The Tribune’s Aug. 25 edition was an excellent reminder of our country’s incongruous and hypocritical views on marijuana. Former Cal Poly coach Randy Hanson’s “sobering” tale of drunken debauchery was an all-too-familiar reminder of how a night out can lead to violence, arrest and the loss of one’s job and reputation.

The top national article was of a gentleman whose revengedriven annihilation of his former boss inadvertently led to a New York City shoot-out. Then, the fascinating report on how our federal courts sided with the tobacco industry by rejecting the mandate to show graphic, yet truthful, images on cigarette packs, as it violates “our” freedom of speech.

So there you have it: Alcohol, guns and cigarettes, known to wreak havoc, kill, and in the end cost us our hard-earned taxes, allowed for the benefit of corporate revenue! Heaven forbid we open our minds to the truth that pot is the only “gateway drug” not legal. No one has ever overdosed on weed, and it provides legitimate medicinal relief. How terrifying, a plant that causes laughter, relaxation, drowsiness and “the munchies”! We are much better off as we are, stupefied by alcohol, addicted to nicotine and “protected” by bullets.