Drug Users and SUV drivers: Do you not know or Do you not care?

The BBQ Pit
21

Uh Hamlet, what makes you think that LSD is made in Columbia? Cocaine comes from there, but wouldn’t it be easier to just make the stuff in the states and avoid all the hassle of getting it across the border?

As for marijuna, when I was in college, almost all of it was either grown in the neighboring county or hydroponically. The cartels are all pretty focused on marijuana and maybe heroin since they are much more lucrative to grow and smuggle. The thing that everyone hates about the commercials is that they try to make what may have been a good point using false information. Anyone who smokes pot is going to know that and is going to have less respect for the government and will be even more disinclined to believe anything regarding drugs that they are told.

BTW, I don’t think that LSD is sold in dime bags.

22

And the first chinks appear in the armor.

23

Maybe because this one is about being concerned about the consequences of your actions, and that one was a bunch of whining about bad drivers. Plus, this one has the added benefit of bitching about drug users too, so you get two for one. Now, are you gonna make a point or insult me, or just make a useless observation.

Robb, can I get a ride in the Mustang to go buy my weed?

Binarydrone, I do mean well in the sense that maybe this thread will change somebody’s mind, but I don’t mean well because I think many SUV owners and drug users are self-absorbed pricks who are short sighted and dumb. And I like calling them names. And what is screwy about my politics?

24

It’s almost like reading something racist (vehicularist?) the way people lump all SUV drivers into the same pile. Perhaps a re-classification is in order. We have;

compact SUVs - RAV4, Subaru Forester, Kia Sportage, etc

standard SUVs - Explorer, Jimmy, Durango, Escape etc.

Urban Assault Vehicles (U.A.V.) - Expedition, Navigator, etc.

Suburban Assault Vehicle (S.A.V.) - GMC Suburban… big enough to have a classification of it’s own.

Hummer - Wouldn’t we all want to get one … :slight_smile:

Hamlet … I would have to say that you are a vehicularist which means that you have passed judgement on a large group of people based on what they drive. Many SUVs get decent mileage so you can blow your 14mpg comment out your tailpipe. My old 4Runner got 32mpg (4 cylinder) on trips and I bet Ultress gets better mileage than most in her RAV4.

Be careful about picking on those people who drive vehicles in the U.A.V. or S.A.V. category as well as you might be talking to one of the few people who can actually use the features of a S.A.V. , rates a pass, and would have a huge dick no matter what he decided to drive.

25

This reminds me of a Wally Peasant song Hippies’ Lament

I boycott all music approved by Tipper Gore
I boycott the President 'cause he doesn’t boycott war
I boycott Pepsi but forgot what for
And I boycott hospitals 'cause their medical waste shows up on the shore
and I boycott Beatrice Products even though I’m not sure what they produce
and I boycott Gillette because they institute bunny rabbit abuse
and I boycott GE because they produce nuclear weaponry
and I boycott Led Zeppelin because I think Robert Plant sings horribly
and I boycott Folgers because they exploit the Colombian coffee picker.
and I boycott fur, because of something I read on a bumper sticker
and I boycotted work last week because I had to attend a political rally
and I boycott tuna fish because I was told to by Kirsty Alley

26

**
A vast majority of LSD is made in the United States. The dime bag referred to a ten dollar bag of crack cocaine. They were two different examples. And, just so you know, the trafficking in LSD, while generally not as violent, still results in the murder of undercover officers and many of the same ills.

Brujo gets the first pass. I forgot the hydroponics in my example.

Sauron, you got a problem with lapels? :smiley:

27

Thanks for your rant. I too try to make responsible consumer choices, and do you know what? It’s harder than you seem to think. So I have a counter-rant:

To be truly ‘organic’ you need to

buy only things that

  • were grown or manufactured locally
  • you can be certain about what was involved in their manufacture, and that none of them are harmful (or imported)
  • are completely biodegradeable with no harm to the environment

… and so on, and so on. This means giving up chocolate, fruit in the winter (in northern climes), commercially available flowers, any automobile, etc. The point: it’s impossible, and we can only do the best we can. This is why I object to your trying to claim the moral high ground. You may not drive an SUV, but how well is your house insulated? What coffee do you drink? If you had to choose between fair-trade and organic, which would you pick?

This is not an excuse to not try to be a responsible consumer. But rather than starting with the premise that all consumer items are okay, and then eliminating them one by one (Ben and Jerry’s, the Gap etc), start with the premise that none of them are okay, that they all involve oppressing someone/polluting the environment etc somewhere along the line, and look for things that explicitly do not. It’s like boycotting Nike but wearing Adidas - THEY’RE JUST AS BAD. We all have to (or choose to) live in this consumer-based society, so we are all obliged to make choices. Making people think about the consequences of their choices is the best thing we can do ('is the damage of your SUV really worth the convenience?), judging their choices is counter-productive.

