Pubdate: Wed, 21 Oct 2015
Source: Gateway, The (U of Alberta, CN AB Edu)
Copyright: 2015 Gateway Student Journalism Society
Contact:  http://www.thegatewayonline.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3149
Page: 8

MANY PRECAUTIONS TO TAKE BEFORE LEGALIZING MARIJUANA

Left-winged folk rejoiced when it was announced that Justin Trudeau, 
leader of the Liberal Party, is the new Prime Minister of Canada. 
Supporters are celebrating the optimistic campaign promises, 
including lower taxes, more infrastructure investments and a promise 
to launch an inquiry into the thousands of missing and murdered 
indigenous women. But a promise that has many hippies and stoners 
especially stoked is the promise of legal marijuana sometime in the 
near future. So how long until there's a dispensary in every McDonald's?

Unfortunately, probably not anytime soon. The decriminalization while 
we wait for legalization should lighten the "War on Drugs'" economic 
strain via the prison system. But in the interim there is a lot that 
needs to be discussed before weed can and should be easily 
accessible, from how much to tax it, to personal plants, to approving 
more large-scale producers.

Something that is absolutely necessary to the legalization process is 
more thorough studying of how varying amounts of THC and other 
psychoactive components in the bloodstream affect the brain's 
functioning. There are numerous neurological changes that happen when 
you get high and a few major ones are reduced multitasking ability, 
reduced attention span, and reduced fine motor skills. These impaired 
mental functions make a lot of simple tasks difficult. So if simple 
tasks become hard, complex tasks like driving become significantly less safe.

With the ability to drive (among other tasks) becoming unsafe when 
high, the most important issue regarding legalization is making sure 
people don't drive impaired. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) 
estimates that between 1200 and 1500 drunk driving fatalities occur 
each year - this number must not go up if the number of people 
driving high goes up due to easy accessibility and lack of education 
about marijuana. I can't count the amount of times I've heard "I 
drive better high." The same was said about alcohol before the huge 
backlash against drunk driving. We don't need a string of impaired 
driving-related deaths to spawn the necessity of a reaction like that 
of the MADD. Marijuana is already looked down upon as a negative 
substance by many, so don't give those people another reason to want 
it pushed back into prohibition. Driving drunk is becoming 
increasingly socially unacceptable as the years pass. Driving high 
needs the same taboo.

Unfortunately, awareness and public opinion is not the be-all-end-all 
solution to keeping people from driving high. There also needs to be 
a way to detect THC in the bloodstream when people are stopped and 
suspected of driving high. The threat of injuring another person (or 
yourself) isn't enough to keep everyone from getting behind the wheel 
when intoxicated. Breathalyzers and penalties aren't the perfect 
solution, but the threat of losing a license is what keeps many from 
driving home after too many drinks at the bar. THC breathalyzers are 
being researched, but more funding is needed to decide if they are 
really the most effective method of detection.

If we're going to legalize, a system like the one established to 
determine safe levels of blood alcohol content needs to be 
implemented, and fast. Impaired driving is a problem. Put the money 
saved from the strain prohibition put on the prison system into 
finding a quick and reliable way to detect THC in the bloodstream, 
along with awareness about the dangers of high driving.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom