholics in ths world would u rather have someone drunk or high driveing next to you. think people THINK

Feb 12th, 2009
JustinFriese

man next time bring up the problem tht we as americans struggle with drinking problems. my father was an alcohlic, i dont drink for tht reason. come on people we have more problems to deal with then a little old plant

Feb 12th, 2009
Jesse

he said he saved lives by keeping marijuana illegal, but i still haven’t seen an article in a paper about someone smoking themselves to death, like katt williams says “you may think he’s dead, he ain’t dead. give him 30 minutes he’ll eat up everything in your pantry…. that’s the side effects: hungry, happy, sleepy” and how many have died over let’s say $5,000 bucks worth of weed??? or even the moronic ones that’ve been shot and killed over $200 worth, it was on the first 48 on A&E so don’t tell me it hasn’t happened!? way to save the world Douchebag Eediots and Assholes.

Feb 12th, 2009
Jesse

and why didn’t they ask about the DEA raids on medical marijuana patients??? i wanna hear what he has to say about beating up cancer patients

Feb 12th, 2009
Dan

I cringe when I hear the words “gateway drug”. I think I might qualify as the “poster boy” of how untruthful those words are. As an alcohol abuser in my youth through adulthood as well as as a cocaine abuser in my adult years I have now been sober for over twenty eight years. After stopping I tried marijuana and it has been a “god send” to my well being. As a Bi-Polar patient it has helped me handle my illness as well as the prescription medication I take and all my medical personel are aware of my use.

Recent circumstances related to a job have forced me to stop my recreational activity even though the job is many months away. Some how the surpressed “demons” of alcohol and even cocaine have suddenly resurfaced with their temptations and I have a major “fight” on my hands each day which “for now” I am winning!

Feb 13th, 2009
crazycloud

My ex husband and many of his friends used crank and hate smoking pot as it makes them paranoid. So to me the gateway thing is silly. Did you know that people who use cocaine and heroin and all other illegal drugs started drinking water first. Also water is used to grow pot, maybe we should make water illegal. Ha!

Feb 14th, 2009
Gary Christian

If some jerk can get on late night TV and advertise “Girls Gone Wild”, which violates every local porn law, why can’t MPP or NORML put together a really good infomercial to help people understand the truth about marijuana? We’ve all heard the lies put out by the DEA and the crowd who support the pharmaceutical companies. These people are being allowed to go into the schools of our children and present their lies. I mean how upside down can the world be? Isn’t it time to rethink how we get the truth out to the general public. Sure folks like me who support the legalization of medical marijuana look on sites like MPP and NORML… Sure most of us who are pro-decrim try to catch the occasional news shows or debates like this one, but it’s clear, main stream news has no balls for the truth. If they did, Aaron would have been able to finish at least one of his points. Let’s face it, main stream news is bought and owned by the very people who are trying to keep marijuana illegal. If you don’t believe that, try counting all the commercials for drugs being pushed by the pharmacutical companies. Fact is, those of us who support the legalization of marijuana don’t have the money of the big pharmaceuticals and, it’ll take money to sponsor any program that will influence the public to the truth. Most of us are too fearful of “the Man” to get involved and nothing will change unless we overcome that fear. It’s really very simple… we’ve got to change the image the general non pot smoking public has about marijuana and those who use it. When someone like Michal Phelps apologizes for smoking pot, they’re just doing harm to our movement. Why couldn’t he just say, “Yes I smoke pot and I still won more Olympic gold than anyone else. Some of our greatest musicians… people like Louie Armstrong, The Beatles, Yo-Yo Ma have smoked pot. Some of our greatest minds like the late Carl Sagan and Steven Hawking have smoked pot. Our best Presidents, from Washington and Jefferson to Obama have smoked pot. Didn’t seem to do any of these folks any harm. Maybe… just maybe, it’s not marijuana that’s a bad thing but the laws against it.” That’s what he should have said. Do a infomercial showing those of us who suffer from disease and pain and benefit from smoking pot. Let the world hear our testimonies… testimonies uninterrupted by some anti-drug, DEA jerk. Don’t get me wrong. When it comes to drugs like cocaine, crank, and heroin I’m just as anti drug as Asa Hutchinson. These drugs kill. They ruin lives. Marijuana is not only harmless, it helps. It was “liars” who added marijuana in with the bad drugs. They need to be called out and exposed as liars. Show why they lied. It’s up to all of us to educate the public as to why marijuana is a good thing. Sure, they’re some who may be convinced by the financial benefits of legal marijuana but if you want to touch the hearts of main stream anti-pot America, put the bright, young, 22 year old college student who is fighting cancer on TV. Let him share how smoking pot allows him to cope with his chemo. Show the sweet little old grandmother who’s able to work in her flower garden because pot helps with her arthritis. Show the research that’s being done with those with alzheimer’s. We have the truth on our side. But without the money to get the truth out there… without the right medium, nothing will change. NORML has been around for a long time. They have failed. MPP can talk about money and taxes until they’re blue in the face and nothing will change. But find a way to show the world the benefits of marijuana in a way where the other side has no say or rebuttal… then we may have a chance. Even if they do fight back, and they will, remember, the truth can only shine if we are willing to stand up for it. I heard Bishop Tutu of South Africa say, “We as free people, are obligated to violate unjust laws. We must continue to do so, all the while fighting to make that which is wrong, right.” In the end, it may take several million people marching on Washington to make a difference. If two million can show up for a inauguration, imagine what would happen if twice that many “lit up” in front of congress. So get off your asses people. Find a new way to educate and don’t be afraid to join me in D.C. on the Mall this July 4, 2009. let’s send up a smoke signal everyone can read.

Feb 17th, 2009
Mike Dameo

I think Aaron did a terrible job in this debate. He neglected numerous opportunities to make common sense arguments, and failed to put this debate into perspective for someone who is ignorant about marijuana or law reform. Get a new job Aaron, debating is not your forte.

Feb 23rd, 2009
Mark

Lots of negative comments about Aaron’s argument. I tend to agree. I think pot smokers are generally too laid back which makes us easy targets for law enforcment and assholes like ASA.

You know, Thomas Jefferson said that something along the lines of “having a revolution every 20 or 30 years”.

I think that if pot isn’t legal in 1 year, given the economic conditions present, a revolution may be the only way to eradicate an unjust law.

But before we go there, I think Aaron and those who argue for our side need to be much more aggressive in their dialogue without coming off like a complete asshole like ASA, Sean Hannity or Glen Beck.

Feb 27th, 2009
Keegan

I don’t like watching these because the people for keeping weed illegal are rude and lie the entire interview. I also don’t like them because the person for weed legalization needs to speak up, people cut him off and he’s not doing anything. We can’t get it legalized if people don’t hear that side of it, be more assertive but not rude

Feb 27th, 2009
John

If your going to do cocaine and other “hard” drugs, your going to find them and do them. Regardless if you smoke-a-da-pot, if you want to get messed up, you’ll find some meth, some heroin, or some crack and you’ll get messed up.

Smoking Marijuana isn’t necessarily going to turn you into this crack smoking, baby killing, home wrecking, park bench sleeping, monster. If you end up doing hard drugs its because you have that kind of personality.

I wish we could just get high without offending so many people!

Mar 1st, 2009
John Again :-)

Hey Tom Jacobs, you and your words spelled correctly. Why are you even on this site? Go home to your spell check and lonely sex deprived wife and shut your face!

Mar 1st, 2009
Eric

Ouch, Aaron, you got drilled. In his defense, Aaron didn’t get as much time as Asa and seemed to be on the wrong end of the questioning. That’s the fight we have ahead of us, though, as these myths and half-truths are so entrenched in the minds of Americans. I still wish he could’ve had the chance to point out that cannabis has not been found to be physically addictive by any legitimate medical study, or called Asa on the fact that he kept saying that OVERALL drug use had declined while refusing to recognize Aaron’s statistics. Also, it seems they kept trying to push the myth of cannabis being a gateway drug on Aaron. I think he touched on it, but I wish he could have explained in better detail how criminalizing cannabis may cause a higher possibility of being a gateway drug because of the direct contact with dealers who also deal drugs like cocaine and heroine versus contact with legally licensed cannabis distributers who aren’t trying to push anything else, or maybe how drug culture is imbued in our habits anyways due to legal drugs like alcohol and tobacco.

