mike matusow

[711Buddha 0]

1. Matasow was convicted and served his sentence, he is, and should be free to get on with his life. I have nothing against him, and if he sat down with me at a poker table I would immediately get up and leave, not because he is somehow evil or unclean, but because he is a FAR superior poker player to me and would easily clean me out. I give him full credit for his skills and for the fact he has served his sentence.2. Cocaine is not alchohol, nor is it dope, nor is it gambling. While all have negative side effects/consequences there is a very significant degree in severity and frequency. More importantly, it is illegal. That is a very significant difference.

[iveyfan30 0]

i like mike...he's had his problems , but who amoung us havent?? we shouldnt throw rocks if you know what i mean...hes funny and a disaster waiting to happen , doesnt get any more entertaining than that...plus hes a damn good poker player...i watched him win his seat into the wsop main event on stars ..he was severly out chipped but took it down anyway....

[chindi 0]

Did you never progress past 3rd grade level thought?  Morally speaking, I don't see a difference between alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, etc.. They can all destroy lives if abused.  The only reason alcohol is legal is because it caused too many problems during prohibition.

Just because he disagrees with you, doesn't mean he's wrong, stupid or uneducated... and to make the inference that he is any of those things, rather than trying to refute his statement reflects the fact that you can't refute it because as a summary of the situation... it is correct.Moving on to your drug arguments....There is an incredibly unrealistic core argument that if they would just legalize heroin, cocaine and other such drugs all the seedy, dangerous and unsavory aspects of the problem would go away. Drug dealers would no longer be dangerous, Colombia would no longer be a warzone and dogs and cats would finally be able to live together in peace... and the example you use is: Prohibition.The problem with this analogy is that other than a vague surface similarity (drugs are illegal! booze was illegal!) there are really almost no similarities between the two situations.Prohibition on alcohol: - Was still legal in every non-muslim country - Had previously been legal with an established distirbution & purchasing infrastructure (both retail and wholesale). - Was run as a criminal activity primarily only because it was briefly criminal to run such operations... many of the base level people involved were otherwise law-abiding.Prohibition on drugs: - Most drugs (with some few exceptions) are illegal internationally as well as in the US. - There has never been a modern, legal, establshed infrastructure for drugs. - Is run as a criminal activity because every aspect of it's production, distribution, marketing and use is criminal. The largest difference is with point #2. Once prohibition was lifted a bar owner was free to open his doors and call up Jack Daniels and Miller to arrange his next shipment. With drugs? It's NOWHERE near that neat and clean. If it was that easy for the columbian government to take over Cocaine production ... than it would be that easy for them to shut it down. And given that the Colombian justice system needs the backing of the US Military to reduce the obscene rate of assassination of inconvenient political and judicial officials... what makes you think they can hold/protext cocoa fields?It's just not that easy, and while you can argue that they'd be able to put out a 'purer' product for cheaper and thus put the Cartel's out of business that way... it ignores another aspect of the problem: The Degree of Addiction.There is a reason you hear about 'functional alcoholics' and don't generally hear about 'functional crackheads'. The effects of the two addictions are wildly different and cocaine/crack/heroin addiciton is FAR more pervasive and soul altering.Crack/cocaine addiction will drive you to do things that you wouldn't have dreamt of in the wildest hypothetical situation, and that's not because the drugs are illegal... it's because you'll do ANYTHING for them. It's also far easier to get someone off of alcohol then it is to get them off of drugs. People have DIED from the physical effects of drug withdrawal... in general alcoholics can be dried out.... though they might wish they were dying. (Yes alcoholics can kill their livers and thus themselves... so can drug addicts... who can also have heart attacks, strokes, and embolisms). So..... it's not so easy to just wave your hand and make the bad part of drugs go away and let the good people that want to use live their happy lives.Do you really think that the only thing that keeps drugs from being legalized is a few closed minded politicos? Because that really would be an attitude worthy of a third-grade education.Two things drive public policy in the US. Money, and Politics.From a money standpoint, the 'War on Drugs' costs us BILLIONS when you account for the judicial, penal and enforcement investments, not to mention the financial burden of support for the government of Columbia and the repayments to columbian farmers (that you think don't get paid). From a political standpoint, the 'War on Drugs' has become a metaphor for racism because of the differences in Mandatory Minimums. Additionally, the inability of the National government to stop the epidemic, and to stop HUGE numbers of American's from being caught up in the 'War' without any effective gains has made it an issue that politicos get smacked around with each November.If you seriously think that the Executive and Legislative branches wouldn't leap out of their seats at a solution as simple as: 'Legalize and Treat', then you are incredibly naive about American Politics.Enforcement hasn't worked thus far.Legalization is horrifically complicated and expensive to implement.Treatment doesn't always work (relapse rates are incredible) and has never been implemented on a wide enough scale to judge it's feasability. To trade one non-solution for an untested, unproven and difficult to impliment non-solution... is ridiculous. Because once you've done it, there's no way to get that genie back in the bottle. You can never uncross the line of making the US Gov't the biggest drug dealer on the planet.It also doesn't begin to even touch on the treaty issues, the hit we'd take internationally with previously friendly governments that don't want us causing them to be flooded with drugs, etc.Any time your answer to a complex, multi-faceted problem can be summed up in three words ('Legalize it, stupid!'), you need to step back, take a deep breath, duck your head... and run full speed into a wall.Because maybe that will smack some sense into you.Sorry for the length of this post. But as someone who's lived in the middle of this on a street level, and grew up and out of it, and has relatives that work in enforcement and in victim's advocacy... I just have issues with the smug, elitist BS that gets thrown around on the legalization side.(Mind you... I've actually heard good arguments for legalization that addressed some of the issues above.... but Nutcracker's arguments weren't even close.)

