Just Say Yes

It’s Friday night and some of you might be reading this while you’re smoking a joint. I have no idea of what percentage of my readership partakes of the bud, but I’m betting there are at least a few of you. A recent Economist cover story and a question asked during an on-line Obama press conference have brought new attention to the issue of legalizing marijuana. But all that talk will probably remain just that…talk. For reasons both historical and cultural, Americans have no problem admitting they got wasted on Jell-O shots, but we keep our pot smoking on the down-low lest our colleagues and families think we’re hedonistic deviants.

I’m all for legalization. Marijuana holds real benefits for lots of people and our cops have better things to do. Sin taxes are the only kind of tax that gets broad support, so why not legalize and tax it? And to answer your next question, no, I’ve never tried it. I know what you’re thinking: “Mark, you urbane hipster you, how is it that you’ve never gotten high?” Well, I was too much of a chickenshit in high school and college to seek it out. And when I finally did get my hands on the stuff, I couldn’t figure out a way to get in my system without coughing up a lung. That, and I have a compulsive need to always feel in control. You’d probably have to get me drunk to get me stoned, which seems both excessive and redundant.