Can a cannabis user be a good president? (7 min. read)

My last post about the ongoing drug war made $800 and a small group of people follow me now. I have many ideas about different topics i would like to write about, but i think most of my followers are interested in drug policy and how society views drugs.

You already read in the title with what this text is dealing. It's about wether a pot user can be a good president because of an interview i saw last night on Youtube. In this interview (video) MSNBC moderator Stephan ("Steve") Kornacki talks to the libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson about his drug use.

(Steve Kornacki)

Steve Kornacki asks:

You had mentioned [...] that [...] you wouldn't [smoke marijuana] as president. How long had you been smoking marijuana recreationally prior to the last 7 weeks?

Gary Johnson didn't really answered his question, he just said he doesn't want to be a hypocrite, that he is "a transparent guy" and that he consumed edibles two months ago.

Steve Kornacki responds:

We've heard these controversies about marijuana use in politics before. Usually the context is somebody saying: ’When i was young, when i was in college, when i was much younger in life'. Again, you are talking about the last 7 weeks. I am just curious: Based on the experience in the last couple months, did the types of decisions you've made when you were governor, the types of decisions [...] a president might have to make ... do you think you could use marijuana edibles [...] and make those decisions correctly?

What?! Seriously? That question is so ridiculous, it's incredible. Okay, let me explain why i first laughed, and then thought about selling my computer and killing myself after watching this clip.

What exactly is Steve Kornacki doing here? He is trying to use the stereotypes in regard to weed smokers to let Gary Johnson look like he is not fit to be president. Espeacially elderly people, and don't forget that elderly people usually decide the elections, often think about lazy, unintelligent, sloppy guys when they think about cannabis consumers.

Steve Kornacki tries to let Gary Johnson look like a smackhead. Let's have a look at people Steve Kornacki never asked about the effects of their drug use.

I've never heard any TV moderator saying that a person is not qualified enough because of their alcohol consumption. This hypocrisy is groundbreaking.

Cannabis is not remotely as dangerous as alcohol. To learn more about that i recommend reading "Drug harms in the UK: a multicriteria decision analysis" by David Nuts. I give you a quick explanation in case you don't want to read the whole analysis: David Nutt, a well respected scientist from the UK, invited 20 members of the Independent Scientific Committee (ISC) to a 1-day interactive workshop to find out, which drugs do the most harm. They scored 20 drugs on 16 criteria. Nine related to the harms that a drug produces in the individual and seven to the harms to others.

The drugs were scored out of 100 points, and the criteria were weighted to indicate their relative importance. Their scoring lead to the following charts:

I would go as far as saying that doing drugs makes you more intelligent if you know how to consume it properly. I consumed different drugs a few years ago. I noticed things i've never noticed before. I think i am still profiting from these experiences.

That does not mean that consuming drugs automatically makes you more intelligent or helps you in any way. I am just saying that the properly use of drugs in a medical or recreational way often times help people to reach different goals.

When elderly people (or let's just say the majority of people over 55) see this interview, they immediately create different scenarios in their head. I know it sounds crazy, but many people really think about Gary Johnson totally stoned negotiating with Vladimir Putin.

Gary Johnson won't be stoned while negotiating with Vladimir Putin! Of course not!

Obviously the fact that Gary Johnson consumes any drug is not a reason to vote for him, and i wouldn't vote for him because i disagree with his economic policies (unlike the most steemians, there are a lot of libertarians on steemit). But i love that he is being honest. The more famous, well respected people are honest about their drug use, the more people will accept a legalization or be in favour of a legalization.

So to come to a conclusion and to be as clear as i can be: Can a marijuana consumer be as good as a president as somebody who uses other drugs (like alcohol) or doesn't do drugs at all? Of course! And i view Steve Kornackis attempt to let Gary Johnson look unqualified to be president just based on the fact that he uses cannabis as a desperate move of the mainstream media to discredit a third party candidate.

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An article written by Kevin Drehler from germany, also known as @steemitpolitics. Comment if you have questions or if i made too many english mistakes (i am always trying to improve my english skills) ;D Please upvote and follow if you like what i am doing. Thank you very much :)