Marijuana.com

PotShot

Marijuana legalization? No thanks
Guy W. Farmer | Nevada Appeal | July 16, 2006

When the Appeal last month republished an editorial from Fallon's Lahontan Valley News endorsing a ballot initiative that would legalize small amounts of marijuana, the potheads rejoiced on the Appeal's Web site. But they must have been disappointed a few days later when Editor Barry Ginter reiterated this paper's longtime opposition to drug legalization.

"There may be some readers under the impression that the Appeal ... has endorsed a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana," Ginter wrote. "We haven't." He rejected arguments calling pot a "harmless drug" and favored "whatever option results in the least amount of marijuana being used in Nevada," which sounds reasonable to me. Because, as my loyal readers know, I'm adamantly opposed to the legalization of marijuana and other dangerous drugs.

The potheads will surely criticize me yet again for labeling marijuana as a dangerous drug, but don't take my word for it. Earlier this year, studies by Minnesota's respected Mayo Clinic found that regular marijuana use can cause health problems ranging from memory loss to cancer. Specifically, clinic researchers reported that pot 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.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reinforced those findings in April by declaring that marijuana has a high potential for abuse, has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the U.S., and has a lack of safety for use under medical supervision. The FDA further determined that pot smoking is harmful and that there are no sound scientific studies supporting the safety or efficacy of "medical" marijuana. Other than that, the drug is completely safe.

A recent investigative report by the Des Moines (Iowa) Register warned that "today's marijuana is at least 10 times more potent than it was in the 1970s," and quoted the Iowa Crime Lab as saying that 21st century pot produces "a stronger, longer-lasting high whose effects reach far beyond the so-called 'munchies' and drowsiness" caused by earlier, milder forms of the drug. Iowa Drug Czar Marvin Van Haaften added that today's marijuana contains THC (the main active chemical in the drug) levels of more than 20 percent, compared to average THC levels of two percent in the 1970s.

Van Haaften echoed an earlier warning by House Drug Policy Subcommittee Chairman Mark Souder (R-Ind.), who urged Congress to oppose marijuana legalization initiatives in several states, including Nevada. "Marijuana is a gateway drug," he wrote in a letter to fellow lawmakers. "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." He based his comments on a recent study by the University of Otago, New Zealand, Medical School, 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 destroying lives in Nevada and elsewhere around the country.

The Reno Gazette-Journal recently published an in-depth report on the devastating impact of methamphetamine on the youth of Northern Nevada. According to a 2005 survey by the State Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, some 10 percent of Washoe County high school students and five percent of middle school students had tried meth at least once, creating a pool of thousands of potential teenage meth addicts in our area.

But what really got my attention was how many of the young drug users interviewed by the RG-J had experimented with marijuana before turning to meth. The anecdotal evidence that pot is a gateway drug contradicts claims by the Washington, D.C.-based, George Soros-financed Marijuana Policy Project, which is pushing drug legalization initiatives in Nevada and several other states. I'm pleased to report, however, that a similar MPP-sponsored Nevada ballot measure was defeated by a 60-40 margin two years ago and hope that my fellow voters will again say no to drugs in November.

The RG-J cited the instructive case of 17-year-old Cyndle Bell, of Carson City, whose tragic story was first made public when the Appeal's Teri Vance wrote that Ms. Bell "started drinking at 11 and smoking pot at 12, before meth almost destroyed her life. Her experience coincides with what local Justice of the Peace John Tatro told me two years ago - that at least half of the meth abusers who appeared in his court also tested positive for marijuana.

So let me reiterate a question I posed earlier this year: "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 (which it is), what sense does it make to legalize possession of 'small' amounts of marijuana?" None, as far as I can see, which is why I'm encouraged to know that my opinion is shared by many community leaders including Mayor Marv Teixeira and Sheriff Ken Furlong, both of whom have had to deal with meth addiction problems in their own families. I wish them well and offer my support in their high-profile campaign to combat the plague of illegal drugs in Carson City.



