Welcome to the latest fad, robotripping. No this isn’t a variation of some 80’s dance, but rather a serious issue plaguing America’s teens.

Robotripping is abusing different over the counter cough and cold medicines in hopes of getting a buzz. In 2008 some 8,000 teens were hospitalized from this new rave and now the government, in their typical strong-fisted fashion, is looking at the extreme ways of handling it:

The FDA could require a prescription to purchase the drug, move sales of the medicines behind the counter, or banning purchases by those under the age of 18.

Numerous states have already started requiring identification to buy these drugs. Yeah, because when you got a major cold you just feel like standing in line and having to whip out the ID to get some relief.

But this idea by the FDA will surely hurt America even more. When you got a case of the sniffles, you won’t be able to just take some Robitussin, get a good nights sleep and wake up able to go to work. Instead you will have to take off work, go to the doctor and end up with a product of America’s biggest drug cartel – the pharmaceutical companies. Instead of spending $5.00 to cure your sudden cold, it will now costs hundreds.

Yeah – that’s really a plan chalked full of awesomeness.

And will it fix the problem? Using history as our guide, the answer is a very obvious “NO”. You ban it or limit the purchase of it, they will find a way to get it or move on to some other new fad.

Perhaps we have reached the point in time where America needs to take a radically different approach. Let’s legalize marijuana. Yeah it will be illegal for those under 18 but, as history has taught us, legal or illegal doesn’t matter as much as being able to obtain it. Instead of playing junior chemist with God knows what, our children could just sneak one of daddy’s blunts from his pack he just bought at the 7/11.

We must face the fact that our children will continue to find ways to get high. They don’t care about the consequences, just the immediate result. I have never heard of anyone getting hospitalized for an overdose of marijuana. Trust me, if it could happen I’m sure I would have found out about it first hand. Marijuana is much safer and it beats teens finding other alternatives of reaching their happy place, rather those alternatives are over the counter drugs or heaping piles of cow crap.