Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Drugs He's Not Saying "Sorry"
Posted by Dominic Holden on Tue, Jun 9, 2009 at 12:22 PM
Ian Barry, 17, spoke eloquently to his class last week about why we should fix our country's backward pot laws. Then he lit up a joint, and swiftly got hauled off by cops. So... now is normally about the time when a person busted for pot resurfaces in the newspapers, decrying the harms of druuuugz and groveling for salvation. Not Barry:
Ian Barry says he wasn’t trying to be martyr when he lit a marijuana joint this week at Peninsula High School, nor was he trying to pull a stunt.Simply put, the 17-year-old junior wanted to drive home the message of his persuasive essay: Marijuana doesn’t deserve its negative stigma from society and should be legalized. [...]
He fully accepts his punishment. He faces misdemeanor charges of unlawful drug possession, as police found the container that he carried the joint in and that contained marijuana residue. He also understands this will go on his record.
“I see myself as someone who holds himself to a high moral value,” Barry said via cell phone. “I stand up for what I believe in.”
It's refreshing that this kid isn't a sniveling apologist like bong-ripping Michael Phelps—who, after being outed, begged for forgiveness. "I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way," the Olympic-swimmer-turned-spineless-puppet said a few days later. That gigantic bong toke, the US Olympic Committee had warned, would set a bad "example for others, particularly young people." Young people—like Barry, of course—would get the wrong impression. But Barry got the right impression: Apologizing for smoking pot is reserved for craven simps. Of course, it helps that Barry doesn't have millions in endorsements on the line like Phelps, but he does have his education to pursue. He's starting the SATs today, and pot isn't likely to have hindered his chances of doing well on the test. Barry has a 3.7 grade point average.
Here's video of him lighting up in front of the school:
And here's the transcript of Barry's speech. This is the beginning:
Can I see a show of hands how many people here have ever smoked Cannabis sativa, commonly known as marijuana? I see none of you raised your hand. Well obviously no one would want to admit to a criminal activity in front of their teacher.
Young folks shouldn't smoke pot. Technically speaking, nobody should smoke pot. But lots of people do because it can be really fun. And some teenagers are going to smoke pot and some will drink. And if they smoke pot—without hurting someone else, dropping out of school, becoming a drain on folks around them, or driving under the influence—then they have nothing to apologize for.
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1
anecdotal or not, weed has a cumulative effect on memory.
i think. but i can't remember where i heard that. TV or somewhere. maybe a party.
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"To study 182 of 5 ¼ million accidents, .0034%, and make apocryphal claims based on that research shows ineptitude beyond that of any man disposed to devout his life to a hierarchy of pious infidels who understand nothing of the nature and complexity of life."
Um. What?
Following through on your words= illegal
Kids tend to take this whole freedom thing to literally, obviously. A little time in jail will learn them to become better hypocrites.
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An extreme example of the "point" this moron was "proving" would work well with an abortion model: I don't think abortion is wrong, so, here's an eloquent speech as to why, and now check out what I'm going to do with this coat hanger, riiiiight in front of my class!
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"For it to illegal..." Somehow I doubt that's how it actually came out of the kid's mouth.
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However, this quote reminded me of the Hempfest image problem:
"Then, before he turned to the eighth page, he pulled out the joint that was hidden in his dreadlocks."
Sheesh. What a stereotype. I wish there were more stunt-pulling pot smokers who looked like this guy:
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People that have medical issues alleviated by it that don't want to pay large amounts for the privilege?
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Look, I don't think Phelps is a bad person. But he did SELL OUT. He does not believe that marijuana is harmful; but for a lot of money, he said that he thought marijuana was harmful.
For the amount of money that was at stake, I too would have compromised my principles - everyone on this thread would have, including Dominic.
But let's not pretend that Phelps did anything but sell out.
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In a way, dedicated exponents of marijuana legalization behave like PETA when it comes to circulating their agenda. Reason, meet trash can.
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which is the definition of selling out.
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@22 nails it. He hasn't hindered himself scholastically, but he just torpedoed any kind of federal financial aid. And thanks to the last congress, that guarantees a young adulthood full of institutional financial abuse.
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Also, the kid lives in Gig Harbor. That's upper middle-class suburbs for miles. I'm guessing he wouldn't qualify for financial aid anyway.
Sounds like a classic trustafarian to me.
He forgets that if legalization were to happen, then he would still be under age.
Everybody knows that smokin' ain't allowed at school.
Technically speaking, nobody should smoke pot....
really? so who determines what people "should" do?
technically, nobody should eat ice cream.
technically, nobody should watch TV.
technically, nobody should drink alcohol.
technically, a lot of people in this world should NOT have children.... ask dan.
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