Last Sunday Dwayne Bowe, considered one of the best receivers in the National Football League and a mainstay for the KC Chiefs, was arrested for speeding and having marijuana in his car.
The 29-year-old Bowe, who will be paid $56 million over five years to ply his football skills for the Chiefs, was driving 48 in a 35-mph zone. The case escalated when officers found marijuana.
The Chiefs and the NFL will take no disciplinary action unless Bowe is adjudged guilty. As easy as it is to rail about the excesses of overpaid and privileged professional athletes, that is the way it should be.
Meanwhile, it may be past time to reassess the legality of marijuana in Kansas.
Twenty states permit medical use of marijuana, which mainly limits the quantity that a person may possess. Several others are considering steps to make medical pot legal. Two, Colorado and Washington, permit recreational use, and a vote is expected soon in California.
Whether marijuana leads to use of more profound drugs, including those that have physically and mentally debilitating effects on users, is debatable. And, from all indications, marijuana is relatively easy to obtain — even in Iola and Allen County.
Also, its effects apparently are much in line with alcohol, which is the biggest drug problem we have.
Perhaps we should recognize that marijuana has a presence and make it legal with restrictions similar to those placed on alcohol, which would ramp up control.
With the mystic of sneaking around to take a puff abrogated, its use actually might diminish.
— Bob Johnson
Pot no more harmful than booze
