High On David Brooks

The Press Democrat reprinted a David Brooks' column on Sunday in which Brooks discussed his use of marijuana while young. I'm glad I wasn't present. Soon Brooks gave up weed in favor of what he called "higher pleasures," by which I guess he meant licking the boots of billionaires. His argument was that giving up weed helped him "become more integrated, coherent and responsible." He opposed the sale of weed on moral grounds and now wants government to "discourage lesser pleasures." All this from a man who admits to violating the law repeatedly as a college student but avoided jail because he is white. (While black people and white people use marijuana at the same rate, black people are jailed for possession at twice the rate of white people and, I would guess, at about 100 times the rate of students like Brooks at prestigious colleges and universities).

Let me pause to note that the last three Presidents have stated openly that they smoked weed when young. 

"In legalizing weed, citizens of Colorado are, indeed, enhancing individual freedom. But they are also nurturing a moral ecology in which it is a bit harder to be the sort of person most of us want to be" Brooks concluded. That is a weird thought--I certainly don't want to be the sort of person Brooks is, a fatuous, pampered, smirking defender of undeserved privileges. But I was most struck by his wish to "discourage lesser pleasures" like weed (and maybe milkshakes and masturbation?) by throwing millions of Americans in prison. 

When I talk about how it is possible to be an intellectual or a dentist and be really bad at the job, Brooks immediately comes to mind.



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