Another minor nitpick re: drugs. Most pot is grown locally and organically - if you can grow it in your backyard, why would you pay for it to be imported from somewhere? My internet server won’t let me search for things like this (i’m at work) so feel free to investigate it yourself, but Colombian drug lords have very little to do with weed, you would be better off worrying about the tobacco. If you find evidence to the contrary, I’d love to see it.

Your point is otherwise valid. I believe people should take responsibility for all their consumer decisions, and driving a monstrous gas-guzzler that puts the lives of other drivers, and pedestrians, in danger, is (I believe) unjustifiable. But venomous attacks like yours will tend to put people off. you know, flies … honey … vinegar

28

Sure, but don’t ask to borrow any money, I spend all mine on gas.

but I do know where to hide your purchase in the Mustang in case we get stopped.

29

No, I have a problem with posters (who really, based on the amount of research that appears to have been done, should know better) lumping all people who share a common characteristic into a single uniform category. It’s stereotyping, and it’s wrong. It’s ignorance of the highest order.

Sheesh, man, you’re railing about all SUV drivers in the OP, and a few posts later you modify that. (“Oh, I didn’t mean you, Mr./Miss SUV driver! You’re one of the good ones!”)

Wouldn’t it just save time to avoid making stereotypical posts in the first place?

30

cowgirl, you make a very good point. I’m sure I would be more successful if I put this in GD and discussed it rationally. However, I am, at heart, a bitterly sarcastic and judgmental bastard and I need to be true to myself. Stick around and keep a leash on me so I don’t go overboard. And about the pot: the DEA says "Marijuana produced in Mexico and smuggled into the U.S. remains the most widely available. " There has been an increase in the availability of locally grown marijuana, but that doesn’t mean the same problems don’t arise. Many of these operations have violence entwined with them.

31

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Hamlet *
**How hard is it really for you to understand the $20 you just spent for your LSD helps subsidize the murder of an undercover police officer? The dime bag you just brought was brought to you by a tyrannical egomaniac who doesn’t think twice about having judges in Columbia killed. These are the actions you are supporting when you buy your drugs.
**
Oh, I care alright. I’m proud to be doing my part in fighting the WOSDU. Though I must admit its very convenient to be able to just buy the drugs and let someone else do the killing for me - a guy could get hurt doing that himself - don’t think I’m a coward. I have every intention of doing my duty when the time comes.

32

Well, for my part, I am getting pretty fed up with the burden of the whole stupid drug war being laid at the consumer’s feet. I get that if everyone just stopped doing drugs, that a lot of problems would go away the problem is that this is just not going to happen.

Also, on a Meta level, if one were to stop recreational drug use (which by the way is not wrong or bad IMHO) simply because the foolish madmen that are running the county have a hard on against it, I am validating their foolish position. Also, I am adamantly opposed to supporting this kind of control over my body.

If you are really concerned about the “very bad things” that drug use supports, I suggest that you start working for legalization. I know that you stated in the OP that you don’t care for this argument, but honestly that is the only thing that is going to improve the situation.

By the same token, regarding SUVs, I suggest that you start lobbying for them to have to pass similar emissions and safety standards as cars (or perhaps raise their insurance rates in a similar way to sports cars and the like).

In short, your position seems to be treating the symptoms and not the disease.

33

Re: SUV’s, I don’t like them, and I also don’t judge people who drive them.

Re: Illegal Drugs, you obviously have no idea what the hell you’re talking about, so I’ll give the short answer to make you happy and comfortable in your self-righteousness: Don’t care.

34

Sauron and Feynn you are absolutely right. There exist SUV’s that get good gas mileage, and, in a few more years, they may reduce emmissions to an acceptable level, and heck, they may reduce how dangerous they are to other drivers. I could have been clearer in the OP, so grab yourselves gold stars.

35

So how much acid can you get for twenty bucks these days?

36

Cute. Insult with no cites and a smarmy “Don’t care.” Your a fucking genius. If you actually have something to add, mayhap you can take a second from fucking that dead cat and fill me in about what I don’t know, because, I do know, fuckwad.

37

Huh?

38

What a good rant!!! I drive my SUV around the block a few hundred times in it’s honor!!!

39

I don’t usually fly off the handle like that, but the OP really got to me for some reason. Sorry, Hamlet. There’s room for debate about the drug war, addiction, relative merits of solving these problems, etc., but sinking to your level by insulting you was uncalled for, and I apologize.

40

What is an acceptable level of emissions? 'Cause right now the U.S. government says SUVs are at an “acceptable level of emissions.”

Not that the U.S. government is the final arbiter of all that is good for the environment (God forbid), but terms like “reduce emissions to an acceptable level” beg to be defined. And according to the “official” definition of the U.S. government, SUVs fall within that level now.

And, as always when participating in this type of thread, I offer the following qualifying information: I do not drive an SUV.