Bottoms Up

In the theatre of the absurd that is modern prohibition, there is one absurdity that steals the show: the illegality of marijuana.

Our government spends millions upon millions of dollars arresting and imprisoning people for selling, possessing, and consuming a plant that any person can grow in their backyard.

As if banning mother nature wasn't bad enough, to add insult to injury, we send thousands of people to prison, ruin countless lives, and destroy families, while the government ignores study after study which show marijuana has numerous medicinal applications and health benefits.

In addition to providing benefits for cancer, HIV, and glaucoma patients, recent studies also show that cannibus may help prevent the onset of Alzheimer's. However, in spite of all the mounting empirical data, marijuana is still classified by the Federal government as a Schedule 1 drug with little or no health benefits.

Can the Federal government's stance on marijuana get any more ridiculous?

Well, get ready, because a recently released study by the Journal of Psychopharmacology has revealed that marijuana is far less harmful for you than a legal substance that may be sitting in your refrigerator.

In the study, the researchers found, “A direct comparison of alcohol and cannabis showed that alcohol was considered to be more than twice as harmful as cannabis to [individual] users, and five times more harmful as cannabis to others (society).… As there are few areas of harm that each drug can produce where cannabis scores more [dangerous to health] than alcohol, we suggest that even if there were no legal impediment to cannabis use, it would be unlikely to be more harmful than alcohol.”

In their conclusion they further stated, “The findings underline the need for a coherent, evidence-based drugs policy that enables individuals to make informed decisions about the consequences of their drug use.”

So, the next time you pull a beer from the fridge or go down to the bar with your friends, just remember that you could be doing something far less harmful to your body and society.

And to those of you who read accounts of individuals arrested for growing and distributing pot with self-righteous indignation, just remember to quantify some of that disdain for the local bar owners and beer distributors as well as all their patrons.

Now we could simply ignore this data and continue our hypocrisy as a society or we could just admit our folly and legalize marijuana, but then that would make sense, and if there is one thing I have learned about this war on drugs, it's that it makes anything but sense.