Surprise!!

Tuesday 12 July 2011 - Filed under Uncategorized

I wonder if Senator Tallian (Statist – Indiana) is also surprised that the sky is blue or that the grass is green. The Herald Bulletin:

When state Sen. Karen Tallian first floated the idea of introducing a bill to look at legalizing marijuana, her Statehouse colleagues warned the Portage Democrat that it could kill her chances for re-election.

But the 60-year-old mother of three thought there might be some public support for taking the crime out of pot, so she sent out an informal survey, via email, to constituents in her northwest Indiana district. Within 72 hours of sending the email, she received more than 2,000 responses. Almost all of them were supportive, and most of the supportive ones said the state should treat marijuana like alcohol: Control its sale and tax it as a revenue enhancer.

“I was floored by the response,” Tallian said. Emboldened by the support, Tallian filed a bill last January to begin a serious conversation about the weedy issue.

[. . .]

Since the bill’s filing and passage, she’s received even more support, ranging from conservative Republicans to liberal Democrats, she said. She’s received some negative feedback, but few like the comments from someone who told her she should be “shamed” for even bringing up the idea.

“I’m kind of shocked and amazed,” Tallian said. “I haven’t been demonized.”

When over 1/3 of our population admits to having smoked pot at some point in their lives (a low number, to be sure, considering that most of the hard data on marijuana use comes from a survey conducted by the very government who throws nearly a million people in jail every year for smoking pot), it seems odd to me that anyone who doesn’t live under a fucking rock would be surprised that they haven’t been ostracized for suggesting that lawmakers remover their heads from their asses. Then again, she is a politician, and having an inherent disconnect with the very people she supposedly represents might as well be a fucking qualification for the job.

2011-07-12  »  madlibertarianguy