Pubdate: Sat, 04 Jul 2015
Source: Pueblo Chieftain (CO)
Copyright: 2015 The Pueblo Chieftain
Contact:  http://www.chieftain.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1613
Author: Bob Woody

ALCOHOL CARRIES SOCIETAL PRICE TAG

It doesn't appear that morality will be winning a popularity contest 
anytime soon.

The marijuana issue has brought reproof directed at opponents of the 
industry. "This is not a moral issue," "put your moral compass down" 
and "there's no legislating morality."

Not directly related, but more disappointing, a retired minister 
writing in The Pueblo Chieftain a few years ago said that when you 
attempt to legislate morals, "That's wrong."

May I offer another view? I say that it is impossible not to 
legislate morals. Every law "imposes" someone's moral "values" on 
someone else. The issue is whose values will prevail.

When District 70 officials inform us that 62 percent of all expelled 
district students have a marijuana issue as the reason or part of the 
reason for their problems, it's dishonest to try to silence those who 
have objections based on moral arguments.

The existence of liquor stores is used occasionally as a devise to 
question the sincerity of marijuana opponents. The Center for Disease 
Control states that excessive alcohol use is a leading cause of 
preventable deaths and accounted for approximately 88,000 deaths per 
year from 2006 2010. In 2006 alone, it cost the United States about 
$224 billion.

Let me know when we plan to vote on that one.

Bob Woody

Pastor, Tabernacle Baptist Church

Pueblo
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom