CNBC Rob Kampia vs. Kevin Sabet, Ph.D.

[111losangeles]

Marijuana is harmful people. That woman who crashed her car and killed her kids was high - also education has done nothing to lower the social costs of alcohol in the face of legalization.

The legalization argument is a joke.

[Matteous5]

111losangeles - You should do more research on marijuana. People crash their cars while they are texting, putting on make-up or driving drunk too. Marijuana is not harmful; driving your car while stoned can be... just as the circumstances listed above can be also.

[Lonewolf1126]

Right on DarthNole!

[DarthNole]

BTW - it is the Prohibitionists that continue to add the wording "SMOKED" marijuana to the discussion. This is simply done so that they have some sort of leg to stand on in the debate.

Everyone by now should understand that inhaling any smoke causes damage to your lungs. The smoke is due to combustion and it is the combustion that brings the carcinogens into the body.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SMOKE WEED TO GET HIGH!!! Therefore you do not have to injest carcinogens to get the effect...

[DarthNole]

Marinol.... you woudl prefer that people use Marinol? This is a prescription that contains 100% THC (the active ingredient) while in plant form Marijuana contains at best 20% THC...

If Marijuana is so dangerous it would be due to it containing THC (the ingredient that causes the "high") so why would you propose taking a more potent drug?

Every single point that you make in opposition is rooted in the misinformation being pushed for the past 72 years!!!

[TrueActivist]

If marijuana doesn't need to be smoked, then why are legalizers trying to legalize SMOKED marijuana. Why not a pill form such as Marinol or Satavex? See the agenda?

[DarthNole]

Why do you think that pills are better for you than something natural? "Legalizers" want to see the prohibition repealed due to the years of misinformation that has come from our government. Marinol and Satavex are prescription drugs and we are discussing the legalization for recreational use. In its natural form there are still no negative affects to using. The ONLY negative comes from those that choose to SMOKE rather than use an alternative delivery method.

[DarthNole]

and for that matter the damage is being done to themselves no tto you... so why should you care anyway?

[TrueActivist]

Comparing one drug to another. Here's the moronic argument.

Well, cigarettes are a drug and it's legal, why can't we legalize pot?

Smoking anything is harmful, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out.

[DarthNole]

Marijuana does not need to be smoked!!!

By using a vaporizer you heat the flower to a point below cumbustion...THC and other cannabinoids are turned into vapors which are collected and inhaled. The vapors allow the delivery of the medicine directly into the blood stream via the lungs much like those people that use nebulizer treatments (asthma). Since the plant material isn't burned you don't bring the carcinogens into your body.

This is why we push for EDUCATION as well as REGULATION!

[TrueActivist]

All smoke causes lung problems, that's why legalizers bring up cigarettes in their argument. That's why they quote stats associated with cigarettes.

[geoffreysilver1]

Tell swankrecords that the worst that could happen is what happened in China when the British government forced the Chinese to accept the importation of opium in the 1840's. Ruined lives and a society that did not recover until the communist goverment with harsh penalties substantially stamped out the drug taking habit.

[geoffreysilver1]

This You Tube clip was supposed to be a debate. In fact the presenter took an entirely partisan view.

Marijuanna does less damage to society than alcohol and tobacco. That is probably because it is illegal.

[DarthNole]

What damage has Marijuana done to Society??? 

Do the 100,000 deaths per year that alcohol causes create damage to our society??? Because that last time I checked there has NEVER been a case of death caused by Marijuana overdose...

So I'm sure the first thing that comes to your mind is that Cannabis causes lung cancer.... Problem is that it doesn't... and there are studies that actually show it might actually kill cancer cells.

[swankrecords]

Kevin Sabet what are you worried about? What is the worst that could happen?

There will always be a drinker who who makes a career out of hypocrisy.

[111losangeles]

Your constant ad hominem attacks, "swankrecords," does nothing but hurt your cause.

[swankrecords]

Kevin Sabet is a joke. Makes us wonder he paying for his career.

[DarthNole]

Why are we here?

Because in the 1930's the upperclass (our politicians) made marijuana out to be an evil that was infiltrating suburban "white" America from the "browns" and "Blacks"...

We are here today because LOBBISTS (big oil, big pharm, the cotton industry, DuPont) saw that the use for this PLANT is wide ranging and could impact their profits...

The Head of the Bureau of Narcotics had a financial interest in DuPont.

BTW - I'm not your typical stoner... I know the history

[DarthNole]

Negative Effects?

Used properly there are no negative effects... as a matter of fact there are many studies that indicate that certain cannaboids actually kill certain cancer cells.

