In 1969, a Gallup poll showed 12 percent of Americans said marijuana should be legal in the United States. In 2013, a man who first smoked marijuana in 1969 at the age of 21 would turn 65 and claim his Medicare. If our hypothetical friend is still toking, he's probably also bringing the line at a convenience store to a screeching halt daily, trying in vain to claim a senior discount on taquitos and cheese popcorn as those behind him grow mutinous, then murderous. [continues 576 words]
In 1969, a Gallup poll showed 12 percent of Americans said marijuana should be legal in the United States. In 2013, a man who first smoked marijuana in 1969 at the age of 21 would turn 65 and claim his Medicare. If our hypothetical friend is still toking, he's probably also bringing the line at a convenience store to a screeching halt daily, trying in vain to claim a senior discount on taquitos and cheese popcorn as those behind him grow mutinous, then murderous. [continues 577 words]
It's funny, as the medical marijuana debate rages, how you never hear any arguing about medical heroin. I don't mean "funny ha-ha" like watching Steve Martin's "The Jerk" when you're stoned. I mean . . . peculiar. Because that's essentially what OxyContin, codeine, Vicodin, morphine and all the other serious painkillers are: opioids, like heroin, that can relieve pain but also get you high. They're formulated and prescribed at differing strengths for different needs, but so are beer, wine and Bacardi 151, and it doesn't change the fact that they're all the same thing. It just means they make parties loosen up at different speeds. [continues 503 words]
Drug Enforcement Administration staffers must be asking themselves, "Where is Barbara Billingsley when you need her?" Billingsley is most famous for playing the mother in "Leave it to Beaver," but the DEA doesn't need her to make boys toe the line. The agency needs her because of the talent she so famously showcased in the movie "Airplane" when she said: "Oh, stewardess, I speak jive." Apparently, DEA agents don't speak jive themselves, but some of the folks they are conducting surveillance on do. That's why, according to a story by The Associated Press, the DEA is looking to hire nine "ebonics" translators to help interpret wiretapped conversations between suspected drug dealers. [continues 572 words]
