Stabbing suspect found biting off pieces of man’s face, possibly high on flakka, police say

Well, that’s spectacular. For those not in the know, “flakka” is a synthetic drug that apparently can cause people to go whacko.

And at the same time that Better Living Through Chemistry is putting a strain on the legal system, the Drug Enforcement Agency is demanding that marijuana remain a federally banned “Schedule 1” drug, punishable with years in prison and SWAT teams shooting your dog. The DEA claims that pot has no medicinal value, a claim that is pretty easily scoffed at.

On the one hand, I’ve got no dog in the pot fight. I use it as often as I use cocaine, nicotine or vodka… i.e. never. If all the pot on  the planet suddenly vanished, it would make no material difference to my life. And as with any other intoxicant, I see a lot of downsides to its use and abuse.  That said… if someone wants to smoke a joint… who the hell cares? People stoned on pot are a much greater danger of eating all your Doritos than eating your face off. The DEA would do better to leave pot alone and go after drugs that are actually troublesome.