The issue with MJ is that most people use crude delivery methods that include burning the plant. This causes the user to inhale carcinogens. But alternative delivery methods are available. Vaporizers heat the active ingrediants into a vapor well below the combustion point which eliminates the carcinogens.

[DarthNole]

Teenage Smoking.....

You seem to not realize that teen cigarette smoking has declined ever since Card check went into place. Now that REGULATION has made it more difficult to get and EDUCATION has demonstarted the negative effects, use has gone down.

[DarthNole]

"80-85% of crime in my area, is attributed to drug use"...

This is just the type of statistic most prohibitionists rely on... your having a debate about Marijuana and you want to lump in a statistic relating to all drug use... NICE!!!

That like the one where 220,000 Americans are in Drug Treatment centers for using Marijuana.... problem is they don't tell you how many of those are forced into treatment instead of having a conviction on their record.

Wake Up!!!

[TrueActivist]

Darthpole...

If it was" just a plant" neither one of us would be here.

[DarthNole]

Well the facts are simple... it is only a plant...

We are not talking about a substance that goes through a manufacturing process to add this chemical and that chemical...

Plant a seed... watch it grow... cut it down and dry it out... roll it up and smoke it...

[TrueActivist]

What I meant by" it isn't going to happen"...

We don't/won't buy the propaganda being sold to us. We know better.

[DarthNole]

Once again I am sorry for you that you leave the raising of your children in the hands of others... True parents teach the difference between right and wrong and don't rely on others to do so for them...

BTW---- it is just a plant!

[TrueActivist]

For a pro druggie to give me parenting lessons is rich!

Maybe some of the readers here aren't aware of how Marsha Rosenbaum and others from The Drug Policy Alliance have infiltrated our PTA. They want to teach our children how to use drugs "responsibly."

It's called Harm Reduction, and this legalization group has a children's book called "It's just a plant". Is it ok with you, that legalizers are attempting to teach your child how to use drugs...responsibly?

[TrueActivist]

The dangers of marijuana are plentiful. There is more than enough evidence to support the negative effects of it. You just choose to ignore it and expect US to do the same. Well it isn't going to happen.

[comicfl]

"Well it isn't going to happen."

I guess time will tell.

[TrueActivist]

You imply that children wont be able to get their hands on iit if it's legalized. Have you ever heard of teenage alcoholics? Teenage smokers? UNLESS, you legalize marijuana for ALL people including children, you will have a black market waiting to step in.

[TrueActivist]

That is such a lame argument! "It's my body"... blah blah blah. 80-85 percent of crime in my area, is attributable to drug use. Auto theft, burglary, home invasion, rape and murder.

It's the same old argument about taxation too. Legalizing marijuana will never stop street dealers. If a user has the choice of buying it at a pharmacy down the street or having it delivered to their front door tax free, they will choose the latter.

[DarthNole]

If marijuana was taxed and regulated you would be in a better position to educate the public... you would be able to keep it out of the hands of your children... drug dealers would cease to exist as legal stores would sell it... right now you have the problem that the dealers really don't care who is paying for it as long as they get paid.... put it into the system and your "children" won't have access to it.

Shame on you for Telling me what i can and cannot put into my body...

[DarthNole]

I'm so sorry that you feel that you are unable to parent your children for yourself. That you fell as though you need to rely on society to teach them...

That's the problem with pprohibition... we're told when we are young that all grugs are bad, that marijuana is dangerous.... then we grow up, go to college and find ourselves trying it for ourselves.... you know what... you quickly find out that everything you've been told was a lie... it doesn't hurt you.. it doesn't make you crazy...

[TrueActivist]

Legalizers outright lied to us, they intentionally mislead the public. This was never about the medicinal value of marijuana, it has always been about legalizing marijuana for recreational use. Pro-druggies want to smoke dope without consequence. The want to commit the crime but they don't want to do the time. it's like a group of spoiled children, stomping their feet... But MOM, I want it!

How dare you! How dare you send a message to MY children that use is acceptable!

[TrueActivist]

Legalizers are all the same.. DarthNole.

You spew rhetoric, without any proof. It's the same bs. Granted, it was a clever ploy to medicalize marijuana, but you didn't fool us. We knew it would eventually lead to full legalization, in spite of the fact that you denied it every step of the way. See, the crazy thing about the truth is...it eventually comes out.

[DarthNole]

You want to talk about using fake information to get your point across...

Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act defines the included drugs as those with "no medical use for treatment in the US." So why is it that the US Government holds a patent for Medical Marijuana??? Why is it that the US Government supplies 8 US citizen with Medical Marijuana each and every month??

They hold a patent and supply it to people as medicine yet it continues to be misclassified in Schedule I???

[DarthNole]

We are talking about a plant that grows naturally, not something that is mixed and matched with this chemical and that one to create the end product.

Plant a seed,... watch it grow... cut it down and dry it... roll it up and smoke it....

In what rational frame of mind can you seriously tell me that I shouldn't be able to ingest a purely natural product that in no way infringes on you and your family...

[DarthNole]

TrueActivist.... you are just like the idiot prohibitionist... on one hand you want to quote a statistic from the Netherlands, yet earlier on you were saying that because of the population size the Netherlands was a terrible comparison....

Once again... ZERO deaths in 3000 years caused by Cannabis...

What those stats don't tell you is about all the people in the country that do have a MJ conviction on their record... do you understand the stigma that's attached when applying for a job???

[TrueActivist]

You know I always laugh at people like Rob, who has to use fake information and completely made up statistics to try to get his point across.

The Netherlands has a three fold increase in use. That's a fact, but Rob avoids that fact and changes the subject.

Where in the heck did the moderator come up with those stats. 90 percent of pot smokers are incarcerated for 'smoking a dobbie". That is absolute non sense! Kevin is right!

Wake up people you are being conned by special interest!

[TrueActivist]

Kevin you did a great job in spite of being rudely interrupted by Rob Kampia.

Kampia spews nothing but propaganda. The same ole non sense.

[vmortega87]

the fucking big corporations like the paper, oil and, tobbaco industry are the ones spending millions of dollars a year to try to convince ppl that mj is bad........just so they can make money n not care about ppl an nature. I HOPE A YALL MATHAFUCKERS BURN IN HELL FOR THIS SHIT!

[EnhancementSmoker]

i love when the Dr. said..."the two legal drugs we have"

umm...ya weve got way more than two legal drugs. they are called prescription drugs...and almost all of them are more harmful than maryjane.

legalize!

[nofatch1x]

Keep giving them an excuse to arrest people for something directly related to a prescription medication. Smoking to ease the pain from symptoms of AIDS wasting/cancer? According to our government, and prohibitionists, you only belong in one place.

Prison.

So, prohibitionists, keep giving them excuses to fill more prisons. More excuses to arm our police force more heavily. We all know that the police would never do anything to harm a citizen.

Oh wait

Simple, elementary grade logic>prohibition

[DarthNole]

How many people have died from injesting marijuana???

ZERO

That's right... ZERO... if you did your research you would know that it would take a human being ingesting 1500 POUNDS of marijuana within 15 minutes to cause death.

Deaths Per Year in the US:

Alcohol = 85,000

Prescription Drugs = 32,000

Asprin = 7,600

That's each year....

In the 3000 years of recorded history deaths caused by Marijuana.... ZERO...

AND MARIJUANA IS DANGEROUS, DEADLY, and EVIL????

[DarthNole]

If you truly understood why Marijuana was made illegal in the first place you would be horrified. The racial undertones in 1937 that publicized marijuana as the drug of choice for Mexicans (illegal immigration was a problem at the time) and the jazz musicians (the blacks) so it must be bad.... the financial interest that our leaders had in big pharmacy, big textiles, and big oil lead them to claiming that MJ ws such a dangerous drug.

Even back in 1937 LOBBYSTS controlled the US government!!

[bugsbugmenot]

What the fuck is this guy talking about? Nobody wants marijuana taxed and regulated. People just want to be left alone to do what they want.

[kottonmouph]

OK, So we just need to make alcohol illegal? It Is "bad" for you and it costs us a lot of money to fix society? How can you say marijuana should be bad, and alcohol ok. Yeah its the stoners I am the most worried about. The fact is marijuana is the easiest to aquire at a young age( of marijuana, alcohol, and tobacco), this is due to proabition! Dealers don't ask for your I.D. DUH!!!!!!! OH, and its way more than 5 % that have used it in the last 30 days, what a liar! Face the Facts.

[111losangeles]

Huh? NO! Two wrongs don't make a right! Do you think kids can't get alcohol today in our "legal market"? Please girl!

[TrueActivist]

Kevin... Good Job! You are so right! We don't need another drug legalized.

Comparing Holland stats to the USA is ridiculous. Look a the size of Holland compared to the population of the USA, and users in the Netherlansds is UP, not down. Legalizers lie, they distort statistics they intentionally mislead the public, and they are DANGEROUS!

[DarthNole]

First of all who brought up the Netherlands as an example? Why would it be that it is an acceptable example when Kevin brings it up but when Rob refutes his assertion with the proper statistic (that even Kevin agrees are correct) that all of a sudden the Netherlands are a terrrible example due to the population size?

Do your own research and you will be surprised to find out that usage rates are down in Portugal (decrim in 2001) and teen use is down in CA since they made medical MJ legal.

[TrueActivist]

Rob Kampia is a moron!

[vmortega87]

you stupid idiot het your head off your ass and read about history!

[111losangeles]

Do you understand that CATO has always been pro-legalization? Wtf?!?! So what, their own "study" proved what they have been telling Congress for decades. CATO = Libertarian = Legalization advocates, duh!

[JMorrisette]

I don't even smoke marijuana and care less from a personal stand point. However, not regulating marijuana seems absurd. Teens find access to marijuana easier than alcohol. Those of you congratulating Kevin Sabet must work for agencies with budgets that are inflated greatly to fight the war on drugs. He did not even make a single valid argument. I look forward to more main stream rational discussion and hope we reach a point where propaganda stops and the facts are debated.

[lurkist]

Ugh.  That was a waste of air time. Both guest came off as hacks just repeating the same old catch phrases. Still, I wish they would have kept going another minute so Kevin could explain why you can't compare prohibition to prohibition.

[brendachabot]

Kevin did an excellent job articulating why we should NOT legalize marijuana. He is extremely knowledgeable and uses studies to back his viewpoint. He is also an amazing speaker. Thank you Kevin, our children depend on you to fight the good fight.

[SolarEXtract]

Too bad none of what he actually said was true.

[concretestars]

Brenda Chabot, you shall from now on be known as... SATANS COCKSUCKER.. i hope your children all start smoking crack.

[111losangeles]

Once again, proof that legalization advocates are allergic to serious debate and must resort to name calling.

[111losangeles]

Your name says that you're already biased. It is way too early to say Portugal's experiment "worked" -- even if the pro-legalization CATO institute thinks otherwise! Mexico is not decriminalizing anymore than many US states already have - that story is overblown by the media.

The war on mj is actually not that costly, either. People aint in jail for smoking a doobie.

[SolarEXtract]

Your words say you've been living under a rock all your life.

[dems8692]

Kampia's longtime pot use has taken its toll. Kevin is vibrant and his remarks are focused. Kampia's ideas and delivery are flat.  As Perot might say, I rest my case.

[vjsm01]

Kevin was extremely professional and well-informed. It was readily manifest that Dennis had an agenda and it was unfortunate that he did not let Kevin articulate further his anti-legalization message. I've followed this issue for several years while working in one of the Bush administrations and Kevin Sabet is one of the foremost authorities on drug policy in the United States. He knows the issue inside and out. Listen to him.

[111losangeles]

Kevin did an awesome job, actually. How was he acting like an ass? Just because Rob was high during the interview and just sitting there!? And actually Rob kept talking and talking in the beginning..then Kevin got in and said his thing...which made a ton of sense to me.

[SolarEXtract]

When the host asked Kevin to let Rob speak when it was his turn, he disrespected the host and Rob by not complying. Kevin didn't want to debate. He only wanted to hear himself speak the entire time.

[111losangeles]

What? Did you not listen to the beginning when Rob wouldn't even listen to the host who was trying to get him to stop? Kevin was extremely professional and respectful. Yes he spoke more at the end but that's b/c he had a more complex argument that required explaining -- unlike Rob's unfounded one liners.

[SolarEXtract]

You just keep telling yourself that.

[Seekerfromafar]

Brice should of been up there, not Rob. He always screws things up, he's a good guy but he's not debating material whatsoever.

Hell the HOST did a more hell of a job, i give points to the HOST more than anything.

[krossover45]

that was beautiful!! the HOST was the one argueing The Man!!! LMAO

[79dan]

Damn, even the host made the Prohibitionist look like a jackass. Nice Job!

[SolarEXtract]

Also, that Kevin Sabet guy was VERY disrespectful. He seemed to only want to hear himself speak. He didn't seem interested in an actual debate at all.

[SolarEXtract]

MPP needs a stronger speaker for these debates. Meanwhile, prohibitionists continue to spew out more lies and propaganda. At least the media sees right through them now.

[Seekerfromafar]

I agree solar, Rob is way too passive for this kind of thing.

Even though Kevin was acting like a complete ass, Rob has got to man up more and put his heart and soul into the debate.

I know that if it was me debating to Kevin, I'll tear him a new asshole. I've done crazy debates before and made people look stupid to ever oppose me. I'm sure most people who are watching this could do better than Rob did.

[SolarEXtract]

Well, I got to thinking about it some more and I think I'd rather see both sides get an allotted time to speak, taking turns back and forth. I mean, it's out of control. You can't have a debate when one person decides he doesn't want to listen to anyone else but himself. I just can't take a debate like that seriously with all the shouting.