Mar 4th, 2009
QN

I think as a whole we should avoid Ronald Reagan and Milton Friedman as models. I don’t think these guys represent what the Marijuana Movement should which is open and all inclusive. I understand highlighting the financial incentives of taxing but invoking these controversial figures to be representatives draws deep lines in the sand. Science and truth have more efficacy than these dinosaurs.

Mar 10th, 2009
James irvin

on the dea website they have shown that marijuana use in kids have increased. so hows lieing? The DEA or this guy? No medical person that was not paid by our goverment has said that marijuana is harmful. of cource its not harmless. drinking a soda is harmful. like everything we do it has its health hazards. some worse then others. but tobacco is very harmful and thats legal. In fact there is no proof that it is a gate way drug.

Mar 16th, 2009
Bill

complete bullshit how they dont even let him talk

Mar 19th, 2009
Tim

I’m wondering what type of studies are being conducted (if any) to attempt to prove or disprove the “gateway” argument. There really needs to be concrete data from multiple angles in order for marijuana to strip itself of it’s gateway label. I completely agree that it’s more likely for people to try pot before hard drugs, but this argument is coincidental. It does not prove that pot is a gateway drug. It may only mean that it’s more readily available, therefore easier for a first timer to obtain. Maybe instead of looking at the horse before the buggy, we should test it the other way. Is someone who is likely to use hard drugs more likely to use pot first? I think this argument is reasonable, but it doesn’t prove anything when you think about it in reverse. Again, it’s coincidental and circumstancial. The only way to quash the argument is to put down facts, and statistics. I am looking for as many arguments that support the illegalization of marijuana as possible, in order to understand them and address them accordingly. This “gateway” argument does seem to be one of the more powerful ones that support the illegality of the plant. Another is whether or not use would increase if it was legalized/decriminalized. If anyone has a link to some facts about these arguments please reply.

-Nil

Mar 23rd, 2009
bryan brady

Why does the Government of the People allow people with socialist viewpoints lead our departments. Fire them.
Get them out of critical offices. Don’t fence us in says the Freemen and Women. If we want to use something God made, they have NO right to violate this freedom

Mar 26th, 2009
Matt

I think Aaron did a great job on everything except the question regarding the stepping stone theory, around 7:15 minutes into the video.

Mar 29th, 2009
John

In all probability, marijuana is a gateway substance. So is water. And oxygen. In fact, studies show that almost all users of hard drugs such as heroin at peanut butter as children. The gateway argument is so difficult to refute because it is logically flawed and a rather ringing example of post hoc reasoning.

Apr 16th, 2009
norman

alcohol causes 23 dieses to the human body this causes over 3 million death a year, our country has 300 million that is 1/100 people dying from alcohol, alcohol is the leading murderer in the country because of alcohol over 100 people will die in alcohol related car accidents a year.

these are the reasons we should be pushing to make alcohol illegal or the legalization of pot

oh and for a drug to be a schedule 1 offense it has to have no medical qualities marijuana is considered one of these drugs but what would alcohol be scheduled as

Jul 30th, 2009
norman

100 people will die of alcohol related car accidents a day not a year

Jul 30th, 2009
Dman

I just saw the interview with this Hutchinson guy and he did lie and is a real idiot. We all need to write our officials and be at town hall meetings to legalize before there are more of these lying nazi scum are spawned. Make sure you look up things like oathkeepers.org and Ithacahours.org.

Nov 17th, 2009

MPP’s Aaron Houston debates DEA’s Asa Hutchinson on CNBC

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