[bigcoled 1]

Every rule or "law" we run our lives by is simply an opinion, as laws are opinions of how our country should be run and how the country's citizens should lead their lives, all though laws are reinforced by the country's law makers whom are elected to their positions by the largest percentage of a voting body. So, I consider laws opinions that are strong armed upon the minority of a country's citizens. But, what happens to those people not in the majority? They are forced to follow the guidelines for living their life as set forth by the voting majority, or the voting majority's represetatives. At this point many would say, "If you don't like it get the heck out!" But you go to another country and you must follow their laws. Should people be punished because they are given no where to lead their life as they see fit in this "free" country? Should they not be allowed to lead their lives as is seen fit by the one that runs their life, themself? Did you know that in Alabama it is illegal to buy a bag of peanuts after sunset and before sunrise the next day? It is illegal to wear suspenders in Nogles, AZ. In California, it is illegal to posses bear gall bladders. Peeling an orange in your hotel room is banned in California . In Florida women may be fined for falling asleep under a hair dryer, as can the salon owner. How many people pay attention to these laws, because damnit you're a criminal if you peel an orange in your hotel room, and that's wrong because being a criminal is bad! These LAWS are as real as any drug law... So, you see how much credit I give to the hippocracy we consider our government....

[PimpRock 0]

Daaammnnn... I generated a 28 response post and with the exception of the second dude aint nobody even referred to my question. Im not holding my breath on finding his blog.

[mbreon 0]

I don't think Matusow has a blog. Some interesting thoughts here on drug prohibition stated in this thread. I think it is hilarious how people will talk about how crazy you get with a heavy cocaine addiction, and how that is sooo much worse than an alcohol addiction. The fact is an alcohol addiction can be just as deadly and detrimental when it is a serious addiction. And by serious addiction I'm thinking Nic Cage in Leaving Las Vegas serious....alcohol, coke, heroin are ALL deadly substances when abused. And we didn't even mention the most deadly drug on the market, nicotine. If those companies that produce them did not have so much pull they would have been off the market 20 years ago. If a new product comes out that kills 1 out of every 10,000 people that used it, the FDA would ban it so fast it would make your head spin. Yet cigarettes kill people at an alarming rate, yet no one seems to care about that.Marijuana laws around the world have been loosened. In many European countries, it is not illegal to carry around a small amount. In most of Western Europe, it is decriminalized to the same criminal level as a speeding ticket. As Chris Rock says, "The reason coke and weed are illegal in America is because the best coke and weed isn't made in America. If we made the best stuff here, we would have a coke and weed store on every corner. McDonald's? McCoco's. Starbucks? Weedbucks. Krispy Kremes? Cracky Kremes."

[Pokerghost2 0]

heroine is fine and even healthy in some cases as long as its used responsibly and in moderation.

[alf13 0]

Before anybody says that Matusow was wrongly convicted and didn't deserve his sentence....please read the particulars of the case.He deserved what he got.

I guess that depends on how you define "deserve". I don't know or care whether his conviction was deserved in a legal sense. But convicting someone for a crime against themself is a wrongful conviction in my opinion.Personally I have an awful hard time understanding the logic of putting some in prison for allegedly hurting himself, i. e. druge use. "You are a menace to yourself, therefore you need to be punished with something far worse for you than your 'crime' ". I just don't get it. If we are going to meddle in other's entertainment choices and say that "well, there is no such thing as drug use, only drug abuse" and that these people can't help themselves, then surely locking them up in a drug rehab facility is a more logical response. Not to mention that it is incredibly easy to get drugs in prison.Breaking the law is wrong. Therefore using a drug that is illegal is wrong. But if the only reason that using it is wrong is that it is illegal, then our legislators and their defenders need to attend a logic 101 course.Once again for the record my own personal drug of choice is alcohol, which just happens to be legal.

I SAID that before you say that he didn't deserve his sentence or was wrongly convicted to PLEASE read the particulars of the case.YOU obviously knew nothing about the case but just decided to get on your horse anyway.Okay.....now that you know that it wasn't for possesion....do you have a different opinion?BTW....does it bother anybody that Matusow said that he was doing a favor and yet asked for a cut "According to the Police Report".Look.....I actually am one of the handful of people on the planet that actually like Mike but what he did was wrong and deserved the sentence he got.

[Nutcracker 0]

Did you never progress past 3rd grade level thought? Morally speaking, I don't see a difference between alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, etc.. They can all destroy lives if abused. The only reason alcohol is legal is because it caused too many problems during prohibition.

Just because he disagrees with you, doesn't mean he's wrong, stupid or uneducated... and to make the inference that he is any of those things, rather than trying to refute his statement reflects the fact that you can't refute it because as a summary of the situation... it is correct.

You're right. Disagreeing with me doesn't make a person wrong, stupid or uneducated. The fact that he tried to boil right and wrong down to absolutes is what makes him a simpleton. I thought that was blatantly obvious to anyone over the age of 16, sorry for my assumption.Also, I wasn't trying to make any argument for the legalization. I was simply stating my opinion. Sorry for the confusion. Again, I made the assumption that is was completely obvious that I was simply stating my opinion on the matter. If I make an argument, trust me, you'll know.

[Mantis666 0]

I guess that depends on how you define "deserve". I don't know or care whether his conviction was deserved in a legal sense. But convicting someone for a crime against themself is a wrongful conviction in my opinion.Personally I have an awful hard time understanding the logic of putting some in prison for allegedly hurting himself, i. e. druge use. "You are a menace to yourself, therefore you need to be punished with something far worse for you than your 'crime' ". I just don't get it.

So, how about the guy who is forced to grow the cocoa leaves? The guy who has to process them in a jungle lab (don't they blow up occasionally?) How about the organized crime figures who profit from the trade, the kids killed in drive-by shootings, how about children of adicts? Know any crack heads? Wake up! This stuff is poison, it kills people and ruins lives. People who traffic in it are scum. Calling it harmless or saying it only affects the user is just plain ignorant. Matasow got off easy.

Lighten up you nazi. Drug use and abuse is a heath issue NOT a crime issue. Stealing my T.V. to get your fix is a crime issue.

[elkang 0]

The only thing sillier than some things posted on this thread is arguing about it further with a stranger online. The only post I want to see next is should be a photo of a retarded kid crossing a finish line. Spend your time wisely elsewhere please.

[Batch 0]

For pure entertainment value you gots to lvoe this dude... does he have a blog or an internet site?[/quotI have to say he is the funniest guy in poker.I love his interviews.Him being convicted of drugs does not bother me one bit.