• Guy W. Farmer, of Carson City, participated in the War on Drugs in seven countries during his 28-year U.S. Foreign Service career.

__________________
Posting Guidelines

Carl Sagan Goodness Richard Dawkins Goodness

 

gob

I wonder where this guy is getting his facts?...FDA...a Bush bash, They have not been reading the same things I have been reading....Cancer....the last study said that there was no corrolation with pot and lung cancer....it's all bull.

stoneygreenbud

No sound scientific studies......But yet he swears by this "MAYO CLINIC"
Thats because we have over the years learned from our mistakes
Not true...whats destroying lives is alcohal,tobacco,caffene,sensless laws,pollution,people ignoring the plain and simple truths,an over reaching federal goverment...the list goes on, meth included.
WOW, 10% and 5% and only a fraction of those used cannabis. Those look like pretty "low" percentages to me?

Just thinking out loud,

Stoney

BelgianKid

"Iowa Drug Czar Marvin Van Haaften added that today's marijuana contains THC (the main active chemical in the drug) levels of more than 20 percent, compared to average THC levels of two percent in the 1970s."

whoa, where can i find that pot?

Hansje

Where do they get their facts? They cherry-pick them and lie, of course. Here's a link for Downsize DC, and they're trying to put the pressure on legislators to eliminate the ONDCP, i.e. the Drug Czar's office. I'd like the administrators of this site to pass it around the web to all the folks who would benefit by getting rid of this waste of money and pain in the butt. The office is fraud, waste, and abuse: fraud perpetrated by their lies, waste of money, and abuse of power to tell us what to think. You have to see the wording of the letter of the Downsizer Dispatch to understand completely the text of the letter that will be sent to the politicians who claim to represent your views.

http://action.downsizedc.org/wyc.php?cid=49

 

replica

.... "Who... who am I? Where am I? What's math?"


This article is a joke

__________________
sleep please

Moderation is a smoker's best friend

More Rights, Please.

deewevoli

they only get most of there there facts from tests done in the 70's remember reefer madness2? and these results are stripped down to only include info that supports the govts opinion while the rest is discarded. also almost every test the US govt has done when repeated in other countries the other countries get very different results. I wonder why? I seiously think the govt goes as far as to take un tested "educated" guesses and pass them off as fact.

deewevoli

now that ive read it again and am on my second posting and currently an the verge of passing out due to perscribed vicadin(however its spelled) the vicadin by the way which was making me puke everything i ate earlier which is great especialy because i was not allowed to eat or drink for 12 hrs before my surgery i cant help but laugh out of fear for how full of s**t this world has become. when ive injured myself in the past ive smoked and it has worked for pain releif (hey govt do a study on me medical marijuana isint bullcrap) and if i had weed right now i would be in no pain and not sick because of a pain reliever which according to the govt is "SAFER" than marijuana.
And as a follow up to my other post the only reason there is no substancial evidence to support the pros of marijuana is because the government NEVER does a study if it has a chance of showing marijuana in a positive light. Thus the government has and probably never will support research that shows marijuanas bennifits.

Jasssson

You see whats being done here?

in the 70's im sure there was some bs "reefer madness" excuse and now thirty years later its the same kind of tactic.

they admit it was safe, but NOW it'll kill you boy!

as time goes on the arguments against legalization become more and more pathetic.

but its whatever, keep it illegal.
all its done is create an awsome subculture that has connected millions of people who otherwise might never have met.

i think it would loose alot of appeal if i could pick up a pack of joints anyways.

Bowlblaze

The problem with keeping it illegal is that it introduces people to OTHER subcultures. Subcultures that expiriment a lot with off-topics. For example, a dealer I used to pick up off of would always try to get me to buy some "off-topic fungus" whenever I bought bud. Smoking weed will make someone more likely to be EXPOSED to off-topics due to the illegality.

__________________
The government thinks we're all criminals. The people who are really the criminals are the people who view pot smokers as being no better than rapists, murderers, or corrupt politions
New? Read the Posting Guidelines. Bored? Join the Chat . Need an answer? Try a Search.