Pubdate: Sat, 05 Mar 2011
Source: Union, The (Grass Valley, CA)
Copyright: 2011 The Union
Contact: http://apps.theunion.com/utils/forms/lettertoeditor/
Website: http://www.theunion.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/957
Author: David Briceno
Note: David Briceno lives in Grass Valley.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

DON'T LET STATE GO UP IN SMOKE

Proposition 19 went up in pot smoke on Nov. 2 of last year. Pot would 
have come to the state's rescue. Like medical marijuana, smoking dope 
would have actually alleviated most of the state's ills!

Pot advocates claimed legalization would cripple the drug cartels and 
thus allow police to focus more on violent crime. But, it's ludicrous 
to assume that to be true with so much money to be made if pot were 
legal. Organized crime would not magically disappear if marijuana 
became legal, raking in huge profits selling weed cheaper than the 
legal pot prices. Legalization would do nothing to undermine illegal markets.

Marijuana can be hazardous to one's health. It can even be more 
harmful to users' lungs than smoking "safe" tobacco. Pot not only 
causes lung damage, but may give people a chronic cough and 
bronchitis, too. Pot can cause cancer. According to the National 
Institute of Health, someone who smokes five joints a week can take 
in more cancer-causing chemicals than someone who smokes a whole pack 
of cigarettes every day. There are more chemicals in pot smoke than 
in cigarettes: more than 400, in fact. It kills white blood cells, 
important cells that fight infections and diseases.

Even though pot smoking doesn't produce severe physical dependency 
like heroin does, potheads can still become psychologically addicted 
to pot. Since users find reefer enjoyably rewarding, they believe 
falsely that pot is not addictive. But, they become hooked - hooked 
in the sense that many develop a tolerance for weed. In other words, 
they've built up so much tolerance to it that they need more and more 
marijuana to maintain a comfortable level of being "high." So, 
although pot may not be physically addictive, it's still addictive.

Pot affects alertness, concentration and coordination, which makes 
driving stoned dangerous. Drivers on pot don't see things well, have 
problems with paying attention and perception, and their reaction 
time slows down considerably so that car accidents easily occur while 
driving high. Well over one-third of all accident victims have 
marijuana in their bloodstream.

Someone who's high has a hard time completing sentences. They wander 
from one thought to another and utter sentences that often make no 
sense at all to others. Time can become so altered on pot that 
important appointments, events and activities can go unattended. It 
contributes to poor memory. Weed can make one drowsy, unsteady and, 
in certain cases, delusional.

On pot, people can become dazed, confused and spaced out. Pot serves 
as a convenient way of running away from problems. Chronic use of 
marijuana can lead to mental health problems. And, of course, 
marijuana possession can land the pot smoker in jail. With all of 
pot's bad qualities, one wonders why people ever smoke marijuana in 
the first place.

The reason why may be mainly because smoking pot gives such a highly 
pleasurable feeling that it's well worth the risk. It gets people 
high and feeling peaceful. Weed produces a mild euphoria, a strong 
sense of well being. Smoking weed relaxes the body, alters 
perceptions and changes mood. Also, being stoned gives one a feeling 
of liberation, peace and makes one's cares or problems seemingly vanish.

The likelihood that a young person will have a drug problem depends 
on several factors, such as behavioral problems at home and school, 
failing academically in early grades, sensitivity to peer pressure, 
inadequate supervision by a parent or guardian, lax attitudes within 
the local community toward drugs, high availability of drugs and 
having family members or friends who use drugs.

To be sure, access to pot comes easy nowadays. Drugs have permeated 
society so much that most 17 year olds can find illegal drugs locally 
within only a half an hour, according to one recent poll.

Pot smokers should quit. They should get involved in a new 
relationship, move away to another part of the country away from 
"druggie" friends, change their lifestyles, use willpower to finally 
decide enough is enough, simply use until one simply loses interest 
in getting high or grows out of it and, if all else fails, check into rehab.

Prevention remains overall the best solution. It takes time, effort 
and resources that the government doesn't have at its disposal to 
fully combat America's drug epidemic. Partially cut demand and the 
battle is half won. Grassroots efforts are needed. Preventing the 
need for drugs through education can greatly help stem the tide of 
growing drug use. After all, America needs to be a land of the drug 
free. Otherwise, California will just simply go to pot.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom