In "After legalization, pot use for youth may stay flat" (July 1), the reporter got it wrong. Colorado legalized pot several years ago and since this ill-advised social experiment began, Colorado skyrocketed to No. 1 in the nation for pot smoking. According to the nation's most reliable and trusted data source, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, pot use among those between 12 and 17 in Colorado is 74 percent higher than the national average. Pot use among those between 18 and 25 in Colorado is 62 percent higher than the national average. And for Colorado adults 26 years and older, their pot use is 104 percent higher than the national average. The data proves legalization equals more pot use, more stoned drivers, more addiction and more societal costs. Diego Di Maria San Diego [end]
In Sunday's article "An end to pot prohibition?" (Aug. 16), I chuckled at the comment from the pro-pot lobby that it didn't like the proposed 2016 marijuana legalization ballot measure because cities and counties will still be able to use zoning laws to ban pot shops. Well, of course cities and counties don't want them. They and the public have seen firsthand the problems pot shops and pot use create in neighborhoods. And we know pot is the most used illicit drug by young people, so legalization with more pot stores will only cause more car crashes, more addiction, and further normalize a stoned society. Legalizing pot is a dumb idea. Diego Di Maria San Diego [end]
Regarding the U-T Editorial Board's "More chaos on the city's pot shop front," Aug. 17: I agree no pot shop permits should be given out until the illegal ones have all been shuttered. The pot shop industry is unlike any other. It's lawless, it's harmful to its customers and the surrounding community and youth, and it's a financial and time-suck on law enforcement and the courts. What other industry has shown total disregard to city laws and caused such chaos and harm? It's unprecedented. [continues 66 words]
"California, status of medical pot in limbo" (utsandiego.com, July 3) illustrates how the pro-pot lobby's efforts and strategy has been its own worst enemy. The problems it faces face are self-created, but it tiresomely blames it on everyone else in society, from law enforcement and legislators to parents and everybody in between. The pro-pot lobby wanted "compassion" for "serious ill" persons in 1996, and it got it. But since then it has pushed the limits, resulting in a proliferation of illegal storefronts that sell pot to anyone with a bruised elbow who got their pot recommendation skyping online with a doctor. Of course this backdoor legalization and fraudulent "medical" use is going to catch the attention of law enforcement and community members; we were duped with a medi-pot Trojan horse. [continues 93 words]
