Pubdate: Sun, 28 Oct 2012
Source: Times Record (Fort Smith, AR)
Copyright: 2012 Stephens Media Group
Contact: http://www.swtimes.com/site/forms/?mode=letters
Website: http://www.swtimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/529
Author: Jerry Cox
Note: Jerry Cox is the president of Family Council Action Committee, 
a conservative organization based in Little Rock.

MARIJUANA: ANYTHING BUT HARMLESS

Against Issue 5

Issue 5 on the upcoming election ballot deals with "medical" 
marijuana. Essentially, this measure is a backdoor effort to legalize 
marijuana in Arkansas; it's so broadly written that anyone who can 
demonstrate they suffer from "nausea," "muscle spasms" or "chronic 
pain" can qualify. I think most of us - if we were really bent on 
doing it - could find a way to prove we suffer from one of those 
conditions - especially when you consider this law lets any doctor in 
the nation certify you to use marijuana.

If it passes, people would be able to grow marijuana at home; they 
could use as much of it as they want; the only limitations are how 
much they can buy from a marijuana store (if they are not growing 
their own) and how much marijuana they can have on their person at 
one time (2.5 ounces - enough for about 100 marijuana joints). A lot 
of folks shrug when they hear this, and say, "So what? Marijuana is 
harmless." Well, the fact is marijuana is anything but harmless.

Proponents like to say there has never been a single death from 
marijuana. This is misleading. What they mean is it has never been 
conclusively proven that a person overdosed on marijuana. From 1997 
to 2005, the Food and Drug Administration determined marijuana 
contributed to the deaths of 279 individuals. These people did not 
O.D. on marijuana, but if they had not been using marijuana, they 
might still be alive today. What's more, some believe the numbers are 
probably much higher, because marijuana is often dismissed as a cause 
of death due to its "harmless" reputation.

A 2004 article in the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics 
found that marijuana use can lead to a very rare type of stroke 
called a cerebellar infarction. Doctors concluded from case studies 
that going on a marijuana "binge" (i.e. using a large amount of 
marijuana at once) can lead to a drop in blood pressure, which in 
turn causes a stroke. They examined three cases in which otherwise 
healthy boys each suffered strokes following marijuana use. Two of 
these boys actually died; the doctors concluded their marijuana use 
was responsible. These findings were backed up by case studies going 
all the way back to the 1980s.

If marijuana use becomes common, we will likely see more and more 
people die from it. Why would we want to do that to our state? Issue 
5 would let people possess 100 marijuana joints at a time, it would 
let them grow marijuana at home, and it would let them buy marijuana 
more easily than you or I could pick up a box of Sudafed from behind 
the pharmacist's counter. The medical community says the right way to 
treat marijuana is to have Congress change the regulations so that 
they can conduct testing and extract its health benefits (if there 
are any). That's how we get morphine and codeine - we don't let 
people grow their own opium poppy plants to manufacture painkillers 
at home. We make sure it is thoroughly vetted by scientists and 
doctors, because that's the compassionate thing to do.

When you cast your vote this year, vote against Issue 5. Who knows? 
Your vote might just save a life.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom