Today’s comments were selected from Mark MacKinnon’s coverage of journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s alleged murder. Readers are spending a great deal of time with this widely-read story. Comments have also been selected from Ian Brown’s essay examining the stigma around cannabis and whether legalization will have an impact on the way society views pot and pot smokers.
A police officer searches the residence of the Saudi consul-general Mohammed al-Otaibi in Istanbul on Wednesday as part of a Turkish investigation into the disappearance and alleged slaying of writer Jamal Khashoggi.Emrah Gurel/The Associated Press
From With grisly leaks, Turkey keeps focus on Khashoggi case and pressure on Saudi-U.S. relations, by Mark Mackinnon
This story as I follow it, makes me feel physically ill. Don’t let that stop you from reporting. This is a horror that needs light and exposure. - Omursel
In response to Chrystia Freeland's tweet, asking for the release of Saudi women activists, the Saudi foreign minister demanded that we should not treat Saudi Arabia like a banana republic. Looks like he was wrong about that.
This debacle is just another good reason to shake our global addiction to oil, so there is one less tactic for sociopaths in high places to use, to safeguard human rights abuses from criticism or action. That Trump would baldly state that he is concerned about profits above all, when a man has been cut apart while alive, simply for writing his opinions, should tell the entire world all they need to know about their own safety and dignity in the eyes of someone like Trump, or MbS.
For the sake of us all, I hope Americans, even Republicans, can put human decency ahead of partisanship, when they go to vote - assuming that is, that they actually get to register their votes, amid Russian efforts to hijack another US election, on behalf of their White House stooge. - CycleWest
From The new activism isn’t about laws’: Stigma lingers despite end of cannabis prohibition, by Ian Brown
It all seems pretty stupid when you read comments like 'I have never been so proud to be a Canadian". Really? That’s the best that we have to offer to the world as a society? It was darn stupid to make the use cannabis a criminal activity, but legalizing the use of cannabis and creating a whole new business empire to promote its use (and promote it they will) is equally stupid. The government has a mandate towards the promotion of public health, and this is not a good legislation for public health. The government can’t have it both ways - promoting and protecting public health and selling a product that is harmful to many people (but beneficial to some to alleviate pain). Decriminalization was the only way to go to walk this fine line. With alcohol (more harmful than cannabis) we see how difficult it is to change course after so many decades of normalization of alcohol use. - yetigen
I supported decriminalization, I am OK with legalization, but could we please refrain from trying to make cannabis cool? Cannabis is not without problems, just as alcohol has problems. It can be addictive. Driving stoned is a serious, serious risk. I’ve seen people’s lives get derailed and seen them lose their motivation because they got mired in MJ. It has lots of positives, too, but this is still a regulated substance and illegal for minors for a reason. Let’s not pretend it’s a public good. - Freshycat
After all the hype dies down, nothing will change much. People who always used it will keep on using it, and people who know nothing about it will prattle on about what a terrible thing it is. - Expectationzs
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