Pubdate: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 Source: Alaska Dispatch News (AK) Copyright: 2014 Alaska Dispatch Publishing Contact: http://www.adn.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/18 Author: Ryan W. Lasher HERE'S WHAT'S 'WILDLY IRRESPONSIBLE' Really? The spokesman for the vote Yes on Ballot Measure 2 campaign said that it would be "wildly irresponsible" to make an estimate on how much money commercializing marijuana would bring into Alaska. (ADN, Sept. 11) Here's what is "wildly irresponsible." It is wildly irresponsible to ask Alaskans to vote for something when you refuse to provide critically important information about it. We already know that it will cost our state government up to $7 million to legalize marijuana, and an additional $6 million to local governments for increased costs to police. That's just the start of the costs. Ka-ching. If you look at what is going on in Colorado you see more emergency room visits, more homelessness, more problems with smoking marijuana in schools and more suspensions, and the list goes on. The vote Yes folks are asking us to buy a pig in a poke. Maybe all of those outside funders like the Marijuana Policy Project think Alaskans are too stupid to ask critically important questions like "How much?" I'm not, and I don't think other Alaskans are either. - - Ryan W. Lasher Anchorage - --- MAP posted-by: Richard