6 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, , 2012 SASCHA PORTEOUS lewpoints Let's legalize pot and take advantage of the harvest arijuana. Of course I have Mire (smoked). Actually, a lot, but I was younger then. I find it just makes me paranoid now, so I stopped. Anyway... Washington and Colorado just voted to legalize marijuana this month. It comes as no surprise that a large majority of British Columbi- ans want to follow suit. According to an Angus Reid Poll: Stop the Violence, 75 per cent of British Columbians ~— and myself - support the taxation and regulation of marijuana. B.C. could gain a lot, financially, according to a study: Marijuana Growth in B.C., conducted for the Fraser Institute by economist Stephen T. Easton. Easton calcu- lates that British Columbia pro- duces roughly 400,000 kilograms of weed per year, which would put the value of our yearly crop at a wholesale level of two billion dollars. But let’s say the average street price for a gram was 10 dollars, which would double our industry to four billion dollars. That’s a nice chunk of change. And what about all the money that is wasted on the prohibition of marijuana? According to the Auditor Gen- eral’s report from 2001, $450 million was spent between 1999 and 2000 on drug control, enforcement and education, 70 per cent of which were cannabis-related charges. Why are we wasting all this money on prohibition? I don’t know but it’s keeping the cops busy for now at least. If we are talking about money, than we need to talk about the health affects of legalization. Easton mentioned in his study that legalization could increase the amount of users, which could lead to increased health risks down the road. But marijuana consumption is already widespread, so I would argue that there are already health risks impending. Vancouver once had the reputa- tion as the marijuana capital of North America. Regardless of whether it’s legalized or not, people are going to smoke and toke. So lets take advantage of the industry, and ass the joint while we’re at it. OPINION SASCHA PORTEOUS We want to hear from you Did we get a fact wrong? Tell us. Got a different point of view? Write to us. Problems with something we've said? Let us know. Journalism instructor Nicholas Read oversees The Voice. Email him at nread@langara.be.ca Cash fuels political show e American presidential election is a spectacle and one of the greatest political shows on earth. It seduces and entertains people all over the world primarily because of the vast wealth that fuels it. On Tuesday, Nov. 6th, Americans re-elected President Barack Obama to a second term. While the total number of U.S. viewers dropped from 71.5 million viewers in 2008 to about 66.8 million this year, the election itself still drew much of the world's attention. So why such interest? According to the Center for Responsive Politics, a total of $6 billion was spent in the 2012 con- tests, making this year’s elections the most expensive in U.S. history. To put $6 billion into perspective, consider that close to $340 million was spent making the costliest Hollywood movie to date, Pirates of the Caribbean, and you get some idea of how this is going to play out. With the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2010 allowing unlimited donations from corporations, the trend is towards more money in political campaigns, not less. A huge part goes, of course, towards advertis- ing, especially TV ads warning voters about the evils of the opposition q — & candidate. Some argue that since OPI N ION the Democratic SIMONE PFEIFFER Party actually drew in fewer donations than the Republicans, the results dis- prove the theory that money controls political outcomes. But that doesn’t show the big picture. Obama still attracted record sums and candidates now spend shocking amounts of time simply on fundraising. Pimps need prostitutes after all. The absurd wealth that dominates the modern campaign in the U.S. was highlighted by Las Vegas casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson's donation - $70 million to defeat Obama. About half of Adelson’s donation can be traced directly to supposedly independent groups, the super PACs, which in reality are anything but. However the rest was chan- nelled through smaller groups that aren’t required by law to disclose the names of their donors. This means it will be more difficult to track sources of cam- paign financing, another worrisome trend. It might be at least slightly amusing, if the candidates showed a trace of irony. When Mitt Romney, whose own net worth is about $250 million, waved to the crowd as he prepared to give his concession speech, he was standing onstage backed by a giant screen that read: Believe in America. Seriously. You just can't make this shit up. LANIGARA GOLF COURSE: Now MTh te ANNIE ELLISON cartoon Violent video games are obscene ed. I obliged, plunging my fist through my opponent’s chest and ripping out his heart. It was only a video game, but my grandmother was morally outraged. She called it “obscene.” To my adolescent ears, the word seemed archaic. But I’ve since realized that she was right: violent video games should not be socially accepted in a civilized culture. Unfortunately, video games are as popular as ever. According to the Pew Research Center, 97 per cent of teenagers age 12 to 17 play them. Half say violent games are among their favourites. Grand Theft Auto, one of the top-selling franchises, offers such thrills as beating a woman until she dies in a pool of blood. Graphically violent films are bad Fe him,” the referee demand- enough. They invite us to take pleasure in the spectacle of people dying horrible deaths. Video games go even further, letting the player carry out the simulated act of killing people. Some people say violent games are useful because they provide an outlet for aggression, but most experts disagree. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and the National Institute of Mental Health have all concluded, after reviewing thou- sands of studies, that playing violent video games desensitizes us to real life violence and increases aggres- sive and antisocial behaviour. In a study published in the Biological Psychology journal, researchers from the University of Bonn monitored the brain activity of subjects who played an average of 15 hours a week of graphically violent games. The subjects’ reactions indicated less emotional response to pictures of real accident victims than a control group who had never played such games. Violent video games demean those who play them. On the one hand, they appeal to the most primitive and destructive aspect of human nature: our innate aggression. On the other hand, they dull our capacity to empathize with human suffering. If society places a high value on human life, we should be concerned that these games have become part of our mainstream culture. OPINION KEVIN HAMPSON The Voice is published by Langara College's journalism department. Editorial opinions are those of the staff and are independent of views of the student government and administration. We welcome letters to the editor. All letters must be signed. They may be edited for brevity. Names may be withheld in special cases, but your letter must include your name and phone number. HOW TO REACH US PHONE 604-323-5396 FAX 604-323-5398 E-MAIL thevoice@langara.be.ca DROP-IN Room A226 Langara College There is a mailbox at the entrance to the journalism rooms. SNAIL MAIL The Voice 100 West 49th Ave. Vancouver, B.C. VSY 226 WEBSITE wwwilangaravoice.com EDITORIAL STAFF THIS ISSUE: MANAGING EDITOR/ PAGE 6 Sascha Porteous PAGE EDITORS PAGE 1 Stacy Thomas PAGE 2 Carissa Thorpe PAGE 3 Brandon Reid PAGE 4 Jeremy Sally PAGE 5 Dennis Page PAGE 7 Michelle Gamage PAGE 8 Jake Hewer WEB EDITORS Ashley Viens Cara McKenna Lev Jackson REPORTERS Alexander Skerdzhev Ley Doctor Ross Armour Ryan Banagan Judy Chem Steven Chua Katja De Bock Annie Ellison Gillian Hames Kevin Hampson Tanya Hill Richard Hodges Jules Knox Brandon Kostinuk Michael Letendre Jana Minor Simone Pfeiffer Samuel Reynolds Bronwyn Scott Jennifer Thuncher Contact us: Online at langaravoice.com Twitter at @langaraVoice