TVERT PUSHES POT SMOKING AT DIA

'Alcohol-Related Air Rage' Threatens Travelers, He Says

Attention: You are now free to float about the cabin.

Well, not yet, but maybe someday - that is, if Mason Tvert has
anything to say about.

Tvert, a crusader for legalizing marijuana, has called for
pot-smoking lounges in the nation's airports. His reason for doing
goes beyond his cannabis liberation mission: He wants to help make
flying safer.

"There's been this growing trend of alcohol-related air rage," he
said Tuesday, alluding to episodes of drunken passengers creating
in-flight disturbances.

Just last week, Christina E. Szele, 35, a New York woman, was accused
of drunkenly disrupting a JetBlue flight, punching a flight attendant
and screaming curses and racial slurs after she was prevented from
smoking. A cigarette, that is.

Szele's outbursts wouldn't have happened if she'd been inhaling
instead of imbibing, said Tvert, whose two pro-pot ballot measures
have won voter approval in Denver.

"The studies I've seen say that alcohol . . . contributes to violent
and aggressive behavior," he said. "The simple thing is to let people
make the safer choice to use marijuana, which doesn't contribute to
violent behavior."

Leaving that issue aside for the moment, there is still the sticky
problem that marijuana is illegal - federally speaking, anyway.
Chances are slim that Denver International Airport passengers will be
high on the ground before they're high in the sky.

"I can safely say we have no plans to open any marijuana lounges at
DIA," airport spokesman Jeff Green said. "We're not paying attention to this."

While he is aware that many folks are dubious about doobies in the
airport, Tvert insisted, "This idea is completely serious."

"The people at DIA are laughing now," he said. "Will they be laughing
when a fight breaks out on an airplane and leads to a serious incident?

As proof he isn't blowing smoke, Tvert points to airport smoking
lounges - despite the fact that smoking is banned in most public places.

"The last time I checked, cigarettes aren't illegal," said Green,
equal parts weary and skeptical.

Then again, he probably hasn't heard one of the ancillary benefits of
Tvert's idea.

"You've got struggling airlines, right?" he said. "From what I
understand, marijuana tends to lead to the munchies."

So, "If more passengers smoked marijuana before they flew and had the
munchies, airlines could, you know, charge for snacks instead of for baggage."

Airline profits and free baggage for passengers? Sounds like an idea
with joint benefits.