Pubdate: Tue, 15 Jan 2013
Source: Herald Times Reporter (Manitowoc, WI)
Copyright: 2013 Herald Times Reporter
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/Bi8dueb3
Website: http://www.htrnews.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1293

NOT TIME TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA IN WISCONSIN

Hundreds of people will converge on Madison today in an attempt to
convince lawmakers that marijuana should be legal in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin should not follow the recent example of Washington and
Colorado and make it legal to use marijuana, even for medical
purposes. There is a reason pot is, at least under federal law, a
controlled substance.

It is, as police and mental health experts call it, a "gateway drug"
that often leads to experimentation with more dangerous illegal drugs,
particularly among young people.

And its benefits for medicinal purposes also are open to
interpretation. We believe, with many medical experts, that there are
safer and more conventional medicines available for the ailments that
marijuana often is "prescribed" to treat, such as glaucoma, multiple
sclerosis and even some forms of cancer.

We understand there is much scientific debate on the relative merits
of medicinal marijuana use. Both sides are relatively entrenched in
their positions, and it becomes increasingly difficult to change minds
on the topic. We believe traditional medicines are at least as - if
not more - effective than marijuana.

We should not open the sluice gate of medicinal marijuana use in
Wisconsin based on scientific "evidence" that remains unproven.

Nor should we legalize the drug for use by the general population when
police and health experts say it would create more problems already
associated with illegal drugs, such as crime, truancy and poor school
performance.

Recent reports by state health officials indicate that use of tobacco
products among teenagers is declining in Wisconsin. Legalizing
marijuana could serve to reverse that healthy trend and create
additional social problems associated with the drug.

Leaders of the state branch of the National Organization for Reform of
Marijuana Laws (NORML) say change is in the air and that Wisconsin
should get on a bandwagon that already sees 18 states with some kind
of legal marijuana.

The fact is that it remains illegal under federal law to grow, possess
or sell the drug. The federal government and state laws often are at
odds on marijuana legislation. Those anomolies should be resolved
before any more states - including Wisconsin - legalize marijuana.

We believe NORML has every right to lobby for reform and legalization
of marijuana, but the time is not right in Wisconsin to take that
dramatic step. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D