Pubdate: Fri, 05 Jul 2013
Source: Kennebunk Post (ME)
Contact:  2013 Mainely Media LLC
Website: http://post.mainelymediallc.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5454
Author: Al Diamon

STONED AND STUPID

You can almost see the IQ points evaporating.

The stoners pushing a referendum to legalize the use of marijuana by 
adults in Maine's most populous city seem to be growing dopier by the 
toke - in both senses of dopier.

Their campaign to turn Portland into Potland relies heavily on an 
ill-considered premise that's guaranteed to turn off potential supporters.

Let me be clear - or at least as clear as the smokeladen air 
surrounding this issue allows. I think laws banning the possession 
and use of marijuana by those 21 or older are stupider and more 
outdated than Cheech and Chong routines.

They've done nothing to stop anyone from using the weed. They waste 
scarce law-enforcement resources. They use up costly space 
imprisoning people who are no threat to society. And they don't stop 
teenagers from inhaling all they want.

When a statute is that ineffective, it ought to be repealed. If I 
ever get a chance to vote to end the prohibition against ganja, I'll 
proudly mark my ballot in favor of freedom and common sense.

That is, I will unless the pro-pot forces of the Washington, 
D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) keep promoting their 
noxious campaign against alcohol.

I don't smoke dope. But I do drink. I support allowing everyone to 
make his or her own choices (and bear his or her own responsibility) 
when it comes to recreational drugs. There are advantages to all of 
them, as well as drawbacks and dangers. Pretending otherwise is every 
bit as brainless as believing you can do away with a commonly 
occurring substance simply by passing a law. If that were true, we'd 
have made cancer cells illegal.

Unfortunately, there are those in the cannabis campaign who aren't 
quite as open-minded. The MPP has online ads that claim, "Alcohol is 
highly toxic, which is why it produces hangovers and long term damage 
to users."

These are almost exactly the same misleading claims made by 
neo-prohibitionists in their efforts to restrict access to liquor. In 
reality, depending on levels of consumption, alcohol is no more toxic 
than butter, aspirin or the Christian Civic League. Excessive 
exposure to any of them is going to leave you talking to Ralph on the 
big porcelain telephone.

David Boyer, the MPP's Maine political director, told the Portland 
Press Herald, "[M]arijuana is an objectively less harmful substance 
than [beer]."

Objectively?

The short-term side effects associated with a single moderately sized 
doobie include loss of memory, distorted perspective, problems with 
coordination and difficulty learning. In other words, about the same 
problems that crop up after slamming down a six pack.

The long-term consequences of heavy use of loco weed are even scarier.

The average reefer contains three times the amount of tar as a 
similarly sized tobacco cigarette. Those carcinogenic hydrocarbons 
not only increase your chances of getting you know what, but can also 
cause lung infections, obstructed airways and impairment to the immune system.

The increased heart rate and lowered blood pressure experienced by 
those with THC is their systems is a recipe for heart attacks.

I'll put that list up against the danger of cirrhosis of the liver 
caused by chronic alcoholism any day.

In a news release, Boyer claims alcohol "contribute[s] to violence 
and injuries." No dispute there, except to note that there has been 
little research into the role of the kind herb in traffic accidents.

Several studies indicate that because the effects of dope vary widely 
in individuals, it's difficult to assess impairment. Statewide, in 
2012, about 10 percent of people seeking help for drug dependency 
said their primary problem was marijuana.

While that's less than those trying to deal with drinking, it's still 
significant. And booze-related problems have declined since 2009 by 
38 percent. Those reporting troubles with wacky tabacky declined less 
than 6 percent over the same period and increased 17 percent between 
2011 and 2012, according to the report "Substance Abuse Trends in Maine."

One reason the pro-potsters are attacking alcohol is because of a 
history of alcohol attacking them. Big Booze contributed heavily to 
anti-hemp campaigns in California in recent years. But so did the 
tobacco industry. And law enforcement political action committees.

And the owners of medical marijuana clinics, who'd be put out of 
business if patients didn't need prescriptions to get their drugs.

Oddly enough, legalization proponents also claim - almost entirely 
without evidence - that major distillers, brewers and cigarette 
companies are poised to seize the dope market once laws are changed. 
Which doesn't explain why they're fighting to maintain the status quo.

Contradictions, distortions, falsehoods and phony moralism seem to be 
the hallmarks of the campaign to legalize marijuana. With a platform 
like that, you might mistake it for a candidate for governor.

Except it's even stupider.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom