Pubdate: Sun, 29 Aug 2010
Source: Desert Sun, The (Palm Springs, CA)
Copyright: 2010 The Desert Sun
Contact: http://local2.thedesertsun.com/mailer/opinionwrap.php
Website: http://www.mydesert.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1112
Note: Does not accept LTEs from outside circulation area.
Author: Lanny Swerdlow, Special to The Desert Sun
Note: Lanny Swerdlow, RN, can be seen on "Marijuana Compassion and 
Common Sense" at 11 p.m. every Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday on 
Time-Warner Cable channel 17.
Cited: Proposition 19 http://yeson19.com/
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/find?272 (Proposition 19)

YES: LEGALIZING MARIJUANA WOULD ADD REVENUE AND LET COPS FIGHT REAL CRIME

With more than $300 million spent annually arresting more than 60,000 
Californians, the majority of them young, black and brown, the 
California Medical Association accurately labels marijuana 
criminalization "a failed public health policy."

Proposition 19 allows police to concentrate on real crimes, unclogs 
courts and reduces prison overcrowding. The California Board of 
Equalization estimates legalization will raise $1.4 billion for 
schools, health programs and essential government services.

Proposition 19 opponents point to the societal and health costs of 
alcohol as proof there will be increased costs if marijuana is 
legalized. Truth be told, health care costs will go down when 
responsible adults are allowed to make the rational, safer choice to 
use marijuana instead of alcohol.

Hospital beds are overflowing with patients with heart damage, 
destroyed livers, pancreatitis, diseased brains -- costly and 
debilitating ailments caused solely by their use of alcohol. You are 
not likely to find a single patient in any hospital wing -- cardiac, 
respiratory, cancer -- with any ailment related only to their use of 
marijuana. Not one!

Contrary to allegations by narcotic law enforcement that admissions 
to emergency departments for marijuana are going through the roof, a 
2010 study published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine 
found that "marijuana was by far the most commonly used (illicit) 
drug, but individuals who used marijuana had a low prevalence of 
drug-related ED visits."

A 2009 study at Switzerland's Luasanne University Hospital and a 2006 
University of Missouri study independently found marijuana inversely 
associated with injuries requiring hospitalization. The Missouri 
study concluded marijuana use resulted in a "substantially decreased 
risk of injury."

An August 2010 RAND study reported fewer than 200 patients were 
admitted to California hospitals in 2008 for "marijuana abuse or 
dependence," but there were almost 73,000 hospitalizations related to alcohol.

Although opponents of Proposition 19 are quick to make misleading and 
inaccurate statements about a few studies they purport demonstrate 
the dangers of marijuana, even a casual reading finds the number of 
people negatively affected in the low single digits with the reports 
using scientific weasel words like "may," "might" or "suggest."

Fiscal conservatives should note a 2009 study in the British Columbia 
Mental Health and Addictions Journal, which found health-related 
costs eight times higher for drinkers than cannabis consumers with 
most of marijuana's costs due to its illegal status.

Noting that "research on medical cannabis patients has alluded to the 
use of cannabis as a substitute for alcohol," a June 2009 Harm 
Reduction Journal study found "40 percent of participants reported 
using cannabis as a substitute for alcohol."

Although driving under the influence of any substance should be 
avoided, a 2007 study of U.S. drivers published in the Canadian 
Journal of Public Health and a 2005 review of French auto accidents 
concluded that drivers who test positive for alcohol, even under .08 
percent blood-alcohol content, were three to four times more likely 
to be involved in a fatal collision than those who use marijuana.

Revenue raised, police resources wisely used are excellent reasons to 
support Proposition 19, but it is the ability of marijuana to replace 
alcohol as a relaxant and mood enhancer without the liver destroying, 
judgment impairing and violence inducing properties of alcohol that 
makes the passage of Proposition 19 vital to the health of the 
individual and the community. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake