MPP’s Rob Kampia on CNN AC360

More video from the continuing Anderson Cooper series, “America’s High: The case for and against pot”:

My dos centavos:

#1 Oh, go get a glass of water! It’s tough enough breaking the stoner stereotype (“stoneotype?”) when your eyes naturally look half-lidded anyway, but to add the audible smacks of a dry mouth makes it even harder.

#2 When David goes for the FDA route, decent comeback on “we’d love to”, but how can you miss mentioning the FDA warning released hours earlier that says Zicam may kill your sense of smell? Or uttering the word “Vioxx”? Also need to point out the disingenuousness of the FDA route and bolster medical marijuana’s acceptance by picking up on Anderson’s AMA comment – “the AMA says there isn’t enough scientific proof of medical marijuana, despite 17,000 peer-reviewed studies that prove it, but when we try to get scientific studies of marijuana from the government, NIDA refuses to allow them to take place

#3 When David goes to the “alcohol and cigs cost more to society than the taxes they bring in”, decent comeback on how harmful they are and marijuana’s safer, but still leaves viewer with impression there will be increased usage and costs from legal marijuana. I’d add, “David, almost everyone who wants to — 22 million adults annually — use marijuana NOW, so we’re already absorbing any of these ‘imaginary costs’ you mention, while also taking in $0 in tax revenue and spending $7.7B on prohibition. Taxing existing marijuana users would bring in $6.2B and eliminate $7.7B in prohibition costs, so these imaginary costs from the few new users would have to top $13.6B/year for your theory to make any sense. Also, if these new users were giving up other drugs and alcohol in favor of marijuana, overall costs for drug and alcohol abuse in this nation would drop.”

Overall, nice job discussing a complicated issue in the sub-five minutes you were given. But I think the days where we need be polite and respectful to our prohibitionist opponents on TV are over. These people need to be treated like the liars they are and our responses should become a bit more forceful in that respect. The people are largely on our side and are thirsting for someone to smack down one of these opponents of liberty.