As many of you may not know, we are dealing with the medical use of marijuana issue up here in northern Colorado, and the legalization issue state-wide this Tuesday.

You didn’t think you could get away without me adding my two cents on that one, did you?

Lately I have been noticing everywhere in the American mainstream media how common it is for us to make light about drinking too much in our society.  It seems everyone likes a good joke about getting tipsy and doing stupid things.

Everyone except those who have lost loved ones to this terrible addiction.  Let’s ask the “Mothers Against Drunks Drivers” how they feel about losing their sons and daughters.

Here’s the MADD facts on death from alcohol abuse:

Alcohol-impaired driving is the most frequently committed violent crime in the U.S.   On average someone is killed by a drunk driver every 40 minutes, and in 2007, nearly 13,000 people were killed in drunk driving related crashes.

Each year, approximately half a million people are injured in crashes where police reported that alcohol was present—an average of one person injured approximately every minute.  An estimated three of every 10 Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related traffic crash at some time in their lives. (NHTSA, 2001)

Now add on to these numbers the millions of families and lives ruined or destroyed by alcohol addiction.

Sure glad alcohol is legal!  I haven’t heard of many medical uses for alcohol, but researchers worldwide are daily finding new medical uses for cannabis (THC.)    In addition, I so rarely hear of deaths from marijuana use, especially compared to alcohol…

According to new studies, unemployment is more of a “gateway” drug to serious addiction than cannabis.  New research suggests that there is far greater danger of addiction to hard drugs like heroin, from overuse of prescription painkillers, not from occasional marijuana use.

P.S. Nov. 7th: What do you know, both measures passed yesterday!  Now we will see how the federal government reacts…