Pubdate: Sun, 20 Mar 2005 Source: Reno Gazette-Journal (NV) Copyright: 2005 Reno Gazette-Journal Contact: http://www.rgj.com/helpdesk/news/letter_to_editor.php Website: http://www.rgj.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/363 Author: Kevin Quint Note: Kevin Quint is executive director of Join Together Northern Nevada, a substance abuse coalition. Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/marijuana+initiative Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion) LEGALIZING MARIJUANA ISN'T GOOD FOR NEVADA Nevada citizens need to ask themselves if legalizing recreational marijuana is a good thing for our state. The supporters of the "Regulation of Marijuana" measure would like you to be able to stop by a store on your way home from work and buy bread, milk and marijuana. Although the supporters would lead you to believe their measure would regulate marijuana usage, the passage of this measure would serve only to increase marijuana use and the social problems related to that use. It would allow adults age 21 and older to possess one ounce of marijuana and would make Nevada the only state in the nation to legalize its use. Since Nevada lawmakers did not take a stand on the measure, it will automatically appear on the 2006 election ballot. Making marijuana a legal substance offers no benefits to Nevada citizens. In fact, the liabilities are numerous: * More people in our state would use marijuana. * More people in our state would require substance abuse intervention and/or treatment for addiction. * More people in our state would go to prison for crimes committed while under the influence of marijuana, e.g. drugged driving. If we compare cigarettes to marijuana, smoking just four marijuana "joints" is equal to smoking one pack of cigarettes. Marijuana contains more than 400 chemicals and deposits four times more tar into the lungs than tobacco. Because of the potential for more marijuana users, we would feel the financial burden of a higher number of cases of chronic diseases such as bronchitis and a higher number of people suffering from cancers like lung, larynx and tongue. Marijuana is an addictive drug. It is the most commonly used illicit drug with 14.6 million Americans using it each month. Two-thirds of new marijuana users are under 18. In teen and adult users, marijuana has been shown to slow learning and the ability to retain information, disrupt concentration and impair short-term memory. More youth enter substance treatment for marijuana than for all other illicit drugs combined. The supporters of this measure believe adult possession of marijuana will not increase youth usage of marijuana. The opposite is true. If more adults possess marijuana legally, children of any age will have greater access to the substance. If parents have marijuana in their home, kids will find it. Think about how you would react if your child visited a friend's house and experimented with marijuana because the parents had it available in the home. With the passage of this measure, our children would get the message that just about anything is permissible in Nevada. It's worth taking a look at the consequences on a state that chose to legalize recreational marijuana -- Alaska. In 1975, Alaska experimented with marijuana legalization and found that in just six years its youth rate of marijuana use was more than double the rate of youths nationally. Alaska citizens successfully overturned the marijuana initiative and re-criminalized the drug in 1990. The groups behind the "Regulation of Marijuana" measure in Nevada do not live in our state and would not be around to see the myriad problems legalizing recreational marijuana use would cause. Ultimately, Nevadans need to work together to see that substance abuse is reduced in our state not increased. Legalizing marijuana will not accomplish this important goal. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake