Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), the primary sponsor of HR 2306: The Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2011, appeared on ‘This Week with Christiane Amanpour’ on ABC with fellow guests George Will of the Washington Post and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI).
The conversation found its way to marijuana legalization which led to Barney Frank calling out the hypocrisy of most of his conservative colleagues.
“It’s a great embarrassment to the conservatives,” said Frank, “They want to tell people who they can have sex with. Come on, all this is big government! Who can I have sex with? Who can I marry? What can I read? What can I smoke? You guys, on the whole — not all of you — but the conservatives are the ones who intrude on personal liberty there.”
The debate got heated between Frank and George Will. “I mean, personal liberty, if someone wants to smoke marijuana who’s an adult, why do you want to make them go to jail?” Frank questioned.
“I need to know more about whether it’s a gateway drug to other drugs, I need to know how you’re going to regulate it,” George Will replied.
“Anything is a gateway to anything,” Representative Frank shot back, “That’s the slippery slope argument which is a very anti-libertarian argument. The fact that if somebody is doing something that’s not in itself wrong, that it might lead later on to something else then stop the something else. Don’t lock them up for smoking marijuana.”
Will defended himself claiming, “What you’re calling a cop-out, I’m calling a quest for information.”
“How long’s it going to last, George?” Frank asked, “We’ve been doing this for decades.”
Watch the clip below:
You can read more coverage of this story here and here.
Paul Ryan is whats wrong with the Republicans! They want too much govt. control!
It’s refreshing to say the least !
Talk while you still can, Barney . Free speech as we know it is ending .Coming will be the end of a lot of things .
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ce9_1324306982
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=26e_1324093458
Notice Ryan’s attitude on the conversation, and then It’s easy to understand why these debates go nowhere. Let’s change the subject!? This subject is obviously meaningless to those guys. It should be obvious they don’t give any serious thought to this issue.
Will can’t defend his hypocrisy. He’s the first one to whine about govt intrusion, then turns around and defends govt intrusion. Gateway? How about booze and cigarettes? I have no doubt whatever that Will would scream about govt intrusion if someone proposed outlawing either of those drugs.
The subject of marijuana is a joke to these people. Only problem is it’s a huge issue.
I understand that the vast majority of heroin junkies started out taking aspirin. Perhaps we should ban that gateway drug as well.
Or, perhaps it’s the fact that in order to get illegal marijuana, you have to go to a dealer of illegal drugs that causes marijuana to “lead to” exposure to hard drugs. Ending the prohibition on marijuana would break that cycle.
Well put Matt!
… two words: national reeferendum . . .
Gateway theory? How the hell is that still being pushed? How many times does something have to be disproved before politicians stop foaming at the mouth about it? You want a gateway? How about caffeine? That drug is so pervasive in our society that it’s difficult for me to order drinks when I go out to eat! I have a health problem that caffeine irritates. Almost everyone in the US consumes caffeine multiple times a day, and it’s certainly everyone’s first step into the world of recreational drug use. These people just make me so mad! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNxoLJy3m3s
Oh yeah, and RON PAUL 2012!!! To end this crap and make the politicians take us seriously.
I saw that because I’ve always watch Sunday morning political news. ABC political news starts off in the first hour, then it’s Fox’s political news during the second hour, and then it’s NBC political news. Take an hour break and then it’s time for NFL football and beer.
That’s my Sunday morning.
That was awesome seeing Rep. Barney Frank got pissed when George Will mindlessly giving out prohibition rhetoric the same way he does on all of his paid political spin. It really embarrassed George Will’s lack of credibility until Christiane saved his ass.
From now on when I watch George Will give out his political expertise, I would always remember that Sunday morning fall-out he had with Rep. Barney Frank.
Just remember, it isn’t all Republicans. I’ve always been a Republican and nobody at a better time could come along with who I greatly align with politically; Ron Paul. If you want states to control this type of activity, you need to register Republican and vote for Dr. Paul during your primary.
They refuse to allow us to choose for ourselves. It is all about them making our choices for us. It’s about control.
@ Matt…Wonderful response! I agree 100%!
Perhaps we should legalize pot& make Barney Frank illegal!
I thought George Will was a conservative with a brain, but it seems that if he talks about anything but politics he can’t really run with the big dogs. Science in particular seems beyond him.
@7 Evening Bud: Yes, this seems to be true of conservatives in general. This is why I have yet to seriously think about becoming a conservative. There’s also the obnoxious behavior like Limbaugh making fun of Parkinson’s disease sufferer Micheal J. Fox and calling then 13 year old Chelsea Clinton the White House dog.
Bravo! Bravo!
Well done!
Thank you, Barney!
I hope you will enjoy your retirement, but also continue to advocate for cannabis legalization.
After 40 years of fighting the “war on marijuana” we find ourselves with nearly one fourth of our population in prison. A Marijuana related arrest is made in this country every 37 seconds. Our brightest young students are being turned into hardened criminals for a Marijuana “crime” while our Judges, Congressmen, Senators and even Presidents us Pot, Cocaine and Oxy’s, nore often than you might think, without penilty. Another 40 years of fighting this “war”, I fear, will result in half our populatin in prison (that should make Geo. Will happy) and you and I will be required to police each other, I suppose.
All of you that are pushing for Ron Paul. Have you taken time to look at everything else? It appears to me that people are only interested in the pot issue. Take the time to look into he’s postion on other credical issues before you start pushing Mr Paul. You may find that there are lots of other issues with Mr.Paul. I do not beleive he would make a good pres.
This topic is something I have never agreed with the marijuana vs. alcohol. It’s ignorant! We as American citizen can drink a substance that clearly affects our brain, body vision and motor skills for the worst but we are not aloud to smoke a plant that helps with cancer and other disease . I personally do not use drugs by no means but in all reality smoking marijuana is better for the human body than drinking alcohol. The way I see it is beer is a gateway to harder liquor like whiskey which when consumed in large amounts can clearly hurt someone or even worse kill them. I have heard story after story of drunks killing harmless people and not remembering what happene the next day as for marijuana it’s impossible to over dose on it’s only gonna make you fall asleep if the government would just get over themselves an legalize the stuff and possibly smoke it themselves there would be a lot less fighting and hostility in my opinion it’s not a drug nor should it ever be! You don’t see people who are stoned out of their minds doing a lot of anything bc it’s a relaxer it calmes the nerves and makes people hungry !
I have to give Barney Frank a lot of credit for speaking out on a subject that not many people in congress have the balls to speak about,let alone care about.
The only substance today that can make people feel better,create jobs, and is excellent for the environment.No wonder it’s so difficult for politicians to understand.
Ole Barn hit home run
Ole Geo just watched it over the fence.
The true Gateway drugs- Alcohol & Tobacco! How many people remember when they we’re young & a uncle or… would be like its ok let him have a sip? hot toties to sweat the cold out of you? Shit Cigarettes we’re everywhere Marlboro man, the camel, shoot i was wearing Tobacco shirts way b4 i was 18 yrs old!
Cannabis is not a “gateway drug”. This fallacy has been refuted by studies, most recently by State Universities….in Pennsylvania and New Hampshire.
Want IRONY? New Hampshire sold $534 million via its State alcohol monopoly. Alcohol is the 2nd leading cause of death when the substance itself is considered.
Gateway theory? What a bunch of horse shit!
Anyone know if there has ever been a study done about how many car accidents r caused by a weed smoker to the ratio of car accidents caused by alcohol??? why don’t they do MORE research b-4 they tell us just WHAT we can and can’t do??
Funny the can that’s being kicked down the road has been their own, a republi – can. The American will never take getting kicked period!
Nixon classified marijuana in the most dangerous category, so if it’s a gateway to meth or coke or speed or opiates, which are classified in the less dangerous category, then it’s a gateway to safer drugs!
Hurrah for the gateway to safer drugs! Right?
It has nothing to do with the rhetoric being spouted by any of these idiots. Follow the money. Cannabis is being kept illegal because BigPharma and Big Alcohol feel threatened by it, and they have VERYdeep pockets to fund lobbyists and kickbacks. Not to mention the kickbacks from the private “for profit” prison industry in this country.
As has been said many times before, when trying to figure out why the government does things that seem irrational, just follow the money and you’ll see why.
Sure will miss Barney’s advocacy on this when he is out of the house. Hope someone will pick up where he leaves off!
I give up. U cant win against flat earth thinker
It is amazing how uncomfortable most pundits are with discussion of marijuana. They fear it. They are terrified that they might be accused of using it if they support it’s legalization. That a non-toxic plant could become so feared is one of the most fascinating and bizarre chapters of human history.
Conservatives want to keep pot illegal so they have peopoe to fill the cells in our prisons. This is big business
At last we have some politicians who have some common sense, and are bravely standing up for the people. I think now there will be more politicians supporting our cause. Because, they are looking at the prohibition of Marijuana to end. Ron Paul and Barney Frank have opened the door. Now lets see how many other politicians are going to come out of the closet, about our stupid laws prohibiting the use of Marijuana.
