Legalize It.

Listening to a talk on legalizing marijuana on NPR and I'm thinking...

Americans start giving kids sugar as babies. Teething biscuits, food that is 'supposed' to help growing teeth, have sugar. Sugar has zero nutritional value and is highly addictive. Food related illnesses are amongst the biggest drain on the healthcare system and amongst the top killers in this country.

Cigarettes are legal if you're over 18 and cigarettes do absolutely nothing but kill by cancers, various cancers. Cigarettes are also highly addictive. Again, huge drain on the healthcare system and cancers from cigarettes are amongst the top killers in this country.

Alcohol is legal if you're 21. Again, zero health benefit but massive health risks. Liver disease, kidney disease, and just good ol' alcoholism because alcohol is highly addictive. Alcohol is another huge drain on our healthcare system on multiple levels, treating the illnesses that alcoholism causes and treating those attempting to beat the addiction. Alcohol is another top killer on more than one level, deaths from alcoholism and alcohol related accidents.

Now.... Marijuana causes NO illnesses. In fact it's used to treat illness, often more effectively than prescription drugs (many of which are also highly addictive and lead to other illnesses). Marijuana is not addictive. Marijuana is responsible for zero deaths (aside from those caused by the criminalization of the substance).

Now, if you are against the legalization of marijuana PLEASE tell me why! I need to see an argument that is real and concrete and is backed by evidence because right now all arguments against are falling far short of logic. #legalizemarijuana

Resolved

Looking back over my schedule over the past four months (hell, the past 6 years, for that matter) coupled with my consistent level of exhaustion and frustration, have made me come up with an unexpected but necessary resolution:

I WILL have at least one day a month TO REST!! One day where I give myself permission to have someone take my child for the day. One day where I give myself permission to say 'No I can't babysit.' One day where I give myself permission to ignore every phone call and spontaneous 'drop-in'. One day where I give myself permission to not cook or clean a thing unless I WANT to.

One day. One WHOLE day, not just a few hours squeezed into an already hectic day. One day.

This is small until I realize that it's more than I've had in 6 years. And it's way more than I've had in the past four months where I've had no time to myself that wasn't spent frantically catching up on life. I'm burnt out and it's starting to affect my overall outlook.

One day a month. 12 days out of 365. That's not a lot to ask and so I'm demanding it.