Booze, Pot, Presidents: A Memorial Weekend Digest

Just back from a week-long trip to the Twin Cities - can't wait to catch up on what I've missed in this space. Before I settle in to do that, a few items in preparation for the year's first long weekend that matters.

Jonathan Howland is a prince among men, and deserves a Nobel Prize for contributions to society. Howland was one of the first researchers to study hangovers in detail, and his pioneering work led to the foundation of the Alcohol Hangover Research Group (AHRG) in 2009. Since then, the confederation has done God's work on a topic of great interest to many of us this weekend and every other. In recent years, researchers have made significant advances in understanding the provenance of the hangover. As Wired.com notes, "Best of all, AHRG’s researchers have begun to converge on a promising ­theory about what really causes hangovers: namely, that they’re an inflammatory response, like what happens when we get an infection."

UCLA postdoc Jing Liang has gone further, identifying a chemical compound that reduces the effects of alcohol on the body. It seems likely that we're mere years away from solving one of social man's most pressing challenges, making a pleasant weekday drunk no more impactful to a fellow's next-day productivity than a nice weed buzz.

Speaking of which, we're about to go all small sample size on you in an effort to celebrate common sense and libertarian wisdom. Opponents of marijuana legalization warned that recent legal liberalization would lead to increases in crime and societal ills. In Denver, at least, the early returns suggest that Colorado's repeal of pot prohibition is having the opposite effect.

According to a story by German Lopez at Vox.com, "Since retail sales of recreational marijuana began in Colorado, revenues from marijuana sales have continued trending up. At the same time, crime in Denver, home of most recreational marijuana shops in the state, has dropped nearly across the board."

The following charts tell the story better than my words could:

Finally, and completely, clearly, and obviously unrelated to anything else in this post, one of our number will once again do his patriotic duty this Monday. We're looking forward to celebrating our 16th President by making him walk Teejay's dog.

All the best to you and yours this Memorial Day Weekend from us and ours at Team G:TB. See you in the comments.