Pubdate: Mon, 07 Mar 2016
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2016 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact: http://services.bostonglobe.com/news/opeds/letter.aspx?id=6340
Website: http://bostonglobe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52
Authors: Charlie Baker, Maura Healey and Martin J. Walsh
Note: Charlie Baker is the governor of Massachusetts. Maura Healey is 
the state attorney general. Martin J. Walsh is the mayor of Boston.

MASS. SHOULD NOT LEGALIZE MARIJUANA

This November, voters in Massachusetts will be asked whether to 
legalize marijuana.

Our state has already decriminalized the drug for personal use, and 
we've made it legally available for medical use. The question before 
us now is whether marijuana should be fully legal and widely 
available for commercial sale. We think the answer is "no."

Where marijuana is legal, young people are more likely to use it, 
according to a January report from the Rocky Mountain High Intensity 
Drug Trafficking Area. The report found that while use among minors 
has declined nationwide in recent years, states like Colorado have 
seen an increase.

There, young people are 20 percent more likely to have used marijuana 
regularly since it became legal for adults two years ago. And they're 
40 percent more likely to be regular users than their peers in 
Massachusetts. Kids in states that have legalized marijuana have 
easier access to the drug. And many believe that, since the drug is 
legal for adults, it must be safe to use.

What the evidence shows us, though, is that marijuana is not safe. 
Regular use that starts in adolescence has been shown to impair brain 
development, shrink school and career outcomes, and even lower IQ. 
With the high THC levels in marijuana today - it's up to seven times 
more potent than it was in the 1970s - about one in six users who 
start as teenagers become physically dependent.

And increasingly, medical science is also showing a frightening 
correlation between regular marijuana use and severe mental health issues.

Even an untrained eye can see differences between the MRI brain 
images of those who habitually use marijuana and those who don't.

There are also serious and immediate implications for public safety. 
In the year after the drug was legalized in Colorado, 
marijuana-related emergency room visits increased nearly 30 percent, 
as did traffic deaths involving marijuana.

Edible marijuana products - often in the form of brownies, candy, or 
soda - pose a particular threat for children, who may mistake them 
for regular treats. According to data from the National Poison Data 
System, marijuana exposure has been on the rise among children under 
six, particularly in states where the drug is legal.

High potency edible products also pose a risk to adults, who can 
easily consume more marijuana than intended and experience serious 
adverse effects.

These products are rarely labeled properly to reflect their 
psychoactive THC content, which is particularly concerning given that 
edible marijuana products constitute almost half of the legal 
marijuana market in Colorado.

The costs to our first responders, our medical system, and our cities 
and towns must be factored in when we speculate about the potential 
increase in tax revenues from legalizing marijuana.

In Colorado, marijuana sales taxes account for just a fraction of one 
percent of total state revenues.

Here in Massachusetts, we face the possibility that any new revenue 
would be vastly insufficient to cover the cost of ambulance rides, 
emergency room visits, and treatment.

And these are just the hard costs; they don't include the suffering 
of the injured and their families.

Legislative hearing Monday on marijuana initiative

The referendum could move forward even if it doesn't garner much 
support from lawmakers at the hearing, which is set for 1 p.m.

The financial backers of legalization are not neighborhood leaders, 
medical professionals, or grass-roots activists.

They're big businesses and investors, who are spending millions on 
campaigns across the country because they will profit from the 
legalization of marijuana. A high-level official at the Marijuana 
Policy Project, a driving force behind the Massachusetts initiative, 
recently resigned from the organization due to his growing alarm that 
the marijuana industry is putting profits over people and taking over 
the movement for legalization. Motivated by the profit potential of 
dominating a new marketplace, proponents know it's not in their best 
interest to disclose or address the serious threats to public health 
and safety, nor to represent accurately the experiences of Colorado 
and other states.

We hope voters will listen to the doctors, counselors, and 
substance-abuse specialists in our own world-class medical community 
who are expressing concerns over legalization. Decades of research 
have now debunked the myth that marijuana is harmless.

The science also shows that regular marijuana users - especially 
those who start at a young age - are more likely to try more dangerous drugs.

For the past year, our teams have worked tirelessly, together and 
with our partners across Massachusetts, to combat the heroin and 
prescription-drug epidemic that is ravaging our state.

Our emergency departments and drug treatment centers are beyond 
capacity, and our first responders are stretched to their limits.

We should not be expanding access to a drug that will further drain 
our health and safety resources.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom