Sabotaging Growth

A recent blogger discusses the psychotic relationship the U.S. has with alcohol and marijuana. He accurately points out the disparity between campuses' zero tolerance policy on pot, while at the same time allowing or even encouraging the consumption of alcohol. His article includes examples from the University of Colorado campuses, who put their logo on products associated with alcohol consumption (I'm assuming he means beer and shot glasses).

Source: MEEB.com

The University of Alberta in Edmonton had "Beer Gardens." In the middle of their most massive courtyard, a fence is set up with three or four tents. You show ID (drinking age is 18, not 21 like the States), pay $5 a ticket, each ticket gets you a pint. The purpose is to celebrate the end of the semester, but I don't consider it much of a celebration if you're passed out and puking. There are two bars on campus (SUB and the Power Plant). The only good side to this? Public transportation is easily accessible from the school (includes its own subway stop), and there are a number of programs one can access if you end up too drunk to drive. Of course, Canada has a much more liberal point of view on pot than the U.S. does, so take it for what it's worth.

But the cognitive dissonance in the U.S. doesn't just stop there. It also extends into the realm of business. By refusing to allow families in the U.S. to grow pot legally for profit, the laws are forcing more people into poverty than is necessary. The U.S. is losing tax revenue, jobs, economic growth, and public safety because of its insistence that marijuana is a "dangerous" drug.

Dangerous? A recent story from the L.A. Times shows that prescription drugs are causing more deaths than motor vehicle accidents. Pot by itself has caused no deaths from overdose, something that cannot be said of alcohol. Of five deaths attributed to a pot overdose in Britain, all were found to be caused by accidental inhalation of vomit that could not be directly attributed to pot (DrugWarFacts.com).

President Obama and Speaker John Boehner both claim to want to put the U.S. back to work. But companies aren't hiring! So let people go into business for themselves. Take away the restrictions to grow pot for profit, and allow families to take their finances into their own hands. After all, this is a free country. Isn't it?