Bad Weed Debate on my facebook between myself & family

[Craig]

Hmm.. I disagree with people saying you should respect them because they are your elders or whatever. These people are trying to frame you into a stereotype like that latest shooting freak because of your beliefs. I think alot of what you are saying is coming out of frustration that weed is illegal, and cops are enforcing these laws when they should be doing something else. I also think that because your Grandmother and aunt are older they feel they can say whatever they want to you with impunity but when you try to say anything back they pull the 'respect your elder/authority' (in cartmans voice) card and shut you down. They obviously don't want to hear what you have to say, believe the research you have provided, or have any respect for YOU.

Basically, it sounds like your whole family has no respect for you, or the decisions you make or your beliefs. Instead they would rather try to smash you until you fit into a mold of what they expect you should be. Check out the book "I'm not Crazy, I'm just not you." ISBN : 9781857885521. Maybe make your family read it too!

[Craig]

As a side note the fact that your aunt called you an extremist if messed up.... I would have totally flipped on that comment. I don't agree with your comments about people toting guns and that should intimidate cops because violence of that sort never solves anything. If everyone quit shooting each other, and attacking each other we wouldn't need as many cops or laws and the world would be a better place. At the same time, with a small amount of research you can easily find the number of botched raids by cops acting military style in drug raids and killing the wrong people. Prohibition is causing this problem. To say that if people have legal access to drugs is going to flush society down the toilet is ridiculous. Also, using cops to enforce laws where there is no victim is twice as bad in my opinion. It's hypocritical to have alcohol the most dangerous drug on the planet legal, while all others are illegal. I don't think people should be doing crack and heroin but the hypocrisy shouldn't exist. Look at Portugal, they legalized ALL drugs in 2001 and have less problems now because of education and available treatment than any other country.

[bobby rivers]

Kinda crazy to have a hard copy of a family argument and to be able post and analyze it on your jj forum. I just have a bunch of self biased memories of trying to purvey my view to, ultimately, no avail.

Your pretty outspoken and confident in your opinion,which i agree with on many levels. So this actually teaches me something as well. If your gonna use facebook as a platform to vent, enlighten, or criticize, don't friend those that are not your friends. They should have a familybook.

Just tell your family its a phase until you go into 'whatever dude' mode. Because honestly your gonna have this same argument over and over again throughout your life, with the same dumb shit droned back to you the same dumb Pavlov's conditioned way. One of the crazy variables that you deal with is you aunt's title. It gives her a self righteous 'lay my life on the line' for ungrateful bastards like you stance. Good luck with that. If you truly want to reach them your gonna have to use different tactics. The give me scientific and medical data is coming across as patronizing to them. Their problem, but a problem none the less.

Thanks for the Sparks family fishtank moment Kevin. Definitely reminiscent.

[Kevin Sparks]

Interesting debate Kevin; in my opinion, I don't think it's a waste of breath at all, best to use it while you still have it Being respectful of your elders for the pure sake of maintaining a pleasurable front isn't very healthy at all, in fact it stunts the growth of your relationship with them. Only when you can actively debate, ask questions of each other, and yes, do your due diligence and actually follow up on the research you discuss, can you actually start to respect each other's opinions in a real way, not just facetiously. Maybe facebook though wasn't the best place to have this sort of discussion where it involved so many family members at a time(technologies a bitch, esse), but hey everything happens for a reason, I think you needed to release all these ideas you had pent up and just wanted some earnest feedback from the people who love you. Your mom didnt know you were an athiest before, that's pretty huge, seems that's something that should be discussed more and in context to why your opinions differ so greatly from those of your elders. There's a new generation of enlightened thinkers out there that are just tired of the old religious rhetoric song and dance and pony show built to dissuade every intelligent arguement. Ultimately, your in control of your life, and it's your life to live, not theirs

Thanks for your reply & I appreciate your support & thank you for your advice. My dad said something similar a little after this started, because he knows my opinions on cops but that's because we stay up & talk politics on some nights. He believes that my opinion was misconscrewed because it happened on facebook. He thinks that if I would have talked to my aunt in person then she would have had a better idea of where I was coming from. Still probably wouldn't have supported it but it wouldn't have sounded so extreme.

I didn't get to reply the way that I wanted to reply back to my cousin yesterday, I wanted to let him have it. But my dad urged me to not say anything to bad on there because he knew that my family wouldn't comment back to me, they would call my mom & further upset her. So I deleted my anitial status & put up the status that shows on here.

[Kevin Sparks]

Hmm.. I disagree with people saying you should respect them because they are your elders or whatever. These people are trying to frame you into a stereotype like that latest shooting freak because of your beliefs. I think alot of what you are saying is coming out of frustration that weed is illegal, and cops are enforcing these laws when they should be doing something else. I also think that because your Grandmother and aunt are older they feel they can say whatever they want to you with impunity but when you try to say anything back they pull the 'respect your elder/authority' (in cartmans voice) card and shut you down. They obviously don't want to hear what you have to say, believe the research you have provided, or have any respect for YOU.

