Wu seems to agree with what the pot heads have been saying for years: doobage is illegal because the pharm industry doesn't want to compete with an easy-to-grow and comparatively inexpensive alternative.

Americans do have a rather nonsensical attitude about drugs. For whatever reason, we just don't like the idea of folks taking a substance to feel good. This is as true for alcohol as it is for prescription drugs or narcotics. I once saw an interview with an old guy, a senator I think, who insisted that most people don't drink liquor to get a buzz. He had convinced himself that folks knock back martinis only because they enjoyed the taste.

Reminds me of what my Southern Baptist kinfolks used to tell us kids when I was growing up: the wine Jesus and the disciples drank was really just grape juice.

I don't really understand this weirdo American self-delusion. We have the same problem with sex, too.

It is about MONEY. Money and power.

I once heard that pornography outsells all other entertainment media put together. I heard that the La Quinta hotel chain did a study of their guests viewing habits and found that a majority of their guests had ordered at least one adult film during their stay.

I don't have a link for that, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least.

A friend of mine owns an independant movie rental store and he tells me he'd starve without the porn. In the neighborhood of 4/5ths his rental income. We reside in holier than thou art in republiconservative ground zero in the south, by the way.

I wonder if he would make as much in NY or Sin City?

You make it sound like the average person comes and buys porn, which is not true at all. Most of the porn is bought by a small group that pays a lot of money. And obviously, those in New York and Los Vegas make a lot of money, or they wouldn't have their stores there.

You make it sound like the average person comes and buys porn, which is not true at all. Most of the porn is bought by a small group that pays a lot of money. And obviously, those in New York and Los Vegas make a lot of money, or they wouldn't have their stores there.
I don't think so, San. I'm fairly certain there are a lot of publicly stand-up, conservative folks who are hiding a nice stash of smut at home. Besides, with internet porn, the adult theaters and video stores are starting to go out of business. It's much too easy to engage your porn jones in the privacy of your own home these days, and that's not so bad.

Fairly certain? How scientific of you. Seems more like you are revealing your bias more than any actual truth on the matter. How cute.

My assumptions make more sense than anything you've posted on the subject.

But as a Catholic theologian, I probably should defer to your expertise when it comes to smut.

This is from a story published in 1997:

According to Adult Video News, an industry trade publication, the number of hard-core-video rentals rose from 75 million in 1985 to 490 million in 1992. The total climbed to 665 million, an all-time high, in 1996. Last year Americans spent more than $8 billion on hard-core videos, peep shows, live sex acts, adult cable programming, sexual vices, computer porn, and sex magazines--an amount much larger than Hollywood's domestic box office receipts and larger than all the revenues generated by rock and country music recordings. Americans now spend more money at strip clubs than at Broadway, off-Broadway, regional, and nonprofit theaters; at the opera, the ballet, and jazz and classical music performances--combined.

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One thing I didn't mention, he also sells and installs sheetrock and formica, which started as a side line and now he is slowly phasing out the general movie rental business but remains adamant about the porn side of it.

San? Catholic Theologian? No wonder he's so cockey and snotty. Poor thing has his back to the wall at all times in a house of cards. The catholics wove a pretty good yarn about how history untangled...their way...but now there are more and more who question their efficacy. And look out, he'll try to be crafty when you corner him but he usually resort to the typical republican last resort style of debate, or unconsious admittance of the loss of a debate, using insult. Yes, San, you're that predictable and easy.

Tell me San, what were Paul's letters to Timothy about and please forgive me if my quotes are not verbatim. I'll just give you the gist, Pauls told him to beware those who claimed to be the church and forbid the eating of certain meats...was Paul referring to the Jews and pork? or the future tense of fish only on Fridays?

It's the Puritan influence.

Anse:

Wu seems to agree with what the pot heads have been saying for years: doobage is illegal because the pharm industry doesn't want to compete with an easy-to-grow and comparatively inexpensive alternative.

Americans do have a rather nonsensical attitude about drugs. For whatever reason, we just don't like the idea of folks taking a substance to feel good. This is as true for alcohol as it is for prescription drugs or narcotics.

It has nothing to do with the pharm industry. Pot and morphine were outlawed for decades before Prozac was invented. There is a difference between taking a drug to feel good (recreational), versus taking a drug to stop feeling bad (medicinal).

Society especially resents drugs which cause people to feel good at first, but then bad later. (I guess because it's sort of like selling your soul to Satan.)

And society tends to resent drugs which people use as excuses for their irresponsible behavior. If your drinking causes you to let your children becomes burdens on society, then society may want to outlaw drinking.

The more responsibility you place on society for your welfare, the more of a say about your behavior society has a right to demand. For instance, if you make society responsible for providing you with medical services, then society has a stake in your choices as to smoking and diet. If society is responsible to ensure that you have enough to eat, then society has a stake in preventing you from taking a drug that harms your working productivity.

But what are we to do when we pass a law against some modestly obnoxious behavior and people ignore it? When we are not willing to do whatever is necessary to enforce a law, keeping it on the books tends to promote cynicism about the law, so maybe we should strive to repeal such laws, and better yet, not pass them in the first place. On the other hand, even if we are not willing to stop addicts from taking drugs, by keeping the law at least we can prevent sellers from tempting us with ever-present public advertising. If pot were legal, advertising it on prime-time television would be a free-speech issue.

"My assumptions make more sense than anything you've posted on the subject."

Translation: ...

Whats the noise for pooping? Yeah, thats basically what is coming out of Anse's mouth.

" Poor thing has his back to the wall at all times"

Seeing as how obsessed with porn you are, I'd be afraid to turn around with you in the room.

One of the largest adult stores I've seen is in the middle of Medford, OR. Which is not exactly a cultural or economic mecca.