Pubdate: Thu, 08 Nov 2012
Source: Westword (Denver, CO)
Copyright: 2012 Village Voice Media
Contact: http://www.westword.com/feedback/EmailAnEmployee?department=letters
Website: http://www.westword.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1616
Author: Paul Malczewski

CHANGES TO CURRENT POT LAWS ARE WAY OVERDUE

Re: "Garden of Weedin'," William Breathes, November 1

Governor John Hickenlooper: "Amendment 64 has the potential to 
increase the number of children using drugs and would detract from 
efforts to make Colorado the healthiest state in the nation. It sends 
the wrong message to kids that drugs are okay."

This statement really just goes to show how out of touch Mr. 
Hickenlooper is with reality. The only reason that children might 
think that drugs are okay would be the continued reported fatalities 
associated with alcohol and existing pills that are sanctioned by our 
state and federal government. Why would synthetic marijuana be 
pursued by Big Pharma if there were no benefits for its consumption? 
The past ten years have given the state of Colorado a track record 
that can dispel the myth that there would be an increase in the use 
of marijuana by children; in fact, it has decreased.

My biggest personal concern regarding state legalization of marijuana 
would be that testing for DUI or driving with marijuana in your 
system has not really been addressed. My hope here is that 
pro-marijuana activists like Mason Tvert continue the fight for 
reasonable reform, because there would, without a doubt, be an 
increase in arrests pertaining to DUID for an individual who smoked 
or ingested marijuana perhaps weeks prior to driving, and would 
technically still be over any current statute of zero tolerance.

Nonetheless, it's way past time for the current laws to be addressed 
and changed.

Paul Malczewski
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