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
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