Pubdate: Sun, 22 Jan 2012 Source: Gazette, The (Colorado Springs, CO) Copyright: 2012 The Gazette Contact: http://www.gazette.com/sections/opinion/submitletter/ Website: http://www.gazette.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/165 Author: Ron Johnston PLEASE, GET A CLUE! The year that medical marijuana dispensaries were approved by the voters of Colorado, drug-related school suspensions and expulsions rose by 40 percent. Despite numerous school and community sponsored drug education programs, drug use by adolescents of all ages has sharply increased with this law. I am personally aware of the horrendous side effects of chemotherapy and other medical procedures. However, the THC medicinal benefits of marijuana are readily available in alternative medications, and are found and regulated at the local drugstore. Teachers, school officials, and law enforcement agencies are now struggling to deal with the increasingly negative fallout. We are crippling our youth, compromising our schools, numbing our society and handcuffing our cops with this reckless legislation. Now, of course, the push for legalizing marijuana is on. For those of you that voted for legalizing medicinal marijuana dispensaries and/or are considering voting for legalizing marijuana... please, get a clue! Ron Johnston Colorado Springs - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom