January 30, 2004

Big Deal

Pete Guither has the story of the first day of relaxed marijuana laws in Britain:

It'll be interesting to see how things settle. That's what will matter. The greatest fear of the drug warrior is that marijuana will be used commonly and the sky won't fall. (Much like this summer in parts of Canada when it was temporarily legal to possess cannabis.)

Here's the analogy:

Certain anti-war activists hoped that the Iraq invasion would end badly, humbling the U.S. and the Bush administration. Similarly, prohibitionists hope that legalization will backfire, and we'll see a rash of violence and disorderly conduct.

Posted by Walter at January 30, 2004 10:43 PM
Comments

Walter,

Do you have any sources where "certain anti-war activists hoped that the Iraq invasion would end badly?" I'm not trying to pick a fight with you. The other day this subject came up and the person that I was having a discussion with made the same point but couldn't name names.

Thanks.

John Orr

Posted by: John Orr at January 31, 2004 10:34 AM

No respectable war opponent wished the U.S. to lose, at least not out loud. I didn't mean to denigrate the anti-war movement. There were a few, however; mostly anonymous commenters on web sites. Here's one, from a blog comment thead:

"I think we're on the same side, I want the US to lose gracefully, but lose anyway, you want the US to "win" but lose gracefully."

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2003/11/23/234010/77

I recall seeing other similar statements on sites like the Democratic Underground. With Google and a few hours to spare I could probably find some more.

Posted by: Walter at January 31, 2004 01:38 PM