Pubdate: Mon, 06 Nov 2017
Source: Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL)
Copyright: 2017 The Daily Herald Company
Contact:  http://www.dailyherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/107
Author: Bill Deckard

RESTRICT, DON'T INCREASE, ACCESS TO MARIJUANA

An Oct. 28 letter to the Daily Herald advocated greater access to
marijuana for people suffering chronic pain, citing a study in the
Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). But if you visit
the JAMA website and enter the search word "marijuana," you'll also
see dozens of articles showing that marijuana can kill more than just
pain: it can negatively impact things like cognitive function, moral
clarity and the general health and well-being of users and their
children and grandchildren.

Another recent letter in the Herald, this one in Carolyn Hax's advice
column, highlighted marijuana as a killer of ambition. Hax's
correspondent told about her 20-something boyfriend, a daily user of
marijuana who, among other things, hadn't driven his own car in two
years simply because he had lost his car keys! A question, dear
reader: when you were 20-somelthing -- maybe you still are -- would
you have given up driving your car even for two days, let along two
years, just because you couldn't find your keys?

I'm writing this letter on the day before Halloween and can't help but
wonder, as our nation rushes headlong toward allowing greater access
to marijuana, are we in danger of producing endless generations of
ambitionless, leisure-loving, mentally challenged zombies?

Let's urge our legislators to pass laws restricting -- not increasing
- -- access to this dangerous drug.

Bill Deckard

Winfield
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MAP posted-by: Matt