Daily Headlines EDU: COLUMN: GENERATION GAP CAUSES IRRATIONAL DECISIONS (Source:Daily Forty-Niner)

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GENERATION GAP CAUSES IRRATIONAL DECISIONS



Perhaps I've become softer in my advancing years, but recently I have noticed several things that I am a lot more okay with than I used to be. It's funny how our views change over time, and sometimes all it takes is a simple consideration of the other side of the issue. Moreover, once a person has a revelation like the kind I am about to discuss, it is really frustrating how the powers-that-be will do everything they can to stop it.



Everybody knows that gas prices are soaring again and while it is a given that they will eventually ebb like the tide, it is another given that they will flow again at some point too. The gross debt of the United States has increased by an unfathomable sum of more than $500 billion each year since 2003, according to the Treasury, and the end of this increase is nowhere in sight.



One option that is extremely viable is, of course, the legalization of marijuana; forget doctor-prescribed medical cards, just legalize it already. I am by no means a weed smoker. I have partaken approximately three times in my life and, honestly, I don't fare very well on it. It just isn't for me. But, just because I can't handle it doesn't mean that you shouldn't be able to blaze up whenever you want.



I used to think that people that smoked weed frequently were dumb and weren't very motivated in life. That is, of course, true for some habitual stoners, but most of my friends like to smoke a little weed now and then and a lot of them are motivated and upstanding individuals, and I'm willing to bet that most of my peers are the same way.



This is simply because society has become more tolerant with marijuana and - all things considered - it's really not a huge deal. So why doesn't the government realize this? There is so much money to be made on this untapped resource by just legalizing and taxing it that it doesn't make any sense whatsoever to keep it in the pseudo-gray area it is currently in.



Governments always tend to complicate the issues and there is usually much more debate over a lot of issues than there needs to be, but with weed, it seems like the government has turned it into a pariah, cast out by those in power but championed by the common man.



One reason this dichotomy exists is because of the nature of our political system. Often the representatives making decisions on our behalf are simply out-of-touch with the evolution of our society. I'm not trying to solve the age-old problems inherent in our system because - by-and-large - our system does work. All I'm saying is that there are certain things wrong with it, and this attitude toward weed is definitely one that needs to be changed.



It never ceases to amaze me how progressive yet restricting this country can be. Take the recent online poker ban in the U.S. I am an avid gambler and poker is one of my favorite pastimes, but now - because it is misunderstood by lawmakers - I can't play poker online anymore due to some convoluted charges of fraud.



This should anger you as it does me. With so many untapped resources that could help our floundering economy being ignored, what exactly are politicians doing in Washington? Not a whole hell of a lot is my guess.





MAP posted-by: Richard Lake





Share This Article Pubdate: Tue, 26 Apr 2011

Source: Daily Forty-Niner (Cal State Long Beach, CA Edu)

Copyright: 2011 Daily Forty-Niner

Contact: opedd49er@gmail.com

Website: http://www.daily49er.com

Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1391

Note: Gerry Wachovsky is a graduate student and columnist for the Daily 49er.

Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?420 (Cannabis - Popular)



