Sunday, September 25, 2011

College hypocrisy: Pot’s bad, but party hard on booze

n the firmament of celebrated Americana, there is Mom, apple pie, football and beer — but certainly not marijuana. Through our statutes, we allow law-abiding citizens to use only one recreational substance — alcohol — that just happens to be way more hazardous than pot.

Such idiocy is the product of many variables. There’s been interest-group maneuvering and temperance-movement hypocrisy. There’s been hippie-hating rage and reefer-madness paranoia. And, most invisibly, there’s been college.

Though little noticed for their role in America’s selective War on Drugs, universities have become a key player shotgunning the oxymoronic “alcohol is acceptable but pot is evil” mentality down the beer-bong-primed throats of America’s youth. Consider the University of Colorado.

CU is the higher education gem of a state whose governor made his millions on beer breweries. The school’s catering service sells alcohol and university officials license CU’s logo for use on beer-drinking merchandise. Meanwhile, every school year, CU forces kids to sit through a convocation in a beer-themed arena — the Coors Events Center — to learn about the “meaning and responsibilities” of student life.

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