POKING SMOT

There’s an organization of businesses in Colorado that want the federal government to step in and prosecute pot smokers even though a new state law, approved by voters, makes smoking pot legal. They're worried everybody will show up for work stoned and everything will go to hell.

I've got news for this bunch. People have been showing up stoned at work for years. Your valued employees have been smoking pot on a regular basis and find that it doesn't interfere with their skills at either work or play. If it does, they don't use it. It's as simple as that.

Pot isn't like alcohol. People smoke pot for all different kinds of highs. For some, it allows them to focus more on their workload. For others it enhances their relationships. They become more engaged and attentive with other people. The idea that pot smokers pass out with a joint dangling between their fingertips is nonsense. There are, of course, some people who simply don't enjoy the effect marijuana has on them. That's fine. Don't smoke pot. But don't throw other people in prison just because you don't enjoy the high.

If someone hasn't smoked pot it's not because it's against the law. People have been breaking laws since the birth of the first statute. The reasons some people don't smoke pot is they've either bought into the propaganda that marijuana is a dangerous drug, they're simply unsure about the effect smoking pot might have on them, or they've tried it and don't care for it.

Pot smoking has been around longer than drinking. Our brains have cannabinoid receptors in them. The human body is designed to receive the effects of marijuana and process those sensations.

We've smoked pot since the first humans fell from the trees. Civilizations were established in areas where marijuana grew plentifully. Creative minds have accented their imaginations with it. Workers find it energizes them. Stumbling around like a drunk doesn't happen to pot smokers. They're more likely to pay closer attention to what they're doing than ignore the task.

The last thing employers have to worry about is employees who enjoy smoking pot and doing their jobs, they’ve been doing it for years.