At the end of this week - on Saturday, February 1st, 2014 - I will begin my 60th year...on this planet that we call Earth. My 59th birthday will not include a celebratory joint...as I have never once in my life...taken a puff of the "wild weed." That being said...I don't drink booze either - no beer...no wine...no liquor. Alcoholic beverages make me sick...and I haven't had a sip of an alcoholic drink in nearly 30 years. It was after a family party - when I took terribly ill - that I swore to myself that next day...that I would never touch a bit of booze ever again. And I've kept that promise.
I was never a big drinker to begin with - even as a young man in college - when the legal age to drink was 18...not 21. Even then...I never indulged regularly in drinking alcohol. Oh there were a handful of times when I partied too much and wound up a bit tipsy - or to be totally frank - flat out drunk...but as I say...it wasn't often by any means.
Alcoholic beverages can be dangerous. Alcoholic beverages can - if consumed in high amounts - make a person sick...or worse. And, of course...if you suffer from the disease of alcoholism - and yes, alcoholism is a disease...a very serious disease - if you are an alcoholic...drinking liquor, wine, beer...or any spirituous or fermented beverage...can be life threatening to the drinker...and to others.
I applaud President Obama for his comments in a recent interview with The New Yorker magazine...when the President expressed his opinion about smoking marijuana. "I don't think it is more dangerous than alcohol." The President added, "I smoked pot as a kid...and I view it as a bad habit and a vice...not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person...up through a big chunk of my adult life." But President Obama also told The New Yorker that smoking pot is "not something I encourage...and I've told my daughters I
think it's a bad idea." The President has warned 15-year old Malia and 12-year old Sasha that smoking marijuana is "a waste of time, not very healthy."To elaborate on President Obama's thoughts...I, of course, am not in any way, shape, matter or form recommending that children smoke marijuana. Kids should not light up a joint...just as youngsters should not consume alcohol or puff on a tar and nicotine cancer stick. But as far as I'm concerned...nobody should drink alcohol...nobody should smoke tobacco...and nobody should smoke marijuana. But this is America...and although it's not something that I would do...other adults in our country do have the right to drink booze...to smoke cigarettes...and they should have the right to smoke pot. I do, however, hope...that if a person wants to engage in the inhalation of marijuana vapors...that he or she do so in moderation. There's no reason to drink alcohol so that you're so polluted with booze that you're "falling down drunk"...as there's no reason to chain smoke cigarettes...so that you stink to high heaven from the putrid odor...and that you destroy your lungs, heart and the rest of your body. As such...there's no reason to smoke marijuana...so that you're so "stoned"...that your brain can't function properly. If you're one who feels that it's fun... to get a "buzz"...from alcohol or pot...I don't agree with your thinking...but I'll fight for your right to do so. Being under the influence of either...so that you're senselessly bombed...that's just plain stupid.
For 13 years...between 1920 and 1933...the manufacture, sale and transportation of intoxicating liquors were illegal. It was a period in United States history when even the average American citizen broke the law. But we've come a long way since the days of prohibition...and alcohol has been legalized. We need to do the same with marijuana. As liquor, beer and wine are taxed...as cigarettes are taxed...so should the legalized sale of pot. Too many people have been sentenced to prison terms for the possession of marijuana. Throughout the years...jails have been packed with decent individuals...whose lives were ruined because they were convicted as the result of being caught by police while they were smoking weed or because grass was found to be on their person when they were arrested. America's courts have locked up non-violent men and women...who should never have been sent to prison. Millions of dollars - perhaps billions of dollars - have been spent over the last half-century...to incarcerate Americans because they were found to be guilty in a court of law...for smoking marijuana...or for merely possessing it. And more people in our country will wind up behind bars if the rest of our nation doesn't fall in line with Colorado and Washington.
The price tag in some "pot shops" in "The Centennial State" of Colorado has reportedly been as much as $70 for an eighth of an ounce of weed. That doesn't include an additional 27.9 percent in taxes. Despite the high cost...the lines in Colorado have been stretched out the doors of stores...that are legally selling recreational marijuana...to people who want to purchase the grass...for no other reason...but to get high. And the Associated Press reports...that some eager weed buyers have waited up to five hours on line...before being able to make their purchase. However...if you live in "The Rocky Mountain State"...and you have a green thumb...and want to add a "pot patch" to your vegetable garden...Colorado says that's okay too. But you can only grow a maximum of six marijuana plants...and your home corner of cannabis cultivation must be enclosed and locked. As for Washington...stores in "The Evergreen State" won't be putting out their "Pot For Sale" signs until later this year.
According to a recent Gallup Poll...58 percent of Americans believe that marijuana should be legalized. And although I have no desire to smoke it...I support those Americans who do. So...if getting stoned on pot...in the privacy of your own home...is what floats your boat...then puff, puff and sail away. But like getting drunk on booze...if you need any recreational stimulation to have a good time...stay off the roads...keep your drugs away from children... and when you're hungover the next day...well...maybe you'll think twice about doing it again...and won't.
And that's The Controversy for today.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
"We'll talk again."
The Controversy is a publication of GBD Productions. Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B. Duglin.
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