The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is formally recommending that the Drug Enforcement Administration ease government restrictions on marijuana, which remains legal or decriminalized in 40 states but still illegal federally. The new recommendation seeks to move marijuana from a Schedule I to III substance, and therefore away from drugs like heroin and LSD, which are considered to have no medical use but high potential for abuse. Not only does this change in federal attitude align with an upcoming election - as do issues of debt relief and pregnancy for young people whose votes are for sale - as was the case in New York when the sexual-assaulting former governor did the same thing, but it ignores the fact that marijuana is a top used substance in the United States and without doubt is addictive for one reason or another. Marijuana overdoses plague U.S. hospitals but are either ignored because the drug is never seen as dangerous, or because responsibly for this health crisis is not politically viable.

Meanwhile, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has recently alluded to adopting Canada’s drinking guidelines. These recommendations, not laws, encourage people to have no more than 2 drinks per week. While the alternative media has made this an issue of rights and government oppression, even linking it to the 18th Amendment and prohibition, the CDC currently has similar guidelines that suggest no more than 2 drinks or less per day for men and 1 for women. Where is the outrage? Just like with countless executive orders over the last three years, recommendations are not laws and if anything are one of the only things government should be doing. None of this takes into consideration the differences between cheap alcohol filled with garbage ingredients and pure drinks that may provide benefits to the body when consumed in very small amounts, i.e., wine or sake. Whether it’s marijuana or alcohol, we never discuss quality, quantity, how it’s made or produced, or the added ingredients. We make these issues about as black and white as possible, whether from a scientific or political stance.