Trip to the Oracle

Hacked Out By James Khan

First of all, I'll begin with a confession. Our Government, despite its bungling, incompetency, infighting, petty politicking, drinking, womanizing and lying, actually does a much better job than we give it credit for. Americans, as a people, are generally well-fed, normally free to express themselves, and usually have a fair amount of leisure time. This is not to say that our civil "servants" have done a perfect job, by any means. For starters, (since I have neither the column space, nor the time to attack all the government's shortcomings at once) they've outlawed marijuana.

Why? Despite its claims of marijuana's immense health hazard, and psychological damage beyond the pale of human knowledge, marijuana is widely recognized by doctors, and the general public, to be one of the least dangerous illegal drugs on the long and notorious list of controlled substances. True, marijuana might "lead to experimentation with more dangerous drugs" but hell, so will a few shots of straight vodka. It not so much that the government is overprotecting us, as it is indulging itself in the hypocrisy that says that alcohol can remain legal while pot cannot. Hey, looking at the comparison between the two, I'm tempted to say that alcohol is a lot more dangerous then our illicit, smoky friend.

Alcohol: Causes drunken brawls, and murders

Pot: Makes people act mellow

Alcohol: Rots your liver, makes you vomit, gives you hangovers, causes huge amounts of traffic accidents, and impairs judgement

Pot: Hard on the lungs, and may impair judgement; however, pot-caused traffic accidents are a rarity

Alcohol: No use to doctors, except maybe as a primitive painkiller

Pot: Proven to help sufferers of glaucoma, and those who are recovering from chemotherapy

Alcohol: Ever heard of an "alcoholic"?

Pot: Ever heard of a "marijuana addict'

So, to avoid this moral dilemma, our lawmakers should feel obligated to either outlaw alcohol or legalize pot. Let's face it; we've tried making alcohol illegal and it was shown to be an act of poor judgement. How about option two? Will a big name politician ever have the guts to step forward and address this issue, and finally get the ball rolling on the legalization of pot? I think we all know the answer to that one.