Once again the president opened up the “Open for Questions” section of whitehouse.gov to elicit questions from the public about government policy in America. Once again, marijuana legalization topped the list of questions voted on by the public. According to Wired magazine, Americans like you who express their support for ending the most failed federal policy since Alcohol Prohibition are nothing but “trolls”, which are defined as “someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum or chat room, with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response or to generally disrupt normal on-topic discussion.”
The first big issue and concern is whether the site will be swarmed with useless questions. The internet is a great tool for harnessing the wisdom of crowds — and also the idiocy of trolls.
So far, the trolls are doing OK in at least one area: flooding the page with questions about legalizing pot — a marginally important debate at most times, and a totally trivial one at a time of global economic catastrophe. As of right now, there are 290 questions that have been submitted that include the word “marijuana.” By comparison, there are 90 that use the word “manufacturing” and three that contain the word “broadband.”
Since the “legalize pot” fans are flooding the site, and voting up each other’s questions, they are overwhelming the algorithms that determine which questions matter most to users. Click on the category “budget,” and all the top questions are about pot. I’m going to do my best to vote them down since, personally, I think what to do about manufacturing in this country is more important.
So talking about the legalization and taxation of a $35,000,000,000 underground industry is “irrelevant” and “off-topic”? Talking about pot legalization, which two states are currently considering in their legislatures is a “marginally important debate”? Legalization of marijuana for medical purposes has been enacted in thirteen states and garnered more votes in the most recent state than did Barack Obama, but somehow it’s “totally trivial”? American appetite for marijuana is fueling 60% of the profits of bloodthirsty Mexican drug gangs on our southern border, but asking about a policy change to shift those profits to American farmers is a “useless question”?
How is it that “marijuana”, NORML’s topic, managed to get 290 questions submitted, yet “broadband”, Wired’s topic, only managed to get three? Could it be that NORML, the highest-trafficked marijuana law reform website, combined with all the others (MPP, DPA, ASA, SSDP, LEAP, SAFER, High Times, MarijuanaNews, and so many others), just gets far more attention on the web that Wired Magazine?
Wired Magazine's web traffic vs. NORML and MPP
Nope, that’s not it – Alexa shows wired.com beating the pants off norml.org and mpp.org. I think it is safe to assume that Wired readers, by and large, are more technologically savvy than the average NORMLizer out there, so really, there is no excuse for Wired not being able to “out-troll” NORML in cyberspace. I guess it does make us call into question the old amotivation syndrome – but not for NORML readers; rather, the Wired readers who seem more interested surfing their broadband than lobbying for a bigger/better/faster version of it.
Another thing you might want to consider, Wired, is that a great deal of your audience does think marijuana legalization is important. Support for legalization runs highest among the well-educated and the younger demographics, both of whom are your target audience. If my anecdotal experience of fifteen years in information technology is typical, then I’d venture to say the internet wouldn’t even exist without cannabis consumers.
We “legalizers” understand there isn’t a piece of the Bill of Rights, save perhaps the 3rd Amendment, that isn’t infringed by the war on marijuana. We understand that marijuana legalization is completely relevant to the following national concerns:
- Health Care – Americans can’t afford it. Drug prices through the roof. Pharmaceuticals killing people. We want to legalize the safest, cheapest, most effective, most versatile medicine on the planet – marijuana.
- National Security – Our southern neighbor is in danger of becoming a failed state run by criminal gangs because we won’t legalize the safest illegal intoxicant in America – marijuana.
- Global Climate Change – We are enslaved to oil addiction and pumping too much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. We want to legalize a crop that will pull CO2 from the air and provide a domestic source of fuel – marijuana.
- The Economy – We spend billions of dollars on prohibition. We let billions more in tax revenue go uncollected. We forbid Americans from performing various cannabis-related jobs in a time of mass unemployment. We spend million on imports of hemp that could be grown domestically. We want to put Americans back to work, cut wasteful and ineffective government programs, raise new revenues, and create a whole new industry by legalizing marijuana.
- Veterans – Thousands of our troops will be coming home with traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress disorder, which can be treated effectively with medical marijuana. Perhaps we won’t have to fight more Middle Eastern wars to protect oil supplies if we had our own hemp biodiesel provided by legalizing marijuana.
- Green Jobs and Energy – Hello?!?
- Auto Industry – Many automakers now use hemp in the production of door panels and other pieces of the assembly, which they have to import at higher prices than if we had domestic hemp production through legalized marijuana. Thousands of dollars of the cost of a new American car relates to the health care expenditures by the Big 3 Automakers, costs that would be lower if people could treat themselves with legalized marijuana.
- Education – States all across America are cutting education budgets – even to the point of not supplying paper or school lunches – while marijuana interdiction task forces spend hours in helicopters searching for marijuana plants outdoors, 98% of which turn out to be un-smokable ditchweed, because we haven’t legalized marijuana.
- Gay & Lesbian Issues – HIV/AIDS has devastated the gay & lesbian community but people in 37 states can be arrested and imprisoned if they try to treat their condition with one of the most effective medicines for controlling pain, nausea, and AIDS wasting syndrome, because we haven’t legalized marijuana.
