Pubdate: Tue, 20 Nov 2012
Source: Oklahoman, The (OK)
Copyright: 2012 The Oklahoma Publishing Co.
Contact: http://www.newsok.com/voices/guidelines
Website: http://newsok.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/318

COLORADO LAW HAS OKLAHOMA BOARDER COUNTY POISED TO RESPOND

Colorado voters this month legalized recreational use of marijuana,
endorsing the smoking of one substance while strongly discouraging the
smoking of tobacco. Recent policy battles in Oklahoma have focused on
becoming more like Colorado when it comes to tobacco regulation.
Oklahoma is one of only a few states where city regulation of tobacco
use can't exceed state limits.

11/20/2012 House Speaker Pro Tem-elect Mike Jackson, R-Enid, is under
fire because he raised money for a political action committee that
provided $11,000 to Republican... In 2011, Gary Cox, director of the
Oklahoma City-County Health Department, argued for granting cities
greater regulatory control of tobacco use by citing the Colorado city
of Pueblo. In 2003 that community required all workplaces to be smoke
free. Within 18 months, Cox said, Pueblo's heart attack
hospitalizations declined 41 percent.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the rate
of tobacco smoking among Colorado adults is lower than the national
median, yet the state has embraced marijuana smoking. Research shows
both products involve health risks.

A 2007 study by New Zealand's Medical Research Institute determined
one marijuana joint has the same impact as smoking up to five
cigarettes in blocking the flow of air. According to the National
Institute on Drug Abuse, another study found those who smoke marijuana
frequently but who don't smoke tobacco have more health problems and
miss more days of work than nonsmokers, often for respiratory illnesses.

It makes no sense to portray cigarettes as a societal plague but
marijuana as a state-sanctioned, harmless vice. If the Colorado vote
isn't a victory for regulatory consistency, it is a win for one group.
Border-county police departments in neighboring states are poised to
reap a bonanza in associated tickets and fines.

In Oklahoma, Cimarron County Sheriff Keven McIntire reports that a
quarter of marijuana arrests are "medical" users coming from Colorado.
He predicts that figure will climb now that people no longer have to
even fake an illness.
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