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Washington Post headline: "Study raises concerns about marijuana, teen drivers."

Alligator Needs To Score In Animal Sanctuary

Having trouble with alligator aggression? Here's a tip:

Narcotics agents raiding a Hemet pot house made a surprise finding amid dozens of plants and seedlings: A 50-pound alligator.

The 4-foot-long gator had been living inside the home, where the owner had set up a cement tub with water so the reptile could get wet.

"He wasn't aggressive at all. ... This guy was just very, very mellow," said Joel Almquist, who was summoned Monday night by authorities to take the alligator to his animal sanctuary.

Weeding Out The Amateur TV Critics

Former drug czar Bill Bennett is right about the drug crisis -- a horrifying 40,000 U.S. dead each year from overdoses, according to a recent federal report -- but wrong about one of the best shows on television:

Back when our country was making a serious assault on drug abuse, a show like "Weeds" would never be aired. Today it is promoted in full page ads in our nation's most popular magazines. This, for a comedy about the life and times of a marijuana-growing and -dealing family. As the head of the network that produces and airs "Weeds" put it, "Our ratings were va-va-va-voom! Who said hedonism is passé?" This, for a show where one is lured to root for a family responsible for the death of a DEA agent, children dropping out of school, gang violence and rape.

I'm glad no one appointed Bennett culture czar, because he evidently doesn't understand that fictional characters don't have to be admirable in order to entertain and enlighten. Neither he nor the Showtime executive he quotes grasps what's really going on in series creator Jenji Kohan's laboratory for studying the consequences of twice-widowed drug dealer Nancy Botwin's (Mary-Louise Parker) poor decisions, especially as a mother. "Weeds" isn't promoting drug abuse or hedonism. It's exploiting the irresistible allure of watching an HD train wreck.

Let A Million Poppies Wither

In Afghanistan, the G-8 nations have committed $4 billion to bolstering anti-Taliban military and police forces as well as to business development and anti-drug efforts. Arthur I. Cyr thinks there's a useful Nixonian precedent:

Three years ago, well before the recent acknowledgement of growing guerrilla strength, journalist Sarah Chase provided a bleak evaluation of developments. A daring adventurer, she runs an agricultural cooperative in southern Afghanistan and has written a book about the country.

In seeking effective policies, useful lessons are provided by that durable duo of international relations, Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger. During the Nixon administration, Turkey was a principal source of world heroin production. Nixon and Kissinger creatively used product licensing to encourage Turkish farmers to sell crops to pharmaceutical companies for legal medicinal purposes.

Drug lords moved some production to Afghanistan, but the trade route from Turkey to Marseilles, France, and then the U.S. - dramatized in the film "The French Connection" - was disrupted, and our important ally Turkey was strengthened. We should apply this practical approach to Afghanistan.

Driving While Stoned Songs: "Willin'" (1970)

Little Feat, performing in 1977

Listening to Lowell George's classic tune on a Saturday morning, I wonder: Where are the Zeitgeist and the correct choice (not necessarily the same thing) on the legalization of marijuana? Cultural elites seem to be saying yes, and yet some well-meaning institution or agency paid good money for the stay-off-dope ad I saw before "Stay of Play" at the Edwards 14 last night. The fact that our tax-addicted state and federal governments need the money from legal drug sales isn't a good enough reason.

Youth Again Lead The Way

The "Economist:"

Young Americans and Britons are keen cocaine-users, despite being subject to some of the toughest anti-drugs laws among Western countries. Over 5% of 15-34 year olds said they had taken the drug over the past 12 months, according to the most recent data from the European Union's drugs-monitoring arm.