4/20: A TIME FOR BUNNIES AND BONG HITS

Since the early history of civilization, societies have commonly entwined
spiritual experience with the use of mind-altering substances. Ancient
Aztecs ate peyote cacti, Inca societies chewed the leaves of the cacao
plant and tribes in the Congo used iboga root, all in an effort to achieve
spiritual states of altered consciousness.

This Sunday on 4/20, many will follow in the traditional footsteps of our
societal forefathers by celebrating the resurrection of Christ with a fatty
Easter blunt and a couple bong hits. As pastors and priests preach to the
glazed eyes of the herbally-inclined parish members, many will disapprove
of such immoral conduct and claim that altering one's consciousness with
chemicals is a sin.

Immediately following this unfounded judgement, they will proceed to
partake in communion by drinking alcohol, a drug directly responsible for
100,000 deaths per year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. They will then follow up their service with a cup or two of
coffee, which contains caffeine, an addictive mind-altering drug
historically used as a replacement for cocaine in Coca-Cola, and correlated
with increased blood-pressure, hypertension, pancreas and bladder cancer
and distinctly unpleasant withdrawal symptoms.

Happily buzzed from the fresh stimulant they have ingested, middle-aged
soccer moms will climb into minivans sporting bumper-stickers blatantly
proclaiming their drug addiction with slogans such as "Outta my way, I need
a Latte." Slightly more controversial clergy members will wander around the
side of the church to inhale burning tobacco smoke containing nicotine, a
drug responsible for 440,000 gruesome deaths per year, according to the
CDCP and upon which 32 percent of its users become addicted, according to
the Institute of Medicine - as compared to 17 percent for cocaine.

Elderly members of the church suffering from illness or injury will most
likely return home to the comfort of prescription painkillers or other
addictive pharmaceutical drugs, responsible for more than 30,000 deaths
each year, according to the CDC. But not before taking a couple aspirin or
other anti-inflammatory drugs for their arthritis, which is responsible for
more than 6,000 deaths each year.

Those few church-goers lucky enough to have chosen a safe drug such as pot
will return home to a freshly rolled joint of marijuana, which the Office
of National Drug Control Policy states is responsible for zero deaths each
year. They can take solace in the fact that the book "Marijuana Myth,
Marijuana Fact" concludes that marijuana has a low - if debatably any -
physical addiction rate, with few long term side-effects, the worst of
which are slight and temporary (yes, temporary) short-term memory
impairment and potential respiratory problems associated with the
inhalation of any type of smoke.

Of course, none of this will matter if law enforcement officers discover
their illegal hobby and bust them along with the more than 734,000 other
marijuana offenders arrested each year, according to FBI Uniform Crime
Reports. It will not matter that, according to the ONDCP, approximately 47
percent of the population, including past presidents, government officials
and even police officers, have admitted to to trying marijuana at some
point. Most importantly, it will not matter that numerous comprehensive,
objective government commissions have examined the marijuana phenomenon
throughout the past 100 years and have recommended that adults not be
penalized for using marijuana.

I would like to say that I wish students a happy 4/20 this year, but
unfortunately, amidst the societal hypocrisy surrounding the issue of
marijuana, I instead wish you a thoughtful one and urge you to familiarize
yourself with your legal rights.

Admit to yourself and to others that the search for altered consciousness
is an inherently human drive supported by numerous examples.

Little kids from all over the world spin around in circles for five minutes
at a time just to enter an altered state of consciousness. It's neither bad
nor unnatural, nor does it have anything to do with morals or ethics.

It is simply an intrinsic urge built into us as human beings.

Marijuana is currently one of the safest and most pleasurable ways to
satisfy that urge, which explains its predominance in society despite
extensive measures taken to erase it. Do some thinking, post this article
in a window or doorway, write a letter to the editor, but don't just go on
accepting the illogical conclusions about pot that deceptive or misinformed
authority figures have fed you ever since you were in D.A.R.E. Do your own
research, form your own opinion, then make a decision for or against
marijuana based on education rather than the predominantly common
misconceptions.