Pubdate: Thu, 02 Nov 2006
Source: Summit Daily News (CO)
Copyright: 2006 Summit Daily News
Contact: http://apps.summitdaily.com/forms/letter/index.php
Website: http://www.summitdaily.com/home.php
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/587
Author: Jim Cowles

WANT POT? HOW ABOUT SOME ENRON STOCK INSTEAD?

The marijuana proposal has caused a lot of discussion lately, but not
enough. I was very surprised when Denver voters voted for it a few
years ago. I thought that it go down in flames that time. I read that
some voters in Denver felt that if alcohol is legal, then so should
pot.

I suppose that this was some type of a protest. The problem with that
type of thinking is that it is not really thinking at all. Alcohol
should be dealt with as a separate issue. I would hope that voters in
the present election would spend a little more time pondering the
outcome of what a vote for 44 would be. You would be telling your
children that this is OK.

You would be telling them to go ahead and get high. Many of us voted
against smoking in public places because it is bad for our health.
According to the John Hopkins website, Health Line, and the National
Institute on Drug Abuse, marijuana is 10 times more harmful than
tobacco in tar and other carcinogens.

The smoke is more irritating and has greater effect on the airways,
and lungs than does tobacco. Other effects include memory problems,
thinking, problem solving, and an increase in heart rate. This is very
different from the pro-pot websites that say using it is safe and not
a problem. I doubt that there is much scientific fact in what they
say. John Hopkins and others indicate that using pot can cause brain
damage, and that many addicts of hard drugs started with pot.

This is not a substance to take lightly. In addition, I have been
skiing at A-Basin a lot since it opened and have had to put up with
pot smokers in the chairs in front me and in the parking lot.

The smell is terrible, much worse than cigarettes. Lets do what is
right and get rid of this idea now. Too bad that the ski areas donit
care enough to take action themselves. The pro pot group says that it
will make a safer Colorado. Let's see how this will work.

Everyone will be high and in lala land and the world will be a better
place. If you believe that, then maybe you would be interested in
buying some Enron stock. How safe is a driver who is smoking pot? Even
the ski slopes, already hazardous, would feel this negative effect.

Let's face it, smoking pot is a smelly, dirty habit that we should not
have to tolerate anywhere.

Jim Cowles

Breckenridge
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake