Pubdate: Sun, 30 Dec 2012
Source: News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Copyright: 2012 The News-Herald
Contact:  http://www.news-herald.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/305
Author: Max Reinhart
Page: 1

NOT HIGH ON POT LEGALIZATION

Area Experts Weigh in on Marijuana Debate

If you could entirely get rid of one drug, which would it be?

This question was posed to a law enforcement officer with more than 
30 years of experience at a recent drug prevention conference in 
Columbus. Mentor Municipal Court Judge John Trebets, who runs the 
Lake County drug court, was in attendance.

"In my head, I'm yelling out 'Heroin!' " Trebets said. "Then he looks 
out and says if he could get rid of one drug it would be marijuana."

The officer's explanation was simple, and well-known. Marijuana is a 
"gateway drug" which often leads users into experimenting with more 
harmful substances.

Although Trebets said heroin remains the most dangerous drug in Lake 
County, he does agree with the gateway drug label.

"When I have people in court who have hard drug problems, 90 to 95 
percent of the time they started with marijuana," he said.

The drug, long believed to be the most widely abused in the country, 
remains illegal under federal law to possess, sell or use, except in 
18 states with a doctor's prescription.

But the November passages of legalization laws in Colorado and 
Washington have turned national attention back to the popular drug 
and its future in Ohio.

Bill White, program director at Crossroads, a Mentor based agency 
offering mental health and substance abuse services for children and 
adolescents, said embracing recreational pot use would be problematic.

"It can be tempting to, in some ways, dismiss or overlook the issues 
with marijuana," White said. "That would be a real mistake."

According to White, an annual University of Michigan study indicates 
that high school students today see marijuana as a virtually harmless drug.

"As perception of drug risk goes down, use goes up," White said.

In addition to lung damage, White said smoking pot leads to delayed 
reaction times and decreased brain function, especially over 
long-term use of the drug.

"There are so many activities in day-to-day life that require focused 
attention," White said. "You can't do them effectively when you go 
into la-la land."

White said users also have been known to inhale marijuana smoke more 
deeply and hold it in their lungs longer compared with a tobacco 
cigarette smoker.

Those who may have used the drug years ago, he added, may have a 
warped sense of its harmfulness because the potency of marijuana has 
increased over the past few decades. Most street-bought marijuana had 
a "purity level" of 2 or 3 in the 1970s and 1980s, White said. Now, 
those levels commonly register a 9 or 10.

"That means more THC is going into the brain and body of people that 
use it," White said. "It has a more toxic effect and also leads to addiction."

As some experts pooh-pooh the prospect, decriminalization champions 
continue to tout the potential benefits of legalization.

Advocates like Cher Neufer, president of the Ohio chapter of the 
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, believe 
decriminalizing the drug could be a boon for the state economy.

In addition to tax money that could be gleaned from the newly legal 
product, NORML argues there would be secondary benefits as well.

"Industrial hemp could also become a major business generating more 
tax income," Neufer said.

Industrial hemp is derived from the same illicit plant that produces the drug.

Advocates also believe decriminalizing marijuana would allow law 
enforcement to focus on stopping violent crimes and other offenses 
which are perceived as more dangerous than nabbing pot smokers.

"It is a waste of resources to incarcerate the marijuana smoking 
public," Neufer said.

But in the wake of reform elsewhere in the country, local lawmakers 
including state Sen. John Eklund said they have not noticed any 
increased interest in the idea among their constituents.

"I have not heard any kind of groundswell out in our communities in 
Lake and Geauga counties saying 'Follow the leader,' " said Eklund, 
R-Munson Township.

Eklund said he remains staunchly against decriminalizing marijuana or 
any drugs that "muddle and numb the brain." Though he said he is open 
to hearing proposals for either medicinal or recreation use, it would 
take a heap of evidence to convince him that legalizing the drug 
would benefit the state.

"I frankly cannot imagine the circumstances in which I would be 
interested in advancing (marijuana legalization) here in the state of 
Ohio," Eklund said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom