In the spirit of the opening of baseball season I would like to say that Undertheice really got a piece of that one as usual.
Not long ago I read a book called "Influence" by Robert Chialdini. It was one of those truly amazing eye opening works. In it, he discusses the subconscious nuts and bolts of how and why people are influenced to take certain action. What I learned, as would anyone who reads this book, is just how powerful certain things are when it comes to our choices.
Of particular importance is a concept called "social proof." This has to do with a natural tendency to follow the heard and it is extremely powerful in people. In fact, there are guys who even make a study of these concepts that they use to get women into bed.
The point is, we as a society must give careful consideration to what we make publicly acceptable. When we make things socially acceptable, we put these powerful motivators into motion and the effects can be downright amazing. The last thing we want is too much pot use - that could really be bad for many reasons. This is especially harmful for young people who need to be focusing on school and not fucking up in life. People concerned with eradicating poverty ought to be very concerned about kids smoking pot.
Now, I do think the way our government is handling things now is nothing short than a crime against humanity. And I think grown adults have a right to use pot responsibly or even to be fuck ups if that's what they choose. But, we do need to be responsible in setting boundaries and making it clear that pot smoking is not always the most productive use of time and not something kids ought to be doing. I think we can do a much better job of this through education, treatment and prevention than through the use of the state sponsored brute squad.
