If Carl Sagan Hadn’t Used
Marijuana,
Then He Might Have Been Smart Enough To Be The Editor Of The Santa Barbara News-Press
(Marijuananews note: If anyone does not yet
understand why I have such contempt for the "editocracy" that so badly
mismanages journalism in DEAland, then I submit this as Exhibit A.) August 24,
1999
From The Santa Barbara News-Press
jlankford@newspress.com
http://www.newspress.com
KIDS AND DRUGS
Anti-drug campaign officials cannot be happy with the
announcement last weekend that the late Carl Sagan, one of America's foremost astronomers,
was an avid marijuana smoker.
See
At Dinner With Carl
Sagan the Only Drug Was Wine, But That Is Not News.
Sagan told friends some of his most intellectual work was inspired by pot-induced
highs. Such a revelation only adds to the burden of parents trying to convince their kids
to stay away from drugs.
(Marijuananews note: Sagan, who was a loving father, never advocated
that children use marijuana. He did, however, make the relevant distiction between adults
and children.)
But something is working in the battle against drug abuse among children.
The federal government's annual National Household Survey on Drug Use shows a 15
percent decline last year in teen use of such drugs as marijuana,
heroin and cocaine. The same survey, however, reveals a disturbingly opposite
direction for drug use in young adults, 18 to 25 -- a 10-percent increase.
See
New Survey And Shalala
Says, "It looks like we have turned the corner."
Maybe Because We Have Been Around This Block Before?
The Emphasis Is On Marijuana But Alcohol Remains The Big Problem
The survey included teen use of alcohol and tobacco products, and
showed the following illuminating statistic -- teens who smoke are 11 times more likely to
use illegal drugs and 16 times more likely to drink heavily than non-smokers. Those
numbers are compelling reasons to discourage your children from taking up the cigarette
habit.
(Marijuananews note: Not to mention the fact that tobacco is highly addictive and shortens the
lives of perhaps 20 times the number of people killed by all the illicit drugs every year,
and alcohol is the drug that causes by far the most social problems.)
See
As Budweiser-Sponsored Woodstock
Burned,
Beer Lobby Kills Proposal To Include Alcohol In Czar’s Prohibitionist Propaganda
Campaign
Critics of government anti-drug policies argue that campaigns such as Just Say No and
DARE have little effect on teen drug use. We disagree, and we think you will too when you
consider that when the federal government scaled back on its drug education and awareness
programs in the early 1990s, drug use among teens shot up by more than 200 percent.
(Marijuananews note: Like the so-called "Gateway Theory,"
this assumption is a variant of the logical fallacy of "after that, therefore because
of that." Critics of these prohibitionist propaganda programs use actual data,
something of little interest to the Santa Barbara News-Press
editors.)
See
DARE
Could Lose Federal Funding Under New Policies, Says The Prohibitionist Dallas Morning News
and
"Those
who insist on keeping the plant illegal bear a serious degree of moral responsibility for
young marijuana users who do go on to use cocaine, heroin, PCP or other genuinely
dangerous or addictive drugs."
Alan Bock, of the Orange County Register On the Real Gateway
Anti-drug messages work -- and those messages should be heard first in the home. When your teen points to Sagan's pot-smoking habits and then to his
scholarly accomplishments, here's what you can say: Think what he could have accomplished
without being stoned.
(Marijuananews note: Yes, he might have been smart enough to be an editor of Santa
Barbara News-Press, and thus be able to give advice on subjects about which he knew
nothing, and decide who goes to jail and who gets to run for President.
Actually, the proper response to kids who cite Sagan’s marijuana use is very
simple:
"Demonstrate that you are as smart as Sagan, and then talk to me about smoking
marijuana."
Alternatively, I would especially recommend: "Demonstrate that you are as ignorant
and arrogant as these editors and I will put you up for adoption. )
Supported