Yeah This Bowl's All About the Weed.

Sub-titled: Sorry for the delay.

Tonight the champions of the American Football League (AFL) will take on the champions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in 48th Superbowl. As with the outcome this will mean very little to the majority of the viewers because even in America this is the only American Football game that most people will watch all year. Instead people use the Superbowl as an excuse to gather together to drink too much, eat too much and gossip about things like the Puppybowl, the commercials and the half-time show. This makes it a perfect opportunity to get Americans talking amongst themselves about the important issues of the day. Last year it was all about America's attitudes towards race (Baltimore Ravens) versus America's attitudes towards homosexuality (San Francisco 49's).

This year the Denver Broncos from the state of Colorado which legalised the recreational use of marijuana at the 2012 Presidential election will take on the Seattle Seahawks from the state of Washington which also legalised the recreational use of marijuana at the 2012 Presidential election. Therefore I think there is really only one issue up for discussion at this year's Superbowl.

The fact that it sees probably the most attacking team take on probably the most defencive team means that it is likely to be a low scoring game with a lot of the points being awarded for highly technical reasons that no-one really understands. This will highlight the technical differences between the way that Colorado has legalised recreational use versus the way Washington has. For example Colorado's marijuana market has been up and running since January 1st 2014 (1/1/14) whilst Washington has delayed setting up its market so its network of medical marijuana dispensaries can be brought up to standard before being turned into Colorado style marijuana stores.

Also the fact that it will be a tight game means that there is no clear favourite amongst book-makers leading to lots of discussion in gambling circles about where people should put their money. This highlights one the main problems that both Colorado and Washington have faced in setting up their marijuana markets. Although the sale and use of recreational marijuana is legal under both their state laws it is still very much illegal under federal law. That means that banks which operate nationally under federal law simply won't go near either Colorado or Washington's marijuana merchants for fear of being prosecuted under laws set up to prevent them laundering money from drug traffickers. As as result Colorado's legal marijuana business which is said to be worth around USD1million per day is being run as an entirely cash business. You don't need to have watched that many episodes of "The Wire" to realise that this is a recipe for violent crime if there ever was one. So if you ask me where the smart money is going this year I'd say the bank.

Having legalised the recreational use of marijuana the conversation moves onto whether the US should continue its prohibition on other, more harmful, recreational drugs such as cocaine. As such this year's half-time show will be performed by convicted cocaine possessing felon Bruno Mars. Also on Friday (31/1/14) envelopes containing suspicious white powders were sent to several hotels around the Superbowl Stadium where some people will no doubt be partaking of cocaine over the Superbowl weekend. At around the same time a package containing a much more explosive substance was discovered at an Air Force base in Alabama. Taken together these two incidents seem like an attempt to steer the American public against wider legalisation of recreational marijuana by creating the impression that it is merely the first step on a slippery slope towards the legalisation of all drugs.

I happen to think that argument is deeply flawed because it is not the first time that opponents of marijuana have used this slippery slope argument. In fact they've repeatedly argued that marijuana must remain as a Schedule I prohibited narcotic alongside cocaine and heroin because it is a gateway drug that causes people to end up using these far more harmful drugs. Of course the argument in favour of marijuana legalisation is that by removing it from the hands of criminal gangs that also sell crack cocaine and heroin by selling it in shops you break this link between marijuana users and these harder drugs reducing the risk of people becoming addicted.

Finally this year's Superbowl is being held at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey where the Governor is the large-then-life Chris Christie. Ever since his successful handling of SuperStorm Sandy Christie has been widely tipped as a potential Republican candidate and possible President in 2016. Having the Superbowl in his backyard provides an opportunity to test him out on the national/international stage. Therefore it is no accident that all this George Washington Bridge scandal blew up when it did. After all that doesn't strike me as particularly Presidential behaviour especially if was just aides acting without the Governor's knowledge. Personally I just think that he's just grateful that long ago this had been designated as the first public transport Superbowl.


19:15 on 2/2/14 (UK date).