High Times in the Military

Colombia's military has been shaken by scandal after several officials were caught smuggling marijuana. Such horror! After all, the military is the same institution charged with erradicating cannibas.

On the other hand, drug use and abuse are age-old traditions in the military, due particularly to soldiers' youth and the stress and boredom they undergo.

And, while pot smoking probably isn't a good prescription for effective fighting, it sounds like a better way to relax than another military tradition - getting drunk and wild. Isn't it contradictory that drunkeness is a sometimes proud military tradition, often even celebrated as proof of manhood, despite all of the trouble and damage it's caused. But pot smoking, which mellows users out, is prohibited?

But things just might be changing. Pres. Santos recently commented about the contradiction between Colombians sacrificing their lives and limbs fighting trafficking of marijuana in the United States-led War on Drugs, even while pot is legalized in the United States.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours