Skagit Valley Herald 1000 E. College Way Mount Vernon, WA 98273 http://www.newswest.com/svherald/ email: 200 words Max. Saturday, March 22, 1997 Marijuana Inaccurate, misleading The letter regarding marijuana (Eve Lentz, March 14 "Why to legalize marijuana"...lists a number of questions; most responses are inaccurate, if not misleading. ...If the author of the letter or anyone else really wants to be informed on this subject, I suggest they take a drug and alcohol information course at the very least. Marijuana is responsible for so many road and industrial accidents that numerous states and legislators are looking into blood testing when someone is cited by the police. We spend, as business owners, vast amounts of money to drugtest employees, not because we want to lose the employee, but because of insurance and labor productivity, as use can cause amotivational syndrome and countless onthejob accidents. (Yes, there are documented statistics.) Since marijuana is in the plasma for up to six days, the impairment caused to sight, motor skills and judgment is also. You are more likely to get cancer from marijuana than cigarettes: One joint or bowl equals one pack of cigarettes for cancercausing agents.... Marijuana increases pulse rate and blood pressure while at the same time produces relaxation, slow speech and sedation. It has many of the simultaneous, combined effects of cocaine and heroin. ...It has gained orphan status from the FDA to treat chemotherapyinduced nausea and stimulate appetite in AIDS papients. But should a drug with immunosuppressive properties be given to patients who already have a compromised immune system? Marijuana's use in adolescents causes physical and psychological problems too diverse to list. If one were going to argue for legislation, one would be wiser to compare our war on drugs to prohibition. Trying to pass it off as a harmless herb is ignorant and dangerous. Ava Aldridge SedroWoolley