Should a “Mental Health Tax” be placed on Marijuana?

Let’s talk about drug abuse.

Abuse of any kind is improper use, or dependency. In some cases, so-called “recreational” use is “abuse,” for there is no other kind of use, since a drug may be already illegal.

For the greatest part, those drugs, which are sometimes mistakenly called ‘narcotics’ (technically, narcotics are derivatives of and synthetic chemical relatives to the opium plant) are already illegal, and include LSD and other hallucinogens, heroin, methamphetamine (as “crystal meth”), etc. And, at the Federal level, like it, or not, agree or disagree, marijuana is included in that list.

Further, alcohol must be included in the list of abused substances, simply because we know that people’s lives can be, and are destroyed by alcohol abuse, directly and indirectly.

There’s a database of information based upon hospital admissions related to drug abuse. It’s called the Treatment Episode Data Set, or TEDS, and the information is collected anonymously by each facility in a state that receives “State alcohol and/or drug agency funds (including Federal Block Grant funds) for the provision of substance abuse treatment.”

It is not an exhaustive data set by any means, and there are limitations upon it, yet it does provide some reliable degree of accuracy to the extent, scope and nature of the problem. Consequently, information in “the tables focus on treatment admissions for substance abusers.”

In other words, someone abuses a substance on the list to the extent that they need some degree of care, including hospitalization, and that anonymous information about their admission gets collected and reported. For the purposes of that report, anonymous information is age, sex, ethnicity/race and drug(s) which led to the need for treatment.

The TEDS list of abused drugs are:

Booze News You Can Use: Cullman, Alabama city officials delighted with alcohol tax revenue

For many years, Cullman, Alabama – a tiny town in Central North Alabama, founded by German immigrants in 1873 – had been “dry,” which is to say that there were no legal sales of beverage alcohol in the city.

In fact, the city had been dry for nearly half its existence, having experienced “wet” and dry periods aside even, from national Prohibition.

There had been various referendums in 2004, 2002, 1992, 1990, 1986 and 1984, with the closest vote in 1984, when alcohol sales were voted down by a mere 159 votes.

Cullman had also been the butt of national jokes & mockery because it had the only dry Oktoberfest in the United States. That all changed in 2011, and for the 30th celebration of Oktoberfest that year, celebrants were able to legally sell & enjoy the consumption of beer, wine & liquor.

What is particularly fascinating about this entire ordeal – local prohibition in small-town Alabama – is that it is representative of

More “Banned in Bama” beverages, aka The Alabama brew hah-hah

That title is supposed to cute. So laugh!

Here’s the deal: It seems the brilliant intellectually challenged folk in Montgomery seem to think that the word BASTARD is somehow bad.

Fat Bastard wines – Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay & Chardonnay-based Blends, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc & Sauvignon Blanc-based Blends

Recall that “bastard” can have several meanings. One, is as it applies to a type of milled file. Two, is as it applies to the child born to an unwed mother. And there certainly seems to be no shortage of those these days. Of course, it’s not the child’s fault, but words describe things, and like it or not, a child of an unwed mother is a bastard.

I guess next up, they’ll have to remove the French Fat Bastard wine, too. It’s been sold in Alabama for quite some time.

Cycles Gladiator wine label, an 1895 poster promoting the Gladiator brand bicycle.

Of course, the astute readers will recall the last international fiasco with the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board with the Cycles Gladiator wine.

The Hahn Family Wines company had to create an entirely different label specifically for Cycles Gladiator wine to be sold in the state. The label was an historic poster from 1895 – and that same year printer G. Massias unveiled one of the great Parisian art posters showcasing the stylish Gladiator bicycle.

Naturally, news of the rancorous decision by Alabama’a ABC drove sales for the wine through the roof, at home, and abroad.

However, I sincerely doubt it’s any complex marketing ploy.

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Alabama won’t allow Founders Brewing Co.’s award-winning ‘Dirty Bastard’ ale on state shelves

Published: Friday, April 13, 2012, 12:40 PM     Updated: Thursday, April 19, 2012, 8:12 PM

By Garret Ellison | gellison@mlive.com

Update: Beverage control board says brewery can appeal

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — As Michigan craft brewers continue to expand their distribution footprint across the country, Founders Brewing Co. is running into some roadblocks in the South.

The Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board is refusing to register two of Founders’ beers after the regulatory agency objected to the word ‘bastard’ on the labels.

“It’s one of those silly things,” said Dave Engbers, Founders vice president.

The Alabama board is

Is Schizophrenic Science partially to blame for American Obesity?

There’s no question but that America’s increase in overall obesity is due in large part to two factors: Diet & Exercise.

More specifically, it is Poor Diet & Lack of Exercise which has brought about much – if not all – of our increased waistlines, and the accompanying health problems associated with obesity – diabetes, joint failure, etc.

To be certain, however, our nation is perhaps THE best fed – er, make that MOST fed – nation in the world, bar none. And, generally speaking, even when discounting obesity, we are a large people in stature precisely because of our excellent nutritional status. Other, lesser developed nations do not fare as well, literally and figuratively, because of that reason. People in Southeast Asian nations, the Far East, nations in the African continent, in central Europe and in South America… there are few people in the world whom are as giant – and I do NOT mean obese – as Americans.

Even before obesity became a public health issue, Americans were considered people of large stature because of our ability to produce food. There was no scarcity of it.

Now, however, the changing tide of work – with a move toward a computer-driven and service economy – Americans have increasingly become sedentary. Desk jobs, or jobs which require little physical activity, are commonplace, and along with those changes have come health problems as a natural consequence of extra weight.

Again, considering the technological changes which have occurred in our nation, the jobs some of our forebears once worked are nothing like the ones we work today. Whereas once, they labored manually, the mechanization of labor reduced their need to exert themselves as strenuously. And today, one farmer can sit in an air-conditioned tractor outfitted with GPS navigation, cellular telephone, and more, and work several hundreds – if not thousands – of acres, and not even break a sweat. Previously, that was unimaginable. Now, it’s commonplace.

Given that our lifestyles have been significantly changed because of mechanization & technology, it should also be understood that

Small Minds Think Small Thoughts

Wilson Lock & Dam, impounding Wilson Lake, viewing North - Image via Wikipedia

In the region where I attended and graduated university, and later resided for many years, there has been an ongoing ruckus.

As a bit of background for the reader, Northwest Alabama is geographically comprised of Lauderdale and Colbert counties. The two counties are separated by the Tennessee River, with Lauderdale on the Northern side, which county also borders Tennessee.  Regardless of what anyone says otherwise, there has been a great sense of superiority, or of “looking down” the nose at Colbert county by Lauderdale countians. Lauderdale county hosts the university, while Colbert county hosts the community/junior college. Colbert county has historically been a blue-collar, labor-oriented community, while Lauderdale county has historically been a retail/white collar-oriented community. Colbert county is wet – allows beverage alcohol sales – whereas Lauderdale county is dry, and only a few select locales within it are wet.

I happened to read a recent story about the prospects that Sheffield city officials (Sheffield is in Colbert county) have suggested which would