Having it Their Way        
    
   Almost a century ago, many Americans got their way. Prohibition ended, bootleg liquor disappeared, and drinking became normal, accompanied by relationship and health problems, and preventable deaths.

   Today we have the gradual legalization of marijuana and its own list of troubles. Canada now has safe, regulated sales, and still can't eliminate criminality. 

   In the first year of legalization, legal sales are estimated at $1 billion, while cheaper illegal sales may be upwards of $7 billion. But that's beside our point today.

   Two Devils in One?

   In 2017, a former paralegal, age 31, was legally drunk and had enough cannabis in her system to affect her brain, according to court testimony. 

   She was doing 120 mph on a Tampa expressway seconds before she rammed a sedan, killing two parents and their daughter, age 8. Her car shot across the median and struck two other vehicles. One of the drivers was seriously injured. 

   Then she came to a stop...oh, no...she regained control and drove away, stopping only when a tire fell off its wheel, two miles away. 

   She was so sorry...oh, no...in the hospital she hid vials of blood that had been drawn. 

   Drinkers and pot lovers say, that's one case. Don't punish the rest of us responsible drinkers and smokers. Yes, but there are tens of thousands of cases, and we all share the same highways. There's no going back.  

   There is a better, less expensive way to feel good: the joy of the Lord. 

   She got 50 years. Now she's sorry. 

      Jimmy