Marijuana.com

Lothar121

Return of the Potheads
Guy Farmer | Nevada Appeal | 04/09/06

Last month, House Criminal Justice and Drug Policy Subcommittee Chairman Mark Souder (R-Ind.) sent a letter to fellow lawmakers urging them to oppose marijuana legalization initiatives in Nevada and several other states. Good for him!

"I write to draw your attention to the most recent research demonstrating the fact that marijuana is a gateway drug," he wrote. "Far from being a 'benign' substance, marijuana is a dangerous, addictive drug that is frequently the first step into the abyss of lifelong drug addiction, especially for adolescents." The congressman was referring to a recent long-term study by researchers at the Otago University School of Medicine in New Zealand, which concluded that "there is a clear tendency for those using cannabis (marijuana) to have higher rates of usage of other illicit drugs" including methamphetamine, which is a plague in Carson City and elsewhere throughout our state and nation.

In 2004 Carson City Justice of the Peace John Tatro told me that at least half of the meth abusers who appear before him also tested positive for marijuana. And just last month the Appeal published a graphic example of how marijuana can lead to the use of hard drugs. It was the story of 17-year-old Cyndle Bell of Carson City and her personal battle against meth addiction, which she chronicled in a 15-minute documentary produced as her senior project at Carson High School.

"I despise drugs and I hope this film gets in people's heads," she told Appeal reporter Teri Vance. "I want them to see how meth ruins people." Ms. Vance reported that Cyndle "started drinking at 11 and smoking pot at 12," so I have a question: If marijuana smoking can lead to the chronic use and abuse of meth and other more addictive drugs, and if meth is the No. 1 law enforcement priority in our city, what sense does it make to legalize possession of "small" amounts of marijuana? None, as far as I can see.

Well, that's exactly what a group of East Coast potheads Ð I call them drug legalizers -- want to perpetrate in our drug-afflicted community by means of an initiative petition that will be on the ballot in November. Two years ago, a similar petition was rejected by a 60-40 margin and I see no reason to vote any differently this time around. In fact, given the devastating impact of illicit drugs on young people (and others) in our community, I hope the margin of victory against the measure is even more decisive this fall.

A few days after Ms. Bell's moving story was published, 32-year-old Michael Cordero-Perez admitted that he was under the influence of beer and marijuana last December when his vehicle crossed the center line on Jack's Valley Road in Douglas County and crashed head-on into a vehicle driven by 42-year-old Robin Moroney, of Gardnerville, who died on the spot. And that's just the latest driving-under-the-influence-of-drugs story in our state.

In a 2004 column I cited three more deadly cases in which marijuana-smoking drivers killed a total of 12 people. In one case, a retired California firefighter drove the wrong way on I-80 east of Reno and smashed head-on into a van carrying a Utah mother and her four children. And in Las Vegas, a 22-year-old stripper who was high on marijuana lost control of her van and careened into the median, killing six teenagers who were part of a county work crew.

Nevertheless, one of my Appeal colleagues (who shall remain nameless to protect the guilty) recently supported marijuana legalization on the theory that "telling people they can use alcohol but not marijuana is like telling children they can have Pepsi but not Sprite. It's a difference without a distinction." Well maybe, but two wrongs don't make a right, and that's what former Appeal Editor Barry Smith argued in a well-reasoned editorial before he moved across town last month to become executive director of the Nevada Press Association. "Ballot initiative supporters say they aren't supporting marijuana use," he wrote. "They're simply trying to sweep away ineffective drug enforcement laws. We just can't see it that way, and neither will Nevada voters." Amen!

Once again, as they did in 2004, the potheads are presenting their initiative as a "better law enforcement" measure. Baloney! Which is why district attorneys, sheriffs -- including Carson City's Ken Furlong, whose daughter had a meth problem -- and police chiefs throughout Nevada oppose the national drug legalization campaign. Also, it should be noted that Rob Kampia, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project, is a convicted felon (on drug charges, of course) Ð not someone who should be advising us on anti-drug policies here in Carson or anywhere else in Nevada.

According to the highly respected Mayo Clinic, regular marijuana use can cause health problems ranging from memory loss to cancer. Specifically, the clinic has reported that marijuana smoking can inhibit short-term memory; reduce hand-eye coordination, reaction time and muscle strength; limit attention span; increase the risk of schizophrenia, and may even cause paranoia, anxiety and/or panic attacks.

If you want to make marijuana available to your children and grandchildren at local convenience stores, that's your business. But when it becomes an expensive community health and law enforcement problem, as illicit drugs clearly are in Carson City, then it's everyone's business, and we don't want any part of it. So let's join our civic leaders in supporting the Partnership Carson City coalition designed to alert local parents and children to the costly and noxious effects of methamphetamine and other dangerous drugs, including marijuana.

Guy W. Farmer, of Carson City, served on the front lines of the War on Drugs in four Latin American countries during his 28-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service.

__________________

Donate. Write. Make a difference.. Posting Guidelines | Marijuana Policy Project | NORML | DPA | Drug WarRant | Media Awareness Project

 

Lothar121

The initiative would do no such thing. It is more than obvious he hasn't even read what is being proposed. The Nevada initiative bans the sale of marijuana in liquor establishments, grocery stores, casinos, convinient stores, etc.

