Pubdate: Fri, 02 Nov 2012 Source: Ravalli Republic (Hamilton, MT) Copyright: 2012 Ravalli Republic Contact: http://www.ravallirepublic.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3254 Author: Jeff Kushner IR124: KEEP TIGHT CONTROLS ON MARIJUANA As Montanans, although our intentions were good, we were fooled by marijuana advocates who got free rein and basically legalized marijuana in Montana. Fortunately, the Legislature came to our rescue and placed tight restrictions on the use of marijuana. Let's not be fooled again and go back to the dangerous place that marijuana advocates led us to before, where you could get a marijuana card over the Internet, where unscrupulous doctors held caravans across the state encouraging healthy people to get cards as long as they could pay for it, where felony and misdemeanor probationers easily got cards, where dispensaries opened next to schools, where people drove from other states to get their "weed," when there were 31,000 card holders instead of the current 3,000. Protect your children and yourself; vote "yes" on Initiative Referendum No. 124. - - Marijuana elevates the risk of testicular, bladder and lung cancer. - - Harvard researchers report that the risk of heart attack is five times higher an hour after smoking marijuana. - - Smoking marijuana during pregnancy affects the fetus (small brain-weight babies with smaller head size, cardiac murmurs, small eye openings, broad low nasal bridge and low-set ears). According to one study, 41 percent of pot smokers' babies require oxygen resuscitation at birth. - - Marijuana is linked to long-term psychiatric problems (depression, anxiety and psychosis). - - Marijuana use is linked with dropping out of school, unemployment and social welfare dependence compared to nonusers. - - The head of Montana's Department of Justice narcotics bureau stated that crime increased in 78 percent of the state's jurisdictions when medical marijuana became legal. - - Treatment admissions for marijuana use have dramatically increased (11.4 percent in Montana) and are higher than for heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and prescription painkillers. Does this sound like "medicine"? Vote "yes" on IR124 and keep the restrictions on marijuana. Jeff Kushner, Victor - --- MAP posted-by: Matt