Former Drug Czar McCaffrey wants to save you from stoned eye surgeons

So what if thousands die in Mexico. It’s a small price to pay to make you feel reassured when you go in for eye surgery.

Good video piece on the Dylan Ratigan Show on MSNBC (it’s MSNBC, so the video is a pain to load, but if you can, it’s probably worth it).

Dylan’s guests are Paul Armentano of NORML and former Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey. The impressive part of this piece is the work done by the host. Ratigan does an incredible job setting up the story and really pointing out the host of negatives that might be solved by legalization. His piece is smart and reasoned. He doesn’t give Paul Armentano much time, but that’s because he was busy taking on McCaffrey himself.

McCaffrey’s participation was pathetic. He failed to answer any of Ratigan’s direct questions, kept throwing in irrelevant issues, and this was his big argument:

“What it will do, undoubtedly, is create a credible situation where California truck drivers, and eye surgeons, and teachers in theory could be smoking pot, standing around the corner from students or their jobs. It doesn’t make any sense. Or airline pilots! So I don’t think it’s going to pass, I hope.”

That’s not the first time I’ve seen the ‘truck drivers, eye surgeons and teachers’ bit, and I think they’re going to try to use that a lot. It’s nonsense, of course. Your eye surgeon isn’t going to operate on you while stoned because marijuana is legal any more than he’s going to operate on you while drunk because alcohol is legal.

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17 Responses to Former Drug Czar McCaffrey wants to save you from stoned eye surgeons

  1. Tony Aroma says:

    With people like McCafferty on their side, it boggles my mind how the prohibitionists have remained in power for so long. I wonder the same thing about Steve Ballmer and Microsoft.

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  3. pyramid says:

    lol, I just had an appointment with my eye doctor and as much as I like the green I really don’t think he is a stoner and I don’t think he got to be a well respected eye doctor and surgeon by performing operations while high. I don’t worry that he will show up for the operation high anymore than I worry he will show up for the operation drunk. Thanks for your concern fail czar.

  4. Scott says:

    “it’s MSNBC, so the video is a pain to load, but if you can, it’s probably worth it”

    Here’s a YouTube version:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSnT9wV3FSI

  5. strayan says:

    Hang on, don’t eye doctors recommend cannabis for eye health?

    http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/abstract/178/2/107

    Plus it’s good for night vision – probably why all those Mexicans are able to keep sneeking across the border in the middle of the night:

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2004/jul/07/sciencenews.research

  6. Paul says:

    Teachers may be smoking pot before class? I imagine that some of mine probably did.

  7. Chris says:

    Maybe in a world where personal responsibility doesn’t exist we would have to worry about this, but it does. No need to treat everyone like children because some people ruin it for the rest of us.

  8. Servetus says:

    If General McCaffrey’s fears were real we should hear complaints about stoned surgeons and teachers in Amsterdam where cannabis is readily available over the counter. But we don’t. From this it’s apparent that Barry McCaffrey simply make things up as he goes along.

  9. Ripmeupacuppa says:

    Would you honestly buy even a used car from Paul Armentano?

    He’s got to go!

  10. permanentilt says:

    This video gives me heart, Barry has lost the argument so badly that he is just throwing up random, disjointed arguments that are false and don’t even address the real issues. At this point even an idiot can see why legalization won’t lead to stoned surgeons, and illegality doesn’t stop them from operating high now.

    Like I said over at daily stash, at this point we have basically won the argument, as long as we can mobilize the people to vote, legalization in Cali is a foregone conclusion. The only question is, what will the Federal Government do next?

    Ripme…..- what the fuck dude?

  11. Ripmeupacuppa says:

    Permanent; It may be me, but he’s dressed all in black and his eyes keep shifting back and fore; if I was a fence sitter then I may well throw my lot in with the general.

  12. Benjamin says:

    The thing about marijuana is that people almost never decide to do it based on wether or not it’s legal.

  13. Ripmeupacuppa says:

    “The thing about marijuana is that people almost never decide to do it based on wether or not it’s legal.”

    I beg to disagree; the countries with the stricktest laws ted to have the highest usage rates, and that goes for all banned substances.

  14. Ripmeupacuppa says:

    here’s the missing ‘n’

  15. allan420 says:

    hey… back off of Gen Barry! He’s the one who gave us the quote about our prison system being the world’s “new gulag.”

    prohibs have squawked when I’ve called our military-industrial-corporate-prison-complex the new gulag. When I tell ’em where the quote came from, they shut-up quick. Except Linda “it’s a scam people!” Taylor, of course…

  16. Paul says:

    The prison system IS the new gulag. It’s horrifying, and we’ve got to put a stop to it somehow. The only thing that seems to be slowing it down is this recession.

  17. Tim says:

    So they want to play hardball, eh?

    What about bringing up the fact McCaffrey is a war criminal?

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