I feel they are not only thinking about preserving our human rights.they are also thinking about the revenue and jobs the legalization marijuana will create . Furthermore, this includes the production of hemp products which will also create more revenue and jobs.
As far as marijuana being a gateway drug, There are many people who used marijuana to help get off hard drugs, like heroin, Meth-amphetamines,cocaine,crack, prescription pain medicine and the worst alcohol.
Barney Frank is retiring this year, he has nothing to lose.
The biggest Gateway drug? The prohibitionist conservative (republican or democrat) who opens the gate into the world of non-sense, the disfunctions of the brain.
I find it funny that when the establishments arguments begin to break down, they all of a sudden want to shift away from talking about marijuana. Like it’s beneath them to acknowledge an issues that is rising quite rapidly amongst those they supposedly represent.
Barney is retiring this term but has always stood up for legalization. It just sounds like he’s sick of dealing with the right so he attacks them knowing he won’t have to work with the assholes anymore. Kinda like your last day on the job and you had a prick for a boss…
Paul leading in IA…. hmmmm… It’d be nice to have a “choice” when I vote next fall. It would be a good way to kill Fox News too as all their heads would explode at the same time. haha
http://tinyurl.com/74j2hxn
I guess everyone needs to send Wills a copy of the studies he purports to need to know about first.
Gateway theory is nothing but a buncha stony-bologna. People need to hit ’em with this comeback: “…well, aren’t guns a gateway to violence?” Or how ’bout ” politics are a gateway to corruption?” Then, maybe say “and booze seems to be a gateway to date-rape.” Punishing and/or taking rights away from all because of the actions of a few is a Bass-akwards way of dealing with things…..at least, to my way of thinking.?
The government needs to Let Mother Mari do her work!
And we need to vote for Dr. Ronaldo Pablo!
Merry Mari Christmas to all!
gateway?????
I got your gateway right here…….
http://moms.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/20/9586575-baby-changing-stations-convenient-for-swapping-diapers-or-doing-a-line?threadId=3301021&commentId=60895284#c60895284
Looking forward to the removal of all cocaine snorting, errr, diaper changing stations in the near future.
We are taking baby steps closer to legalization.
When Ronald Reagan was president, it was discovered that the CIA was bringing cocaine into the U.S. More recently, it was discovered that our government is and has been laundering drug money for the Mexican cartels. Are there any more questions ?
Sen. Frank, thank you.you will be missed.
Barney Franks, thank you! for making the fight for Marijuana that much more to fight for. If, WE don’t stand-up for our rights, liberity and the pursuit of happiness we will fall for Anything!
The GOP is a gateway … to greed and ignorance
Maybe we should all get together and bribe Congress for legalization together as a whole we have more money than any corporation does maybe we should start throwing money at the legalization movement it should all be done to show the spirit of the good ol American freedom pot prohibition isn’t about a drug its about power until we show we the people have all the financial power Congress will never listen so lets boycott big pharm if possible and alcohol and we need a big corporation behind us like oil, tobacco, or agricultural companies like Dupont or Monsanto. To help fund this movement cuz money walks and shit talks
How about some leaders who are “Fiscally Conservative, and Socially Tolerant?”
DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER!!!!
Libbies want to take away various freedoms. So do conservatives. Only the Libertarians seem to offer a pro-freedom outlook but the folks in this country don’t care enough about ALL freedoms to line up with them. No guns! No weed! No religious symbols on public property! No gays in the military or getting married! No smoking! Everyone just wants to gore the other person’s ox instead of saving ALL the oxen.
I just want to be free. LEGALIZE ADULTHOOD.
If I fart is that a gateway to sh-tting in my pants ? . Really it’s way over time for this to end , I did 13 months but in 1979 and 1980 for 3 oz. what a waste
The clock ticks….its rate towards inevitability may be increasing.
Hell, yeah…it’s all a bunch of bullshit!!!
Frank is Right but don’t trust him they got pics of barney cross dressin up at bohemian grove
The “gateway” effect is a fallacy. Studies from the University of New Hampshire and Pittsburgh have been done that deflate the prohibitionists favorite propaganda tool.
Too bad he caused the housing bubble to pop…
George Will is a weasel. Marijuana has been used by humanity for over 10,000 years, if it caused serious problems they would be very apparent by now.
