David Frum Asks Important Question: ‘Did Pot Trigger Giffords Shooting?’

[meegbear]

There is a fierce competition at foot to figure out who can blame the shooting in Arizona on the dumbest thing. Is it Sarah Palin’s fault because she put up a map with gun sights on it one time because she is a terrible person who hates people understanding and getting along with each other? That’s a pretty good one. But David Frum is better: "After horrific shootings, we hear calls for stricter regulation of guns. The Tucson shooting should remind us why we regulate marijuana." Yes, why do we "regulate" marijuana? Because we are as insane as this shooter we call insane? Nope. Because lazy potheads do nothing but lounge around giggling and GOING ON SHOOTING SPREES.

Jared Lee Loughner, the man held as the Tucson shooter, has been described by those who know as a "pot smoking loner."

He had two encounters with the law, one for possession of drug paraphanalia.

We are also learning that Loughner exhibited signs of severe mental illness, very likely schizophrenia.

The connection between marijuana and schizophrenia is both controversial and complicated. The raw association is strong:

Schizophrenics are twice as likely to smoke marijuana as non-schizophrenics.

People who smoke marijuana are twice as likely to develop schizophrenia as those who do not smoke.

Hooray! The good Doctor Frum has given us a diagnosis. Because schizophrenics like pot, it was the pot that murdered all those people! It is high time we keep people found with pot and such in prison for much longer. If we keep them in prison, they might become violent! If there’s one thing this country needs, it’s stricter pot laws.

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http://wonkette.com/434766/david-frum-asks-the-important-question-did-pot-trigger-giffords-shooting

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

1. more importantly, which side of bed does he get up on? Door side or window side?

Cause & Effect................ whoooooo, gotta look at all angles.

Speaking of Sharon.. but let's not.

[TygrBright]

2. Pathetic. Just beyond pathetic. The GOP is on the job: Spin, you hepcats, spin! n/t

[villager]

3. you know, he could show up at a rally and spit those *seeds* through a pea-shooter!

n/t

[LiberalEsto]

4. and is he an innie or an outie? nt

[EOTE]

5. Actually, if anything, it seems like a lack of pot triggered the shooting.

Considering he had been self-medicating and had stopped a while prior to the shooting.

[NoGOPZone]

6. As if the existing myths about marijuana aren't dumb enough as it is. nt

[spanone]

7. yes frum, that's what america needs to learn from this...pot kills

what stupidity

[bullwinkle428]

8. Holy shit...are they really using the "reefer madness" theory?

And I thought Frum was actually experiencing flashes of reality a few months back.

[fascisthunter]

9. shows how fucking stupid he is or that he's just a fraud and a propagandist

ooops... he's both

[Iggo]

10. David Frum needs to fire up a spliff, know'm say'n?

The raw association is strong: Non-schizophrenic pot smokers are equally as likely to smoke pot as schizophrenic pot smokers.

[AspenRose]

11. Pot does not make people violent.

Alcohol, on the other hand....

[Warpy]

12. No, stupid, but QUITTING it likely did

A lot of crazy people try to self medicate with alcohol and various drugs with various levels of success. Apparently this kid was successful enough to get along in life until he decided to get clean and stop partying.

Some people are just too stupid to access the airwaves and Frum is near the top of a long list.

[Jennicut]

13. Loughner was not even officially diagnosed as a schizophrenic either.

I have a BA in Psych and you need more then hearsay to diagnose someone. Lots of disorders of mental illness.

[DiverDave]

14. who wants to shot stoned?

gawd, all the noise and you might drop your ring dings

[GaltFreeDiet]

15. If it's "controversial and complicated"...

then it's most likely full of shit.

[nebenaube]

16. Ahem...

"People who smoke marijuana are twice as likely to develop schizophrenia as those who do not smoke." if this were true, something like 1 out of every 5 people in this county would be schizophrenic.

[WinkyDink]

17. Talk about addled!

[Ernesto]

18. Frum is the chunk of fical matter

that wrote the "Axis of Evil" speech.
Great 'merican!

[chollybocker]

19. William Randolph Hearst would be very proud of little Davey.

[mmonk]

20. Whif again. Try harder.

[mzmolly]

21. Is Frum suggesting he's a libertarian?

:eyes:

[Fly by night]

22. Like most Republicans (and schizophrenics), Frum creates his own (convenient) reality

Studies that suggest cannabis use causes schizophrenia have been roundly debunked. If such a link existed, increasing cannabis use over time would cause a higher incidence of schizophrenia and countries with higher cannabis use levels would have more schizophrenia than low cannabis use countries. Neither of those conditions exist.

Knowledge is power and it is particularly powerful in ending reefer madness (finally). Unless, of course, Republicans (and cowardly Democrats) control the dialogue.

[Darth_Kitten]

23. On behalf of Canada, I apologize for this windbag.

:(

[eppur_se_muova]

24. I can't remember how many times a pot smoker has gone crazy and started shooting ...

seriously, I can't remember.

Oh, wait.

That's one of those things I can't remember because it never happened.

Pot mellows people out. Hate speech does the opposite.

[sabrina 1]

25. Except that Loughner had quit smoking pot and according to

a friend, that's when he got worse. Mr. Frum needs to rethink his diagnosis. Mine, and I have zero qualifications to make it I admit, is that if he had continued to smoke pot, he would have been too calm and relaxed to be thinking about violently killing people.

Frum should try to keep up with the news. No pot involved that we know of.