Donate to the Nevada legalization campaign today!

Derram

Now, this may be too obvious to point out but....

So, gateway, right. First step, ok gotcha...



I guess with all the slandering, he forgot to read his own work....

nacrypt

Wow!!!! That's a lot of reefer madness in one little article!

It's got the "Gateway Theory" and everything!

False Statements

Ha ha "panic attacks", I think that this article is a better example of a "panic attack" than smoking a spliff.

Sec

I agree with Derram.
It does seem to me that alcohol, not marijuana is the gateway drug. (In those other two examples, although the writer doesn't mention alcohol, I'd be willing to bet that alcohol was involved).

What does meth have to do with marijuana? There is nothing here to indicate that Mr. Ken Furlong's daughter ever used marijuana.What, only people who have no interaction or personal experience with drugs are qualified to comment or lobby?

A bit beyond the scope of(and irrelevant to ) the Nevada marijuana legalization initiatives, isn't it?

__________________
Guidelines.
Search
http://www.marijuana.com/drug-test/index

 

Dalamar49

Here's my respone to Guy Farmer (note guy Farmer is my arch enemy at the Nevada Appeal)

In response to Guy Farmer’s Column: “Return of the Potheads”

After reading Guy Farmer’s ad hominem attack against the proponents of marijuana regulation I was startled to see that such a prominent and educated Carson City resident would stoop to insulting regulation proponents and misrepresenting the proposed law.

Guy Farmer suggests that marijuana would be sold in convenience stores. He then suggests that these stores would sell to children. It is unfortunate that he hasn’t read the proposal which clearly states, “Sec. 21. 1. The Department may not issue a license as a retailer or wholesaler to an establishment that is engaged in business as a gas station, convenience store, grocery store, night club, dance hall or licensed gaming establishment.”

In addition Farmer uses his Gateway “Theory” to propose that marijuana users will always pursue other more dangerous drugs. If this is true how can Farmer explain that over 72 million Americans have tried marijuana, yet less than 20 million Americans use cocaine? Obviously only a small number of marijuana users ever go on to use harder drugs.

Next time Guy Farmer criticizes attempts to reform our state’s antiquated marijuana laws, I suggest he read those reforms and study the real facts first instead of ignorantly shooting from the hip.

-Howard Knudsen

dedbr

The title of the article. Name calling. Potheads.

I really don't know how a self respecting writer could put this down on paper in today's time's and still hold his head up....uh.....what's that? Oh damn it. I forgot about that. Money. I guess any one would sell their soul, thats true enough.

Speaking of selling soul's, how about that Mark Souder's? He's the congressional no-brain who figured out that all the people in Indiana were stupid enough to vote for a representative who ran on a no-drug platform.
That's all he ever talk's about is drug's. He has no other agenda, actually doesn't have to since he's got the captain of the idjit team locked down.
So he persists with the mad man speeches that I doubt any one but the
people that voted for him listen to.

( Dedbr takes a huge breath...)


Guess you might say I don't like Mr. Souder's. Yea, that's a good way to put it.


Then the poor little girl they use to grit the story. This really disgust's me. Forget the rest of it. Forget all the filler, the lead, the end the punchline, all the rest. Just remember this, if nothing else....



Now, I don't know about your town, but mine doesn't think it's OK for our 11 or 12 year olds to smoke or drink. I won't even ask where the parent's were, or children's services, none of the obvious question's.

It just seem's so obvious that here we have another brainwashed child singing
that same old prohibition song were so used to hearing, only lets add meth for a few bars, and all the old timers out there can just sing the word benny's
instead of meth in their song, huh?


Ya know what tho? He's right about one thing. Herb will be associated with all the other drugs as long as it's illegal. Until it's legalized and made available to
the public, herb will have to stay on the black market.....


Somewhere in Ded Land......shopping on the black market.....

__________________
"Starry, starry night, Paint your pallet blue and gray, Look out on a summers day,
With eyes that know the darkness of my soul, Shadows on the hills, Sketch the trees and the daffodils, Catch the breeze and the winter chill, In colors in the snowy linen land......"

Vincent.... Don Mclean


Posting Guidelines!

slangking

I HATE, HATE, HATE this terminology. THERE IS NOTHING INHERENTLY WRONG WITH THE EAST COAST.

__________________
I took a bath this morning in six war speeches, and a sprinkle of peace. Looks like ever body is declaring war against the forces of force. That's what you get for building up a big war machine. It scares your neighbors into jumping on you, and then of course they them selves have to use force, so you are against their force, and they're aginst yours. Look like the ring has been drawed and the marbles are all in. The millionaires has throwed their silk hats and our last set of drawers in the ring. The fuse is lit and the cannon is set, and somebody is in for a frailin. - Woody Guthrie

Buzzby

I guess that depends on where you're standing.

__________________

Dalamar49

Western Americans, particularly Westerners from less populated states, loathe the East Coast. They (we?) view it as the headquaters for American socialism and liberal culture.

Nevadans also particularly hate Californians, which is ironic because most Nevadans come from California. "East California" is a term Nevadans often use to insult Democrats and Liberals from Las Vegas.

Nevada: so it goes.