Pubdate: Sun, 04 May 2014
Source: East Valley Tribune (AZ)
Copyright: 2014 East Valley Tribune.
Contact: http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/opinion/submit_a_letter/
Website: http://www.eastvalleytribune.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2708
Author: Kirk Muse
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n377/a04.html

TURLEY-HANSEN WANTS TO TAKE AWAY OUR FREEDOM

I'm writing about Linda Turley-Hansen's not-so-thoughtful column: 
"Just like booze and porn, pot changes the brain" (April 27)

Lots of substances and activities change our brains including music 
lessons and products containing caffeine. Like coffee and tea, small 
amounts of cannabis are beneficial to most adults. Cannabis is one of 
the most powerful anti-inflammation products on Earth.

I used to have a supervisor where I worked who often boasted that he 
drank at least twenty cups of coffee every day. Unfortunately, he 
died of a heart attack in his mid forties. Does Turley-Hansen 
advocate the criminalization of coffee?

I'd like to add that the cannabis legalization issue is not whether 
cannabis is completely safe for everybody, including children and 
adolescents; it is not.

The issue is freedom of choice for adults. Children have died from 
eating peanuts and peanut butter but we don't cage peanut growers, 
sellers or consumers. One in thirteen children suffer from food 
allergies, yet we have no foods that are outlawed.

And the voters of Colorado and Washington state have decided that we 
should not cage cannabis growers, sellers or consumers.

Arizona adults have the freedom of choice of whether or not to 
consume legal alcohol. Shouldn't all Arizona adults have the same 
freedom of choice regarding legal cannabis?

Kirk Muse

Mesa
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom