Sanjay Gupta is a Dumbass
The word on the street is that Sanjay Gupta is being vetted for Surgeon General by the Obama transition team. How fitting that an article penned by Dr. Gupta arguing against the legalization of marijuana should show up in Time magazine today.
Gupta's argument is essentially that pot should be illegal because it's bad for you. To prove this, he cherry-picks a few studies showing health risks while ignoring the ones that didn't obtain the same results. Coincidentally this bias fits well with the interests of the pharmaceutical companies who sponsor the shows he appears on and who stand to lose profits if people have easier access to cannabis.
Personally I'm not all that skeptical that marijuana poses various health risks - it's just that there are some pretty obvious objections regarding government paternalism and the consistency of the logic being employed.
Candy is also bad for you. Consumption has been linked with obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay. Should we make it a crime to eat an Abba Zabba? 1 year behind bars for every Twinkie?
"We're the government. We're here to help..."
Alcohol prohibition didn't work because the criminal justice solution was far more destructive and expensive than the problem it was supposed to solve. This is what we should be thinking about when we craft our drug policies.
You know what else is bad for you, Dr. Gupta? Fucking jail.
Gupta's argument is essentially that pot should be illegal because it's bad for you. To prove this, he cherry-picks a few studies showing health risks while ignoring the ones that didn't obtain the same results. Coincidentally this bias fits well with the interests of the pharmaceutical companies who sponsor the shows he appears on and who stand to lose profits if people have easier access to cannabis.
Personally I'm not all that skeptical that marijuana poses various health risks - it's just that there are some pretty obvious objections regarding government paternalism and the consistency of the logic being employed.
Candy is also bad for you. Consumption has been linked with obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay. Should we make it a crime to eat an Abba Zabba? 1 year behind bars for every Twinkie?
"We're the government. We're here to help..."
Alcohol prohibition didn't work because the criminal justice solution was far more destructive and expensive than the problem it was supposed to solve. This is what we should be thinking about when we craft our drug policies.
You know what else is bad for you, Dr. Gupta? Fucking jail.