Pubdate: Thu, 10 Jan 2013 Source: Reno News & Review (NV) Copyright: 2013, Chico Community Publishing, Inc. Contact: http://www.newsreview.com/issues/reno/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2524 Author: Larry L. Wissbeck Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n010/a02.html REEFER GLADNESS Re "Decriminalization" (News, Jan. 3): Go back, go back! I implore Nevadans to forego any thoughts of decriminalizing the "Devil Weed." Perhaps my experience on New Year's Eve will be instructive: I "found" a single joint of marijuana lying on the sidewalk here in Paonia. (I have no proof, of course, but I strongly suspect it was planted there by the Mexican drug cartels.) Realizing that it was now "legal" here in Colorado, I lit it up and took a tentative puff. What ensued can only be described as a nightmare. The first thing I did was search (fruitlessly) in the immediate area for a stash of Heroin or perhaps a few pills of Oxycontin. Then I searched my now fogged brain for the location of an open gun show so I might purchase a Bushmaster assault rifle or some other means of committing mass murder or at least an armed robbery. (None were open at that midnight hour.) Having no other lawless options available, I hopped in my car with the intention of running down pedestrians or smashing into other vehicles. By the merest circumstance I was only a half block from home. My aging Ford Taurus was unable to attain the 100 mph speed I so fervently sought. (I was able to exceed the posted speed limit by 5 mph, and when I got home I thoughtlessly parked with my wheels a good 15 inches from the curb, fully three inches outside what's permitted by local ordinance!) I stumbled into the house barely able to constrain my urge to kick the dog or beat my spouse. Thence to sleep. (A coma?) Now, as that poisonous THC slowly relinquishes its grip on my body and mind, I am returning to normal. The Iraq war was legitimate. The rich are deserving of tax relief. Personal freedom is mostly too dangerous to contemplate. A few more hours of Fox News and Rush Limbaugh and sanity will return. Be careful out there. Though the details of that experience are a little fuzzy, I'm pretty sure it happened much as I have described it. Larry L. Wissbeck Paonia, Colo. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom