Where Have All the Brain Cells Gone?

    There was a folk song popular in the 60's called "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" It makes for a great lullaby, even though it is about the sadness and futility of war. At least it is not as scary as the classic about a helpless baby plummeting to the ground from the treetop some irresponsible adult placed them in to go night, night--possibly forever. I like this song because it is easy to sing and because it has enough verses to lull a hyperactive squirrel to sleep. I will give the condensed version here:

     Where have all the flowers gone? Long time passing.

     Where have all the flowers gone? Long time ago.

     Where have all the flowers gone?

     Young girls picked them, every one.

     When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?

     Where have all the young girls gone . . .gone to their young men . . When .

        "          "     "   "       young men   "           gone to be soldiers             "       

        "          "     "   "       soldiers      "              gone to the graveyards      "       

        "          "     "   "       graveyards   "           gone to the flowers            "       

 

 At which point, if the baby is not yet comatose, you can start all over again.

     In honor of Montana legalizing recreational marijuana in yesterday's election, I propose this new version of the song:

 

     Where have all the brain cells gone? Long time passing.

     Where have all the brain cells gone? Long time ago.

     Where have all the brain cells gone? Cannabis took them, every one.

     When will they ever learn?  When will they ever learn?

     I figure the answer to that is about 20 years. When Montana eventually realizes that the problems other states with legalized marijuana are already experiencing--impaired driving, children's accidental overdose, unmotivated, depressed teens, illegal (aka tax free) marijuana sales, and other connected crimes--is costing our state more green than it is taking in, they will know recreational marijuana advocates were just blowing smoke.

     I have seen PET scans of the brains of long term marijuana users and the inactive areas are similar to those of Alzheimer's patients. Using cannabis for recreation is like taking up dementia as a hobby. Eventually states will not be able to afford the social and legal cost of all that great tax revenue, and make marijuana illegal again. But, sadly, 20 to 40 years later no one, especially the "recreators", will remember what the problem was and they will legalize it again. 

 

When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?