--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To ask them to legalize pot is something…" description: "\"“To ask them to legalize pot is something like asking them to put butter on the handcuffs before they place them on you: something else is hurting you—..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/314/charles-bukowski-73_ball-game_to-ask-them-to-legalize-pot-is-something_707560.jpg" --- # To ask them to legalize pot is something like asking them… ![“To ask them to legalize pot is something like asking them to put butter on the handcuffs before they place them on you: something else is hurting you—that's why you need pot, or whiskey, or whips and rubber suits, or screaming music turned so fucking loud you can't think. Or madhouses or…” quote by Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/314/charles-bukowski-73_ball-game_to-ask-them-to-legalize-pot-is-something_707560.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/314/charles-bukowski-73_ball-game_to-ask-them-to-legalize-pot-is-something_707560.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/314/charles-bukowski-73_ball-game_to-ask-them-to-legalize-pot-is-something_707560.jpg) > ““To ask them to legalize pot is something like asking them to put butter on the handcuffs before they place them on you: something else is hurting you—that's why you need pot, or whiskey, or whips and rubber suits, or screaming music turned so fucking loud you can't think. Or madhouses or mechanical cunts or 162 baseball games in a season. Or Vietnam or Israel or the fear of spiders.”” [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He compares legalizing marijuana to offering a superficial fix while deeper, more chaotic problems persist, suggesting that relief is sought amid overwhelming distress. **In simple terms:** Legalizing pot is a superficial fix for deeper issues. Key Takeaway Address root causes, not just temporary relief. Themes addiction politics social critique pain relief Mood cynical frustrated dark humor Type satirical critical When to use this quote - personal crisis - political protest - mental health struggles - substance use debates Key Concepts Coping mechanisms systemic failure distraction Questions to Reflect On - What deeper issues are being ignored? - How can society address root causes? A Different Perspective The analogy may oversimplify complex social and personal problems. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Baseball game](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/baseball-game/) [Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bukowski/) [Dirty-realism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dirty-realism/) [Drugs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drugs/) [Legalization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/legalization/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Realism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realism/) [Whiskey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whiskey/) [Wine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wine/) ## Related quotes > [I don't need pot to be hungry, lazy, and paranoid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-don-t-need-pot-to-be-hungry-lazy-and-paranoid/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You want a better world...? Legalize pot right now. ...end the deficit? Legalize pot right now...biggest cash crop in America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/you-want-a-better-world-legalize-pot-right-now-end-the-deficit/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [Pot is like a gang of Mexican bandits in your brain. They wait for thoughts to come down the road, then tie them up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-rooney/pot-is-like-a-gang-of-mexican-bandits-in-your-brain-they-wait-for/) Kevin Rooney > [For the record, pot, like the Reader's Digest , is not necessarily habit-forming, but both can lead to hard-core addiction : heroin, in one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-the-record-pot-like-the-reader-s-digest-is-not-necessarily-habit/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I like pot, I enjoy pot, I like to smoke it. 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Wickhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-wickhart/) ## More by Charles Bukowski > [“sometimes when everything seems at its worst when all conspires and gnaws and the hours, days, weeks years seem wasted – stretched there upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/sometimes-when-everything-seems-at-its-worst-when-all-conspires-and/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [well, death says, as he walks by, I'm going to get you anyhow no matter what you've been: writer, cab-driver, pimp, butcher, sky-diver, I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/well-death-says-as-he-walks-by-i-m-going-to-get-you-anyhow-no-matter/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [“There is only one place to write and that is alone at a typewriter. 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People with no morals often considered themselves more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/strangers-when-you-meet-strangers-when-you-part-a-gymnasium-of-bodies/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [I like to change liquor stores frequently because the clerks got to know your habits if you went in night and day and bought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/i-like-to-change-liquor-stores-frequently-because-the-clerks-got-to/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [“I was like a turd that drew flies instead of like a flower that butterflies and bees desired. 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