George Will should just admit he thinks its okay for the government to control our lives. we need big brother to tell us who to fear, what to eat, what to smoke and what to think.
George Will is a proxy for big brother. What was your price George? What did it cost to buy George Will’s intellectual integrity?
I smoked pot for years. though I dont get stonned any more and Im very happy being on the natural it is high time that pot is made legal. I wrote about my stonned life in my book Health Food or Heroin. You can google reviews of my book on Amazon. During my pot smoking years the danger to me wasnt the marijuana smoking, the danger was getting arrested for doing a totally non violent activity. Booze legal,cigs lega. both deadly. Politicians who have at one time or another smoked pot stand up and say stop filling our prisons with pot smokers. The main character in my book health food Or heroinwas constantly at risk of having his life messed up because of the idiotic marijuana laws. Jon Nardelli
Why is it that in the 60’s people smoked pot every day and all day long and a lot of those people became ceo’s and presidents of corporations, bankers ect… ect… I can see where pot is bad for a person. NOT
George Will embarrassed himself. Our Govt. has been bought. Why would one trust the FDA, or Politicians? We are not a free nation!
Yeah there are many more reasons to end prohibition than just letting people smoke Marijuana. It would be an economic boon to our nation by creating entirely new industries.
It seems Obama won’t do much of anything for us regarding this issue. But Ron Paul has a plan to end the war on drugs. As President, he would also pardon all non-violent drug offenders.
Ha, Obama said the whole federal prosecution of Medical Marijuana patients would end as well, all politicians are liars. I dont care what party they are from, what the say will change, or what wont change, it shall always be the same…out of our control. No matter what political party they are from, majority of everyone in the government is a Free Mason, which has strong ties to the Illuminati, which is what actually makes the world decisions,.
Why is it that no one will acknowledge the fact that marijuana is only a “gateway drug” because it forces those who want to purchase weed to also have contact with dealers who sell cocaine, heroin and other dangerous drugs. These “coke” dealers hang out at the weed dealers’ houses to offer free samples to young people in hopes of recruiting new customers. That is the only way weed is a “gateway” drug. There are so many beneficial medical uses that are being overlooked. When will people wake up and remove it from the same catagory as heroin so that it can at least be tested for the good and the bad effects?
Hello . Happy New Year . OK Well , Obama isn’t
liked by Shadow Government as he’s the best uh
progressive leader at personal ideals since hm
before Nixon . Alot of people have reason to :
Not Like Truman . State Dept was going to drop
a major pre nuclear device on Japan and Truman
made it a wide range hydrogen Kro device ([2])
so we could have started the nuclear power and
armageddon embezzle back then and Harry Truman
prevented it . What’s so GaH about Obama Admin
as I don’t agree he’s giving lipservice .,. so
the powers of background government are trying
to control the Presidency . Yes , it’s been on
Skull n Bones schedule of maintaining power at
United States Society of Control for 200 years
and if the President is a spokesman without !!
the sense of full National Control , who runs:
The Backtalk and Naysay at Office of Control ,
if President is US Leader and State Dept are a
form of pre DHS opposition to free will .,. uh
who is so egoist they are convinced they run a
National Supa Govt Policy on American Rights .
Give it thought . Obama is kinda our American
Rights President . Not to backtalk ignorance ,
though is Ron Paul actually certified to free
the drug ‘prisoners’ and what will be the next
controlling policy on preventing Free Will and
Presidential Summary of Democratic Oath . . .
The USA is a Democracy . Houghton Mifflin says
in the dictionary of same publisher , defined:
Pres i dent : Government of Republic Office ,.
Thereby , GOP . George Washington founded this
nation , the United States of America as Manna
and Men of Democratic Oath . It’s a Democracy.
When you want to smoke a bud and say a “coded”
statement about bashing Obama and the scripted
comment on voting for Ron Paul [ARGH] you are
not supporting Democracy anyway . You are then
trying to support a fanciful commentary about:
Freeing the Prisoners of the Drug War and the
liberal thoughts on supposed Free Will . . . .
When you listen to Ron Paul talk about his own
opinions .,. does it sound like supposed free
will on apportion to the people’s choices and
thoughts of Freeing America Again .|. I don’t
ask you say yes or no , I ask you listen to a
decent Independent {sigh} [GOP] full liberal .