Basically, it sounds like your whole family has no respect for you, or the decisions you make or your beliefs. Instead they would rather try to smash you until you fit into a mold of what they expect you should be. Check out the book "I'm not Crazy, I'm just not you." ISBN : 9781857885521. Maybe make your family read it too!

Thanks for your support. Also thanks for the book recommendation, I definitely get that book for sure. This has upset me a lot too. I don't wanna sound like a bitch but yesterday I cried. Not because of my California relatives because they can go fuck themselves for all I care. But the fact that when I came to say hi to my mom yesterday, she said, "Don't talk to me, you & your disrespectful ass." I left the house, came back around midnight & my dad was there. I started talking to him in a normal fashion & I started crying. I was upset that I felt that this was over, then my aunt & cousin chime back in late last night & then my mom says that she isn't taking any sides but yells at me. Then I can't even reply the way that I want to back because my dad didn't want to see my mom more hurt. I felt like my hands were tired & everyone was throwing shots at me. I couldn't help it, I broke. If I could reply back the way that I wanted to it's a lot different, it's when my hands are tied that I get so upset.

[Kevin Sparks]

As a side note the fact that your aunt called you an extremist if messed up.... I would have totally flipped on that comment. I don't agree with your comments about people toting guns and that should intimidate cops because violence of that sort never solves anything. If everyone quit shooting each other, and attacking each other we wouldn't need as many cops or laws and the world would be a better place. At the same time, with a small amount of research you can easily find the number of botched raids by cops acting military style in drug raids and killing the wrong people. Prohibition is causing this problem. To say that if people have legal access to drugs is going to flush society down the toilet is ridiculous. Also, using cops to enforce laws where there is no victim is twice as bad in my opinion. It's hypocritical to have alcohol the most dangerous drug on the planet legal, while all others are illegal. I don't think people should be doing crack and heroin but the hypocrisy shouldn't exist. Look at Portugal, they legalized ALL drugs in 2001 and have less problems now because of education and available treatment than any other country.

I understand that you don't agree with my stance on how to deal with cops. I've said many things that I agreed at one point with but then someone else shared a different way & explained it to me & I changed my opinion. My thoughts & beliefs change all the time with new info, I'm open to new ideas.

[Kevin Sparks]

Kinda crazy to have a hard copy of a family argument and to be able post and analyze it on your jj forum. I just have a bunch of self biased memories of trying to purvey my view to, ultimately, no avail.

Your pretty outspoken and confident in your opinion,which i agree with on many levels. So this actually teaches me something as well. If your gonna use facebook as a platform to vent, enlighten, or criticize, don't friend those that are not your friends. They should have a familybook.

Just tell your family its a phase until you go into 'whatever dude' mode. Because honestly your gonna have this same argument over and over again throughout your life, with the same dumb shit droned back to you the same dumb Pavlov's conditioned way. One of the crazy variables that you deal with is you aunt's title. It gives her a self righteous 'lay my life on the line' for ungrateful bastards like you stance. Good luck with that. If you truly want to reach them your gonna have to use different tactics. The give me scientific and medical data is coming across as patronizing to them. Their problem, but a problem none the less.

Thanks for the Sparks family fishtank moment Kevin. Definitely reminiscent.

Thanks for your reply. I have the hard copy because it just recently happened. I copy & pasted this from my facebook page to my forum. My only regret is being so wreckless with my stance on how to deal with cops, knowing that my aunt was a cop. I don't regret any of the weed debate. Like I said too, I feel bad for the timing of all this too.

I appreciate your ideas in your 3rd paragraph. I will be starting school this fall & hopefully the new knowledge that I take in can help me with my communication skills & help me grow as a person. I also own the book, "How to win friends & influence People" by Dale Carnagie. I got that to help me with my current job but it can help in situations like this too. I've learned a lot from this debate & if this sort of thing happens again, I do believe that I'll make way less mistakes.

[bobby rivers]

I have no doubt that you will adapt positively from this ordeal. You seem to have been ostracized for your opinion much like Ice-T went through with 'Cop Killer' on a family scale, which i can definitely understand taking a huge emotional toll on you.

Much of my theory of flying under the radar(especially with family) has come from countless failed attempts to sway my mom(whom I love dearly) from many of her preconceived notions. And from the opinions or beliefs i've swayed as well. You see, Im the reason my mom is no longer Christian. Do I think she can explore life more fully because of it? Yes, but who the fuck am I?

[Tyler Timmermans]

I have no doubt that you will adapt positively from this ordeal. You seem to have been ostracized for your opinion much like Ice-T went through with 'Cop Killer' on a family scale, which i can definitely understand taking a huge emotional toll on you.

Much of my theory of flying under the radar(especially with family) has come from countless failed attempts to sway my mom(whom I love dearly) from many of her preconceived notions. And from the opinions or beliefs i've swayed as well. You see, Im the reason my mom is no longer Christian. Do I think she can explore life more fully because of it? Yes, but who the fuck am I?

Your deep for a guy named bobby rivers from Alabama.

[bobby rivers]

Your deep for a guy named bobby rivers from Alabama.

How are bobby's from bama supposed to be?

Public school, inbreeding, and the internet then i wing it.