Jon Stewart Misses the Point--Bloomberg Pot v Soda

So for the past two programs Jon Stewart has waxed unfunnily regarding Bloomberg's proposal about reducing the fine for the amount of pot an individual can carry.

Let me state from the outset, I'm normally a fan of The Daily Show.

But this time, I think he's missed the point.  Before I get to the salient point, let me introduce one peripheral point I think he makes eloquently.  The amount of pot chosen to be legal is stupidly high.  It's enough to deal. A full ounce.

Ok.  Now Jon, let's talk.  You're a savvy New Yorker, so you've probably been reading the Voice, and The New York Times, so you know that the NYPD has been stopping and frisking black people intentionally.  Forcing them to disclose whether or not they have illegal substances on them, and then arresting them when they expose it.  Then bam!  They go to jail.  That simple, Jon.

So--this isn't about soda, it isn't about pot, this is about inequality, and its about racism.  No one should go to jail for having a personal use amount of illegal substances on them.

Jon makes the interesting point that "no one can get second hand carbonation." This argument, though funny, doesn't hold water.  While its true, that on the face of things, the physical damange that pot smoking can cause, will cause it with whomever is in its presence.  But that's not what the law says.  It's about carrying, not about use--this is a curb to the stop and frisk policy of the NYPD.  However, the collateral damage that obesity has caused on this nation's healthcare system is estimated to be 7,000 per person for the morbidly obese.  Given that soaring medical costs are far more likely to bankrupt this nation than the worst "socialist" spendthrifts in the entire country... well I'd say that's something that hurts all of us Jon.