Pubdate: Mon, 05 Mar 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: Jim Bewley AT THE HEART OF THE MATTER I don't think we've had a serious debate on the pros and cons of legalizing marijuana in our area. There seems to be a minority who are almost fanatical in their support of legalizing the sale of marijuana, and the great majority who are not engaged or who simply don't seem to care much one way or the other. Having been one of the indifferent majority, I've recently concluded that we should be very much concerned about this issue. First of all it isn't about the small-business owners who have opened marijuana shops and may suffer if the sale of marijuana isn't legalized. And it isn't about projected tax revenue from legalized marijuana sales. Instead it is about what the legalized sale of marijuana will do to our community. There are two questions which are at the heart of the matter. * Is marijuana addictive? * To what degree does marijuana impair judgment and mental capability over the short term, and perhaps more importantly, over the long term? While I'm neither a medical doctor nor a behavioral scientist, I believe that most people, including knowledgeable scientists, will agree that marijuana is indeed addictive. That is, continued use of the drug will lead to a degree of dependency. Of course dependency isn't necessarily bad. Many of us are addicted to coffee, and researchers have found that coffee in moderate amounts is on the whole good for us. The rub comes in when we answer the second question. Based on everything I've read and all of the evidence I've seen, marijuana does impair short-term judgment. That is why drivers under the influence of marijuana do dumb and dangerous things and are subject to arrest for driving impaired. But of much more significance is the effect of marijuana on long-term mental capacity or capability. This is my opinion based on all that I have heard and read. I believe that long-term use of marijuana results in serious degradation of mental capacity and loss of ability to make good judgments about life's choices. So, legalizing the sale of marijuana, in my opinion, will make a dangerous drug more available to those least able to resist it's temptation, and I think it would be a catastrophe for our community. Jim Bewley Monument - --- MAP posted-by: Matt