You want free thought . Ya , me too . Are you
sure Ron Paul can run the United States given
all the backwash Shadow Govern offers for the
Almighty Dollar they don’t deserve , given a
power of sinister regard who won’t run the US
for the People by the People , though start a
series of wars and ruin privacy and embezzle ,
as it’s the USA’s money so who’s it going to :
“When You Steal It for personal gain ignoring
the rites of Manna and Men as ideal n virtue”
etcetera . , . and I know this sounds like a
Ron Paul statement . It kinda is he is known
to say it . . could you listen to it and see
he’s a liberal mind and speaks for liberality
though if you’re bashing Obama , what kind of
flub would Ron Paul be against Shadow Govern.
Barney Frank I like . He’s a peaceful comedy
in his own rite to begin free will _\|/_ pot.
Do you have to know it as “m word” ‘ma ri jua
na’ as it’s the keyword of drug enforcement .
Almighty Dollar accorded by Founding Fathers ,
or plain and simple more greed , less mature .
I wonder on January 1st , who gets their uhm
disability today . . are you disabled .|. 🙂
or is it like playing with a throw away Fuji
camera you can take a picture of your cousin
and add to the trash . My thought is OK learn
to recycle . Save the Planet . OR get your uh
almitey greed and oh so sore disability and :
Be Happy With Playing with Dollars Like they
are Poker Cards . Aww a Hamilton , that feels
good … ah Jackson he’s my friend . . . 😀
childish . Anyway , Happy New Year good folks
and a blessed and GOOD 2012 to all y’all . . .
Please allow as written . Thanks and Hooray !!
Bryan , former activist . Workin at home !@!*
Thank you Barney Frank!!
Today in Utah there was 5 officer’s injured and 1 killed serving a search warrent for a few cannabis plants being grown at a ex-
iraqi veterans house. The gun battle insude through the nieghborhood. The gentelman that was arrested survived. He was growing his plants for treatment for PTSD from the the war. When is Utah going to get the hint that there is Medicine a medicine that is not a pain killer. As we lead the nation in pain killer abuse. Get the clue! we need our medicine! Canabis is a blessing not a problem. If this guy was in Co or Ca everthing would be fine. They would be with there family’s. This is insane! Not to say that was the best course of action. That’s what our gov trained him to do. Then hate on him because he decides canabis is his cure!
The GOP is in some type of time-warp back to the Anslinger days. He would be proud of their ignorance and prohibitionist propaganda. That and the fact that they want to control everything you do in your personal life.
Come to think of though aren’t Kerlikowski and the president Democrats? They are spewing some of this also. Maybe the ignorance projects from both sides of the house. Time for a new one.
As i got older, i turned back to very low amounts of weed because of a variety health issues, mainly irritable bowel syndrom. I can say that weed cured my ibs but had the added impact of helping me through some very stressful professional challenges where i could not sleep. In addition, it also greatly relieved a muscular tension from stress. All for pennies. The threat of weed is that people are discovering we do not need the doctor or the pharmacutical companies.
While the politicians say what they say to get elected, do they distinguish between what’s coming from Mexico compared to American-grown pot? I am visualizing a bumper sticker: Boycott Blood Pot, Buy American
I have been disabled since 2009 with a # of diagnosis ranging fron degenerative joint disease, fibromyalgia, ptsd with depression. And I didn’t list them ALL!! The DR’s have honestly tried me on numerous medications from nerve pills, pain pills, anti-anxiety pills……you see where I’m going with this… NOTHING, and I do literaly mean not one perscription the DR’s tried, ONE good smoke and it’s amazing how much better I am. No pain, no anxiety, no more being a bitch to my family. I get off the couch and can do my household chores with ease. I was in nursing over 30 years and never believed a NATURAL plant was the answer for me!! Hell yes!! Legalize it…at least for medical use.
Obama is talking to cannabis grassroots at the White House Cannabis Petitions. NORML is involved. Keep the dialog going by signing the petitions telling your friends. More info at http://www.whitehousevscannabis.com Thanks!
Politicians should exercise their power to help their people.Medical marijuana would be harmful if not taken properly.Rules should be set clearly.Local marijuana dispensaries should also be provided for patients to conveniently get treated.
Politicians are too busy trying to impress their voters. Hope they can pass a law protecting medical marijuana users. There should be a clear law supporting Medicinal Cannabis patients and protecting them from violating the law. Through this Local Medical Marijuana Dispensaries can be freely accessed by them.
Despite the different opinions about using medicinal cannabis for treatment, people with serious ailments can testify that it relieved them from the painful and debilitating symptoms and provide them a functional life.