--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We in this country have to make up our…" description: "\"We in this country have to make up our minds -- -- we can not have it both ways: we cannot be both drug-free and free.\" — Lester Grinspoon" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9dd/lester-grinspoon-48296_can-not_we-in-this-country-have-to-make-up-our-m_1242767.jpg" --- # We in this country have to make up our minds -- -- we can… ![“We in this country have to make up our minds -- -- we can not have it both ways: we cannot be both drug-free and free.” quote by Lester Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9dd/lester-grinspoon-48296_can-not_we-in-this-country-have-to-make-up-our-m_1242767.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9dd/lester-grinspoon-48296_can-not_we-in-this-country-have-to-make-up-our-m_1242767.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9dd/lester-grinspoon-48296_can-not_we-in-this-country-have-to-make-up-our-m_1242767.jpg) > “We in this country have to make up our minds -- -- we can not have it both ways: we cannot be both drug-free and free.” [Lester Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-grinspoon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Society cannot simultaneously demand total drug prohibition and absolute personal freedom. **In simple terms:** You can’t have both strict bans and total liberty. Key Takeaway Balance regulation with personal rights. Themes drug policy freedom societal values Mood critical thoughtful Type philosophical political When to use this quote - legislation debates - civil liberties discussions Key Concepts ethics public health Questions to Reflect On - Is total prohibition realistic? - What freedoms are essential? A Different Perspective Strict bans may ignore nuanced harms. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Drug](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drug/) [Drug free](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drug-free/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Wine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wine/) ## Related quotes > [There are the fundamental core values of the Democratic Party, which is to work to grow the economy, to create jobs, to encourage small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-pelosi/there-are-the-fundamental-core-values-of-the-democratic-party-which/) [Nancy Pelosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-pelosi/) > [I'm for a drug-free sport and always will be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-jones/i-m-for-a-drug-free-sport-and-always-will-be/) [Marion Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-jones/) > [I think the voters can make up their own minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeb-bush/i-think-the-voters-can-make-up-their-own-minds/) [Jeb Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeb-bush/) > [“We can make our minds so like still water that beings gather around us, that they may see their own images, and so live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/we-can-make-our-minds-so-like-still-water-that-beings-gather-around/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) > [I'm not a critic so much of my own writing. People must make up their own minds over that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/i-m-not-a-critic-so-much-of-my-own-writing-people-must-make-up-their/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) > [The true purpose of education is to make minds, not careers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/the-true-purpose-of-education-is-to-make-minds-not-careers/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [People being encouraged to make up their own minds and think for themselves is so important. This world talks endlessly about freedom of choice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/people-being-encouraged-to-make-up-their-own-minds-and-think-for/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [“All of us want to believe that we make up our own minds, that sales doesn’t work on us. But it’s not true.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/all-of-us-want-to-believe-that-we-make-up-our-own-minds-that-sales/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [Most of us make up our minds in the first three minutes of meeting someone whether there's a potential for a relationship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-fisher/most-of-us-make-up-our-minds-in-the-first-three-minutes-of-meeting/) [Helen Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-fisher/) > [It's always a good idea to let the audience make up their own minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aidan-gillen/it-s-always-a-good-idea-to-let-the-audience-make-up-their-own-minds/) [Aidan Gillen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aidan-gillen/) > [I am convinced that every effort must be made in childhood to teach the young to use their own minds. For one thing is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/i-am-convinced-that-every-effort-must-be-made-in-childhood-to-teach/) [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/) > [We must make up our minds to be ignorant of much, if we would know anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henry-newman/we-must-make-up-our-minds-to-be-ignorant-of-much-if-we-would-know/) [John Henry Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henry-newman/) > [Life is for action, and if we desire to know anything, we must make up our minds to be ignorant about much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/life-is-for-action-and-if-we-desire-to-know-anything-we-must-make-up/) [Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/) > [“Most men are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/most-men-are-about-as-happy-as-they-make-up-their-minds-to-be/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) > [We can make our minds so like still water that beings gather about us that they may see, it may be, their own images,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/we-can-make-our-minds-so-like-still-water-that-beings-gather-about-us/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) ## More by Lester Grinspoon > [I began to study marijuana in 1967... I had not yet learned that there is something very special about illicit drugs. If they don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-grinspoon/i-began-to-study-marijuana-in-1967-i-had-not-yet-learned-that-there/) [Lester Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-grinspoon/) > [I am convinced that there are genuine and valid levels of perception available with cannabis (and probably with other drugs) which are, through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-grinspoon/i-am-convinced-that-there-are-genuine-and-valid-levels-of-perception/) [Lester Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-grinspoon/) > [Cannabis is remarkably safe. Although not harmless, it is surely less toxic than most of the conventional medicines it could replace if it were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-grinspoon/cannabis-is-remarkably-safe-although-not-harmless-it-is-surely-less/) [Lester Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-grinspoon/) > [Marijuana is effective at relieving nausea and vomiting, spasticity, appetite loss, certain types of pain, and other debilitating symptoms. And it is extraordinarily safe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-grinspoon/marijuana-is-effective-at-relieving-nausea-and-vomiting-spasticity/) [Lester Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-grinspoon/) > [I've been smoking marijuana for 44 years now, and ... I think it's a tremendous blessing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-grinspoon/i-ve-been-smoking-marijuana-for-44-years-now-and-i-think-it-s-a/) [Lester Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-grinspoon/) > [I have come to doubt whether the FDA rules should apply to cannabis. There is no question about its safety. It is one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-grinspoon/i-have-come-to-doubt-whether-the-fda-rules-should-apply-to-cannabis/) [Lester Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-grinspoon/) > [Marijuana is one of the least toxic substances in the whole pharmacopoeia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-grinspoon/marijuana-is-one-of-the-least-toxic-substances-in-the-whole/) [Lester Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-grinspoon/) [Explore all 8 Lester Grinspoon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-grinspoon/) ## More Can not quotes > [Our beliefs are like the unquestioned commands, telling us how things are, what's possible and what's impossible, what we can and can not do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robbins/our-beliefs-are-like-the-unquestioned-commands-telling-us-how-things/) [Tony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robbins/) > [… Our lives are made in these small hours, these little wonders, these twists & turns of fate. Time falls away, but these small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-thomas/our-lives-are-made-in-these-small-hours-these-little-wonders-these/) [Rob Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-thomas/) > [ He \[Moliere\] pleases all the world, but cannot please himself. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-boileau-despreaux/he-moliere-pleases-all-the-world-but-cannot-please-himself/) [Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-boileau-despreaux/) > [Our great thoughts, our great affections, the truths of our life, never leave us. Surely they can not separate from our consciousness, shall follow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/our-great-thoughts-our-great-affections-the-truths-of-our-life-never/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [You can not kill that which is already dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-undertaker/you-can-not-kill-that-which-is-already-dead/) [The Undertaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-undertaker/) > [Yes I try to do everything I can not to fail hideously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-balaban/yes-i-try-to-do-everything-i-can-not-to-fail-hideously/) [Bob Balaban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-balaban/) > [You can not have significance in this life if it is all about you. You get your significance, you find your joy in life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tudor-jones/you-can-not-have-significance-in-this-life-if-it-is-all-about-you-you/) [Paul Tudor Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tudor-jones/) > [If we are true to ourselves, we can not be false to anyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/if-we-are-true-to-ourselves-we-can-not-be-false-to-anyone/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [If I can not dance, I shall die!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-pavlova/if-i-can-not-dance-i-shall-die/) [Anna Pavlova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-pavlova/) > [I have looked at so many photographs, I can not see them anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-heizer/i-have-looked-at-so-many-photographs-i-can-not-see-them-anymore/) [Michael Heizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-heizer/) > [I think that freely available software can not only keep up with the evolution of commercial software, but often exceed what you can do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linus-torvalds/i-think-that-freely-available-software-can-not-only-keep-up-with-the/) [Linus Torvalds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linus-torvalds/) > [Hinduism is not just a faith. It is the union of reason and intuition that can not be defined but is only to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarvepalli-radhakrishnan/hinduism-is-not-just-a-faith-it-is-the-union-of-reason-and-intuition/) [Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarvepalli-radhakrishnan/) > [Whether or not storms come, we can not choose. But where we stare during a storm, that we can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/whether-or-not-storms-come-we-can-not-choose-but-where-we-stare/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [All earth's full rivers can not fillThe sea that drinking thirsteth still.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-rossetti/all-earth-s-full-rivers-can-not-fillthe-sea-that-drinking-thirsteth/) [Christina Rossetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-rossetti/) > [Nations are beginning to look to some vague organization, some nebulous course of humanity, to pay their bills and tell them what to do.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-coolidge/nations-are-beginning-to-look-to-some-vague-organization-some/) [Calvin Coolidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-coolidge/) Browse all 567 Can not quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We in this country have to make up our minds -- -- we can not have it both ways: we cannot be both drug-free and free.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lester Grinspoon" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-grinspoon/we-in-this-country-have-to-make-up-our-minds-we-can-not-have-it-both/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Can not" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-grinspoon/we-in-this-country-have-to-make-up-our-minds-we-can-not-have-it-both/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9dd/lester-grinspoon-48296_can-not_we-in-this-country-have-to-make-up-our-m_1242767.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9dd/lester-grinspoon-48296_can-not_we-in-this-country-have-to-make-up-our-m_1242767.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9dd/lester-grinspoon-48296_can-not_we-in-this-country-have-to-make-up-our-m_1242767.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We in this country have to make up our minds -- -- we can not have it both ways: we cannot be both drug-free…” — Lester Grinspoon", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Lester Grinspoon", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-grinspoon/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We in this country have to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-grinspoon/we-in-this-country-have-to-make-up-our-minds-we-can-not-have-it-both/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-grinspoon/we-in-this-country-have-to-make-up-our-minds-we-can-not-have-it-both/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```