Pot today, heroin tomorrow. Nerf gun today, nuclear-tipped cruise missiles tomorrow.

I am not generally for expanding the use of mind-altering drugs. However, I don't think people should get getting jail time, going to prison, or getting a felony for smoking pot.

Just smoke it in the privacy of your own home.

In all seriousness, you're absolutely right.

Remember that case in Texas, a couple of years ago?

A young, law-abiding (and, I might add, white) couple in Texas had tucked in their little girl for the night, and was enjoying a little grass in their living room before turning in.

Unfortunately, their busybody neighbor (no doubt a Republican) caught wing of it, and called the police.

They broke in like gangbusters, and of course arrested the couple. They were out on bail the next day but noticed something missing in their house: their daughter.

Turns out Child "Protective" Services had taken the little girl, about age 7, and put her in a foster home - no trial, no notification, nothing.

They were eventually told where, exactly, she was, and - kind hearts these Texas judges are - were allowed brief visitation rights every two weeks or so.

Every time they visited, the little girl seemed to have some new bump or bruise, and seemed a little worse off. They of course reported this to the judge. Like talking to a brick wall.

One day, they arrived for their scheduled visit.

She was dead.

And that, in a nutshell, just says it all - not only about the vicious pot laws Blanche duBois Sessions and those like him are obsessed with enforcing; but about a truly deep personal flaw in such people.

Or aspirin, for that matter. One possible fact that might support the gateway theory is that if pot is treated as the same class of drug as heroin, those who try pot and find out how harmless it is might be tempted to believe the same of heroin. It is time to have science-based drug laws and drug education.