- Crime & Law Enforcement – Police are put in dangerous situations when ordered to engage in violent no-knock raids on marijuana growers and users. The public distrusts and fears police when their casual marijuana use brands them a “suspect” in the eyes of the law. Countless crimes go unreported when marijuana consumers fear calling police will bring attention to their own marijuana “crimes”. It goes without saying that we free up scarce law enforcement resources to go after real crime when we legalize marijuana.
You name it, I can tell you how legalizing marijuana will help.
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[...] “stymied by internet trolls”, echoing Wired Magazine’s appraisal that asking Obama to legalize was “the idiocy of trolls”. Even the allegedly liberal Village Voice (creator of TokeOfTheTown.com) mocked the efforts of [...]
none of those issues Wired brought up are MORE important then legalization of marijuana. I would agree many are of equal importance. Any issue which needlessly incarcerates so many people while inflicting numerous other harms on the general population cannot be ignored for any other issue. I realize the economy is not going well but I’d much rather be out of a job then tossed in jail or shot by some gangster. Marijuana prohibition (and other drugs in other locations) is causing the collapse of entire countries (i.e. Mexico). Seems like they would agree with norml on this one. especially since they are already decriminalizing personal possession of cannabis there.
the idiocy or trolls or the self righteous arrogant opinion that only a snotty journalist douchebag can deliver,
also, people need to come up with their own jeers and stupid comments for a change, anything relating to “trolls” such as dont feed blah blah what have you clearly says to me that they are a complete tool, though he does make a good point, manufacturing is more important then legalizing a recreational drug, though, both should be and need to be looked at as its a complete waste having the major profits from marijuana go to canada and mexico, tackle the easy one of legalizing and taxing marijuana, then, maybe he can lower the capital gains tax that encourages companies to move out of our country not to mention if he forces every company in america to provide health care with govt assistance will bankrupt them and this country, good goin obama, you douchebag,
I stopped reading Wired magazine when I was in my mid twenties. Their articles were written with false “facts” and the layout of the mag didn’t appeal to my age group. Why are they still around?
Wired Magazine would have the world think that people who are concerned about reforming our cruel and unusual Marijuana Laws are trolls. I bet the Nazi’s said similar things when all their handicapped neighbors were taken away to camps, never to return.
Wired, I am a U.S. ARMY VETERAN. If it were not for trolls like me you might be living in a country that is not free. A country where your opinion would not see the light of day. I have suffered to protect your freedom!!! My voice is being heard in every survey and one day my cause will win. When God is judging me concerning Marijuana, my plea will be that I gave it to all my dying friends and some of them were allowed to come back and visit me in my dreams after they had passed. Yes, Wired Magazine, God is on the side of Mercy. There is still time to join our side Wired. Or you can just keep your head in the sand and ask God for forgiveness hoping that you are not too late!!!!
Only a person without the ability to ADD, could say this is NOT am important issue, it collectively allows everyone “relief” without any REAL cost. Boson Globe said it i think , THE MIRACLE DRUG! so I can see where the greedy control freaks come out of the woodwork! Now others still want to be in control, for there share!!!
What?!? More people in more places will read my words and genuflect to my superior intellect and airtight argument? I don’t know how I will ever recover from such an affront!
Tee hee… no worries, mate – spread my fertilizer far and wide, just tell ‘em where it came from.
That Wired article sounds like trolling for hits because he realizes we are a large and opinionated crowd. Don’t feed THAT troll
With apologies to “R”R.
I copied and pasted his response over at Wired.
Sweet article Radical. I hope you don’t mind me doing that.
Russ,
You hit this one out of the park!
Touchin’ every Base!
There is NO good argument for the further criminalization except prejudice.
I wish WIRED would print your response!
I know a LOT of techies that smoke.
Did not mean to ruffle feathers! College football is one of the essentials. It’s just that this is such a frequent response to suggestions that we need to reform cannabis laws: that it is a “trivial” issue “at a time of global economic catastrophe”. I think the BCS needs serious attention, too! My point is, cannabis law reform isn’t trivial, and surely there are enough people working in the congress and WH that gov’t can pay attention to more than one thing at a time. No, wait, I forgot. People who use that argument can’t walk and chew gum at the same time, so… they assume nobody else can, either.
how can it hurt America?
kids will get to high and not learn potentially. but what about kids getting to drunk and not learning. it will be the same.
but we will still have techies/smart people addicted to learning/etc.
Hey PUAAN watch it.
Go Gators
“a marginally important debate at most times, and a totally trivial one at a time of global economic catastrophe” Oh, so folks in Washington only have time to spend on IMPORTANT stuff, right? Like this? http://tinyurl.com/dlnow5 ?
Last I heard, nobody was killed/robbed/shot/arrested/incarcerated/civil rights stripped because of the BCS Championship.
Russ, you should submit your piece to Wired. It is truly excellent.
Here is what I left for them:
Mr. Thompson:
You obviously don’t go out much. Statements like: “The result is that there are smart and complicated questions listed at the top of most of the other categories.” is demeaning to us college educated productive citizens who honestly think that this is an important question for the US.
Our questions about taxing and regulating, industrial hemp and medical studies are indeed cpomplicated and intelligent. And they DO have much important effect on today’s most important issues.
Do you not know about Afghanistan, Columbia, Peru or Mexico? Their main problems with poverty and prosperity could be solved by drug legalization.
Go back to writing about technology and leave your value judgments regarding our opinions of what are important subjects to those who actually know what is going on outside. Not just those confined to your troll filled, little world.
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