Those evil Amish...

[cidbahamut]

Re: Those evil Amish...

I feel we should solve this whole driving while intoxicated issue before it's made worse.

Can we fix driving while on the cell phone too? And while we're at it let's fix the problem of letting incompetent drivers on the road.

[DieselBoy09]

Re: Those evil Amish...

Weed has been shown to be physically addictive through mild withdrawal effects.

Debatable. The main study with rats that demonstrated the effects of THC dependency used massive amounts of THC, equaling roughly 20 blunts a day. The primary study involving comparisons with nicotine had the problem of using individuals who smoked weed and nicotine, and then forced the cessation of use of both in a small sample. And finally, probably the study you're referring to, used a very small sample (like 12 people), who were very avid weed smokers, showed very light withdrawal that lasted for a week or less and was not enough to cause much impairment. Many very respectable journals around the world such as Science and the Lancet classify the drug as lightly very psychologically addictive and debate the merits of a physical addiction as the symptoms are so light, are associated with only very heavy use, and the very low rate of dependency. Simply, more research needs to be done.

[Malacite]

Re: Those evil Amish...

I just can't stand the smell of it. Holy crap that the smoke smells just awful.

Honestly I didn't know Nicotine was a natural part of Tobacco (maybe because it's a Native American tradition) and naturally assumed it was put in there by the Corporations. Good to know.

I do know that second hand smoke is still the leading cause of death in North America and inflicts millions of people who don't even smoke with cancer.

Alcohol destroys lives.

Pot? Most of the damage is self-contained (I said most, not all) and generally the worst thing that can happen is someone being stupid enough to get high & operate a vehicle or machinery. Otherwise it just mellows people out and slows you down.

I'd like to know exactly how much time & money is wasted on people being arrested & detained etc. just for having a bit of pot on them. I do think that being high in public should be treated the same as public drunkenness, but just having it on you shouldn't be enough.

[Taskmage]

Re: Those evil Amish...

I do know that second hand smoke is still the leading cause of death in North America

Actually the leading cause of death at least in the USA is heart disease.* idk if lung cancer is a way bigger problem in Canada and Mexico.

[Malacite]

Re: Those evil Amish...

Actually the leading cause of death at least in the USA is heart disease.* idk if lung cancer is a way bigger problem in Canada and Mexico.

True, but it's right up there. It still kills more people than guns & alcohol combined.

[Mhurron]

Re: Those evil Amish...

These laws make you wonder how people survived drinking milk for millennia before Pasteur said "Look guys, we can pwn germs. Amirite?".

They got sick and died. I know it's hard for people to understand, but people died of things that no longer pose much of a threat thanks to advances in knowledge and processes like pasteurization.

---------- Post added at 04:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:12 PM ----------

You fail to see the entire argument. It's not like drinking unpasteurized milk puts YOU at any harm, only the person drinking it (potentially.

Wow, Dr Etra, you have to make this information that typhoid, scarlet fever, diphtheria, and tuberculosis are non-communicable.

Pure-food worshippers put their health at risk—especially when they drink unpasteurized milk. - By Deborah Blum - Slate Magazine

[Raydeus]

Re: Those evil Amish...

They got sick and died. I know it's hard for people to understand, but people died of things that no longer pose much of a threat thanks to advances in knowledge and processes like pasteurization.

You didn't get it.

[Empedocles]

Re: Those evil Amish...

Odd. Reading the article, it seems that the law being broken wasn't selling the raw milk, it was the actual transportation and sale of the milk across state borders. Why it's illegal to transport and sell across borders (perhaps you need a permit?) I dunno. The fact that the guy was Amish had no bearing on the... operation(?) is how I read it.

Related to the title:

[Feba]

Re: Those evil Amish...

Why it's illegal to transport and sell across borders (perhaps you need a permit?) I dunno.

Remember that the US is, in theory, a country made up of a number of quasi-independent States. The States are in a federation with each other, and though they have no right to leave this union, the federal government also is constitutionally limited in what laws it is allowed to pass; that whole fun "Powers not delegated here to the Federal government, Federal government cannot has" thing.

In reality, there are laws that the feds want to pass that they can't legally force on the states. One of the ways they do this is by strong-arming the states into it by threatening to remove funding. Great examples of this are drinking age laws-- which vary by state, but generally conform to some standard of "nothing under 21". Because the federal government would remove funding if states didn't have some kind of drinking age law in place. Speed limits are the same way-- states are allowed to set their own speed limits, but if they don't meet federal standards, they don't get highway funding.

One of the other big ways is by reframing it as an issue of interstate commerce, which the federal government does have control over. There are a lot of things that can be sold, transported, possessed, and so on with no legal issues inside the borders of a state, but taking it across state lines becomes a federal crime. The same can also apply to things like underaged drinking and age of consent laws-- often times the penalties for fooling around with a minor are stricter for crossing state lines in an attempt to evade them.

Basically, states are free to make their own laws, and the federal government is only allowed to intervene when it poses a threat to other states, or violates the constitutional or federal legal protections of its citizens.

[Malacite]

Re: Those evil Amish...

One of the other big ways is by reframing it as an issue of interstate commerce, which the federal government does have control over.

It says in the constitution that the Congress has the authority to regulate this right?

[Feba]

Re: Those evil Amish...

It says in the constitution that the Congress has the authority to regulate this right?

Well, one, I just fucking said so, so yes.

Two, Commerce Clause - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia , if you're going to keep kibitzing on American politics you could at least learn constitutional basics, thanks. Shit, did you read anything about the Health Care debate? That's basically the entire point-- does the federal government have the power to step in and make mandates like that-- is it an interstate issue or not.

[DieselBoy09]

Re: Those evil Amish...

Pure-food worshippers put their health at risk—especially when they drink unpasteurized milk. - By Deborah Blum - Slate Magazine

Every response to that article is from pro-raw milk drinkers claiming it is propaganda . I'm becoming increasingly tired of people at large. Whether it be the sheer vile racism, disdain and ignorance in news comment sections, unsubstantiated claims by groups, pseudoscience dolled out by the masses and snake oil pushed by salesmen. Some times I wonder how the world has ever functioned thus far, and how it has a chance to function in the future. The more I read and hear peoples' thoughts and opinions, the more I am genuinely frightened, shocked, and ultimately disenfranchised.

[DakAttack]

Re: Those evil Amish...

It's Slate. They deserve the responses they get.

[Etra]

Re: Those evil Amish...

Wow, Dr Etra, you have to make this information that typhoid, scarlet fever, diphtheria, and tuberculosis are non-communicable.

Pure-food worshippers put their health at risk—especially when they drink unpasteurized milk. - By Deborah Blum - Slate Magazine

For once, your argument is sound.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Those evil Amish...

Two, Commerce Clause - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia , if you're going to keep kibitzing on American politics you could at least learn constitutional basics, thanks. Shit, did you read anything about the Health Care debate? That's basically the entire point-- does the federal government have the power to step in and make mandates like that-- is it an interstate issue or not.

I think Mal just comes down on the side of "People just don't understand Obama and his awesome ideas" on that one when for most people the issue was indeed the commerce clause.

But those people are just racists.