Source: Anchorage Daily News (AK) Contact: http://www.adn.com/ Copyright: 1998 The Anchorage Daily News Author: Linda Adams Pubdate: Thursday, 22 Oct 1998 Note: Lynda Adams is founder and retired executive director of Alaskans for a Drug-Free Youth. SAY NO AGAIN TO LEGALIZED MARIJUANA KETCHIKAN - Ballot Measure No. 8, a bill allowing the medical use of marijuana, was devised by the pro-drug lobby as an attempt to open the door for the use of marijuana by children and adults - at schools, in the workplace, as well as in the privacy of their homes. This ballot measure is portrayed as a "compassionate use" issue to gain voter sympathy. But the initiative is not about compassion for sick and dying patients. Proposition 8 is nothing more than a clever ruse designed to legalize marijuana use in Alaska. This year, marijuana advocates targeted our state along with Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and the District of Columbia because it costs less to get ballot measures passed in these states and in the district. The state initiatives are patterned after ones passed in California and Arizona in 1996. A National Household Survey shows that one year after those states passed a medical use of marijuana initiative, the perception of risk of using the illegal drug was lower and illicit drug use was higher in both states than in the rest of the nation. As of Sept. 30, the non-Alaska group, Americans for Medical Rights in California, had contributed more than $125,000 to influence the outcome of Alaska's election. This agenda of this California pro-pot group has nothing to do with the welfare of Alaska's children, families or businesses. Schedule 1 drugs (such as opium and codeine) have a high potential for abuse. To become a medicine, any substance, including Schedule 1 drugs, must undergo rigorous scientific testing. Without such testing, the Food and Drug Administration cannot approve a substance as a safe and effective medicine. Without FDA approval, doctors may not prescribe a substance, and pharmacies may not sell it. Asking voters, instead of scientists and doctors, to approve a drug as a safe and effective medicine is an attempt to bypass the FDA approval process that has protected Americans for nearly a century. Proposition 8 is loosely worded so that almost any condition could create the pain, nausea and muscle spasms for which a doctor could recommend marijuana use. The use of marijuana would not require a prescription from a doctor. A recommendation that marijuana "might" help is all that is required. All symptoms and conditions listed in the ballot initiative are currently treated with scientifically approved drugs - including Marinol, which is derived from the active ingredient (THC) in marijuana. Marinol is currently available as a prescription drug. There is no need for "medical" marijuana. Alaska produces marijuana with the highest THC potency (29.86 percent) in the nation. Ballot Measure No. 8 will provide no control over the potency of the marijuana nor the dosage used. A person would be allowed to possess an ounce of marijuana (equivalent to nearly 100 rolled joints) and would be allowed to personally grow up to six plants. Under the proposition, marijuana would be available to minors with parental consent. Increased accessibility to pot by children is guaranteed. From 1975 when marijuana was decriminalized in Alaska until 1990, our youth were using marijuana at twice the rate of other youngsters across the nation. Legalization efforts, including those that insist that illicit drugs are medicines, appear to be contributing to the erosion in young people's belief that drugs are harmful and to stimulating their increased use. If this initiative passes, it will seriously undermine all drug prevention work with Alaska's youth. Ballot Measure No. 8: * Eliminates effective law enforcement. * Allows prison inmates who have a medical condition to use marijuana. * Would not prohibit marijuana use in the workplace, thus having a devastating effect on drug-free workplace policies. * Would eliminate effective drug testing policies in the workplace. The American Medical Association and the American Cancer Society have rejected marijuana as "medicine" and denounced it as harmful. There are no prescribed medications today that are ingested by smoking. Alaskans said NO to marijuana at the polls in 1989. Alaskans must say NO again. No legal marijuana. Not now. Not ever. It is in the best interest of all Alaskans that voters reject Ballot Measure No. 8. - --- Checked-by: Richard Lake