Friday 3 January 2014

Penn Jillette On Drug Legalisation

For a warm Friday evening watch, here is some weapons grade common sense from reet proper libertarian Penn Jillette.


There are quotes there which stand out as text book for anyone who claims to believe in liberty.
"I've never had a puff of marijuana in my life - never had a recreational drug - and [yet] I so want that legal so I'm not paying for enforcement of a law that just seems stupid" 
"When I was young and everyone around me was smoking dope, there [were] two things I wanted; one was to never be around someone smoking dope and, two, to have it completely legal." 
"I only care about freedoms of things I don't agree with, that's the only ones that test me ... if you have not got the freedom to put what you want in your body, you are not living in a free country"
Quite.

Do watch the whole thing as an illustration that we are, indeed, on the side of the angels here. Libertarians like and trust people; prohibitionists don't. It's that simple.


7 comments:

Jennie Orr said...

Last line of the 3rd quote...my favorite...common sense, freedom of choice, where has that gone?

Dick_Puddlecote said...

It's been usurped by gullibility and divide et impera..

Realist said...

Whats all this crap about legalising Marijuana and freedom when we still have
a draconian smoking ban wrapped round our necks
Could it be a case of bourgeoise libertines yearning for their mind blowing liberty at the same time as side stepping the issue of the lower classes huddled in gutters like vermin,the unskilled plebs not worth a tweet from the glitterati.
Pound to a penny the slithering liberal weasels who clamour for going easy on
spliffing are the same who fully support the witch hunt on smokers.Usual gang of Fabian Fumblers.Young liberals,Labour Loonies,Trots,Pinkos,Guardian/Independent misbegottens,front bench "tories".BBC editors and various other forms of drain dwelling degenerates.
First things first.

emma2000 said...

I guess we will just have to make our cigarettes look like joints and we will be fine. Seriously I am really puzzled why those most against smoking one plant, tobacco are totally in favour in another, Cannabis. Doesn't make sense to me.

Dick_Puddlecote said...

Yes it's lefty right-on hypocrisy a lot of the time, but at least for once they're on the side of liberty.

As for Jillette, he's sound on smoking too. See here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGApkbcaZK4

Sam Duncan said...

Convergence: liberalizing dope laws
and cracking down on tobacco to the point where they're treated identically.
They know that marijuana is at least as carcinogenic as tobacco, if not more so, and there isn't a snowball's chance in hell that they'll allow the market for it to become as free as tobacco was until a few decades ago. So two cheers for legalization, where it's happening, but anyone who thinks this is motivated
by any kind of meaningful drive for liberty is fooling himself.


As for Penn, I could have said all that. It's not about what I want - I've never smoked anything at all - it's that freedom benefits everyone. Great bloke. (And who's the babe in the specs? Phew...)

truckerlyn said...

Absolutely, Sam Duncan.


What is being talked about, in this case marijuana, is not the point, the point is FREEDOM to do to ourselves what we want and, ultimately, what feels right for us at the time.


Whilst things like marijuana are illegal, then yes, the use thereof may well lead to criminal activity. However, since smoking tobacco is still legal, although severely restricted, no-one I have heard of has committed a crime to get a smoke.


Finally, there is drink. Drink is the one thing that, done in excess, can and does lead to harm to others when fights break out. Then there is a law in place which is supposed to prevent those serving drinks from serving someone who is obviously drunk!


It comes back to putting into place the laws that already exist, rather than making up even more new ones to curtail freedoms of those who pay the fat salaries and expenses of the already monied elite who sit in government and can't seem to think of anything better to do!