OPINION:

I am not a stoner. I do not smoke marijuana. I do not recommend getting high. I do, however, support the legalization of the drug.

Regardless of whether or not it is legal, marijuana is being used in all 50 states. After the commencement of the recent election, it has been legalized in some form in 28 states. All I want is for people to realize that the drug itself really is quite harmless.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there have been a shocking number of deaths due to overdosing from the drug. That number is zero. There has never been a recorded death due to an overdose on marijuana because it simply is not possible.

Obviously the drug impairs a person from being capable of executing daily functions like driving or running errands. But that is not the point. Almost any drug will do this to people if they have enough of it in their system.

The point is that nobody is dying as a direct cause of the drug. This prompts me to ask the question of why? Why are we not allowing those in need of the drug access to it if there are no concerns with death?

Of the 28 states that allow marijuana usage, 21 of them allow it for medicinal purposes only. The other seven states allow both medicinal and recreational usage.

They are one step ahead of where we need to be, which is a point where all 50 states have marijuana legalized for at least medicinal purposes.

As I said earlier, I do not smoke nor do I plan on it, but this is a problem that needs to be fixed. Recreational usage is a problem that we can worry about when the time comes. Until then, our main focus should be to have it legalized in all 50 states for medical purposes.

SPORTS:

I hate the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Big Ten and the Midwest are where my allegiances lie. I am a born and bred girl from the Midwest, where you work hard for what you get.

Recently, Louisiana State University (LSU) made me hate the SEC, the most arrogant conference in the NCAA, even more.

Hurricane Matthew wreaked havoc throughout the East coast, causing college football games to be canceled. LSU was scheduled to play at Florida on Sat. Oct. 8.

The SEC and both schools decided to move the game to Nov. 19, but not without an immature fight.

The game will now be played in Baton Rouge and not in Gainesville.

Really, are you kidding me? You can not revert back to the original plan?

LSU athletic director Joe Alleva would not give up a home game against South Alabama and replace it with a good enough SEC team. Instead, he wanted to keep a game that is practically a cake-walk for his team.

The teams should want to play where they agreed to play; now, the AD hurt the 2017-18 teams. Teams that have potential, unlike the current team. Fans and teams plan for each game and the location of the said game, and now Alleva has thrown that off.

To top it all off, the LSU athletic director called the situation a “joke.” No, you are the joke, you made it one, and you publicized it. Have you heard complaints publicly from Florida? No, because they dealt with it in-house.

Shame on him, for being a pain in the butt and not being willing to accommodate in an extreme situation. He does not have the athletic program to back his ridiculous behavior.

This situation could have easily been solved. Yet, the most arrogant conference continues to tick me off.

SPORTS:

In turbulent times, sports bring people together. We can all get behind sports. Whether they are local, high school, or national teams, sports give us the ability to escape things that we would rather not talk about.

When it comes to this last month, many in America found themselves looking for escape and withdrawal from what was going on in this country. And in sports, we found it.

Instead of falling into crisis regarding the politics, we were able to enjoy watching crazy football weekends, with close National Football League (NFL) games and three of the top four college teams being upset.

For a brief period of time, we were able to just revel in the joy of a great sports weekend. For a minute we could come together as sports fans, whether it was on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.

That weekend, for some time, nothing other than the color of the jersey and who was winning mattered. Whether you supported Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, we were able to forget that and only care about what happened on the field.

That is the beauty of sports. It is the medium that so many of us use to find common ground. We use it as a way to connect with people, no matter how different or similar.

Sports are universal. They transcend culture, race and socioeconomic background, and provide a common platform for people to express themselves.