Pubdate: Tue, 12 Mar 2013 Source: Record Searchlight (Redding, CA) Copyright: 2013 Record Searchlight Contact: http://www.redding.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/360 Author: Ann Yarbrough FOR LEGALIZING POT - UNTIL I BREATHE IT Although I have never used cannabis, I have been in favor of legalizing it for several reasons - freeing up our jail cells for more deserving criminals, the tax revenue, and, like cigarettes and alcohol, people are going to do it anyway legal or not. But then after suffering continually from my neighbors' "legal" habit, I find myself repenting of any favorable feelings towards unrestricted use of the "weed." When he and his friends sit outside on his own property and smoke, it permeates my home and I find myself suffering from severe asthma attacks. The thick stench of a skunk wakes me in the wee hours of the morning coughing and wheezing, struggling to catch my breath. At first I would get up and walk outside all around my home looking for the culprit until I realized exactly where the stench and irritant was coming from. If we can make laws and rules for protection against secondhand cigarette smoke, why can't this include the smoke from something you can actually smell? Moving is not an option so what can I do to protect my own lungs and my home against this attack? Cigarette smoke doesn't affect or smell like this stuff does to a person who is suffering from COPD, or any lung disorder. So to legalize this would allow any person to smoke it as openly as one does a cigarette, but the side effect to those around the smokers would be horrendous. Legalizing it would allow the stench to be in any area that allowed smoking, including public parks and even on the street. Not to mention the cannabis smoke stays around a lot longer than regular cigarettes. To legalize or not to legalize ... to give one person freedom to smoke is to take away the freedom to breathe from another. A Catch-22 situation either way you look at it. Ann Yarbrough, Red Bluff - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom