Marijuana Retail Sales

Marijuana is one of the most controversial issues. I don’t know if that’s always been the case, but for the past few years its been heavily talked about. In the article entitled Why Legal Weed is Working in Colorado, written Alex Altman, the recent retail sales of marijuana are discussed. As of January 1st, Colorado “became the only state in the world to legalize the sale of recreational marijuana...” According to the article, nothing alarming has happened yet and the revenue on just the first day was $1 million. That is pretty impressive. 

When discussions of legalizing marijuana in Colorado were still happening, the mayor and the democratic governor both opposed it. However, they set aside their own views and did what the people wanted. I think that’s very admirable. Government officials, after all, are meant to represent the people. By setting aside their own beliefs, the governor and the mayor did the right thing. I don’t know if I would have been able to do the same.

The truth about marijuana is that it’s less harmful than most other substances. However, I still don’t think I would be okay with it becoming legal. That’s just my personal opinion. I’ve never understood the point of doing drugs, smoking, or drinking. And so, staying neutral and making a decision based on the wants/needs of the people would have been hard for me to do, if I had been the governor or mayor. 

The way the article is written really surprised me. It made it sound like the whole process for legalizing the sale of marijuana was very peaceful. Besides the mention of the governor and mayor not agreeing, there wasn’t anything else that implied that there were a lot of arguments or tensions during the process. I find that to be very surprising given the issue that was being resolved. I would have expected there to be a very distinct divide between the people who approved and the ones who did not, and for them to have been extremely set in their ways and unwilling to compromise. It seems like everything that is ever an issue that the government has to fix becomes this drawn out legal battle, like healthcare, gay rights, and abortion. So, the fact that this article makes it seem like the marijuana issue was solved rather easily is very intriguing. Maybe the rest of the issues we come across can be solved this way if the government tries hard enough.

Rapists Legally Allowed to See "Their Child" ?

          In the article entitled Child custody right for rapists? Most states have them, written by Ed Payne and Ted Rowlands, I discovered that a lot of states give custody rights to men who are fathers to children with women they raped. I had no idea that this happened. I’d like to say that my opinion on this matter is made with a clear head, but it’s not possible. I can’t imagine why men who have committed such terrible actions should have any sort of contact with the victim or their child. Honestly, it’s not even okay for them to call the baby theirs. 

When a man stoops to such a low level of morality and humanity, and forcibly takes a woman for his own pleasure, they should never be allowed near women again, let alone a child. Perhaps that makes me sound harsh. I understand that people make mistakes in life and that they don’t necessarily define them. However, in the case of rape, that’s not a mistake. A man is fully aware that the act he is committing is not legal, is not okay, and is not acceptable. There is absolutely no excuse for taking advantage of another human being in such a horrible and disgusting way.

I think that the custody rights states offer these men should not exist. In fact, I have no idea why they do. I don’t understand what the reasoning behind their existence is. Laws are created to protect citizens. By having laws that give rapists the right to see the child, it puts the mother and the child in danger. Therefore, it is not a good law. I think it’s important to pass a law that takes away the rights from these men. Shawna Prewitt, a woman interviewed for this article, said that had she known that the rapist would have these rights, she’s not sure that she would have decided to keep her child.

I hope that I am never in this situation. I think it is a horrible situation to be in. I cannot imagine how terrible and scary it must be for women to know that the abuser who disrupted their lives so tremendously, has a right to step back in. The government really needs to do some thinking and realize the consequences that the creation of these laws has. They need to make sure they take everything into consideration and hopefully see that giving rapists these rights is not the right thing to do.  

Gas Production Less Expensive, But We Pay More

Taxes screw us over yet again. The new year has begun, and in the article entitled Gas Prices Will Fall in 2014. But You May Pay More at the Pump Anyway, written by Brad Tuttle, it states that in fact, prices for gas will be lower. Perhaps the lowest they’ve been in awhile. However, just because the U.S. has now become more dependent on its own crude oil doesn’t mean that the state governments are willing to give consumers a break.

As it turns out, even though the production of gasoline will be less pricey, the amount that we pay might actually end up being more. States are the ones that are making this happen. In Pennsylvania the gas tax has increased by 9.5 cents as of January 1st. Apparently, these taxes are being increased/introduced “in order to upgrade, build, or simply maintain roads and infrastructure.” Part of me says that it’s fair. That if we are driving on these roads, then we should be able to help out in making sure they’re nice roads. However, it just seems like every expense that comes up is paid off with money that we have to give up. Is there no other way to come up with revenue? I’m not saying that gas should be free, or even that there shouldn’t be taxes. But, if the production of gas costs less, then why should we pay more? Use the money that is no longer being used to produce gas, and pay off whatever road repairs that come up.

It’s just not okay for every expense to be thrown back in our faces. It’s almost like every time that something is more expensive and we have to pay for it, the government is waving the benefits of living in America in our face. Just because we get benefits doesn’t make it okay for us to have to pay for everything. Again, I’m not saying we should never pay taxes. I just don’t think that every time there is something to be paid, the consumer should be the one to cover the cost. I’m young though, so when I’m older maybe I’ll understand this more. I just wish the government wouldn’t make us the ones responsible for everything/ Where do they come in? They have a job too. The reason all of the original colonies decided to go to war with Britain was because they were being taxed unfairly.