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Dear
A.R.,
The "story" for me, at least, is the fact that
marijuana is second only to corn as the biggest money crop
grown in the United States.....somebody is making one heckuva
lot of money growing and selling pot...., "If you don't
understand something, think of money!!"
In an
April commentary on the web-site: <Jointogether.org>,
The commissioner of the New York State Office of Alcoholism
and Substance Abuse Services, Jean Somers Miller labeled NORML's
campaign as "a gross distortion of reality.... the example
this reform group's $500,000 advertising campaign sets is
nothing short of a dangerous travesty for our nation's youth."
Adding further that, "Every day I witness the unfortunate
aftermath of marijuana and other substance abuse. For some
people, it is not true that smoking marijuana is a harmless
recreational activity. In just a decade, the potency of marijuana
has increased by an alarming 200 percent. Often, this drug
is spiked with other substances such as PCP and crack, making
their effects on the user even more unpredictable and dangerous."
As I have
tried to emphasize in this column, I have a particular concern
about teenage use...for them, marijuana use has serious immediate
and long-term adverse health consequences. It impairs the
ability to maintain attention, it causes sleepiness, difficulty
in keeping track of time, and most important, it reduces the
ability to perform tasks requiring concentration and complex
motor skills. Marijuana smokers have the same kind of respiratory
problems as cigarette smokers, such as a daily cough and reoccurring
chest colds. Frequent users develop "amotivational syndrome"
characterized by fatigue, lack of motivation and indifference.
. The
Commissioner further noted in her April Commentary that "admissions
to New York State's treatment programs in which marijuana
use was the primary drug of choice has increased more than
eightfold between the years 1991 and 2000. In 2001, for those
under the age of 19, the statistics are as equally alarming:
nearly 33 percent were admitted to treatment with marijuana
as the primary substance of abuse. According to the state
Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS),
marijuana arrests in the state increased to 43,122 in 1999
from an all-time low of 4,762 in 1991. Furthermore, about
35 percent of the arrests in 1999 involved 20-year-olds or
younger. Those who support legalization of marijuana blame
New York's problem on the state's strict Rockefeller Drug
Laws and the city's tough stance against recreational use.
While
I agree with NORML that the Rockefeller law has resulted in
a "massive growth rate in marijuana arrests," it
obviously has not decreased the drug's availability, nor its
usage by our kids. There also is no question that there has
to be a new, realistic consideration of all the laws and facts
surrounding this issue..I see no chance improvement until
government focuses on the market... on the users... on the
issues of prevention and treatment
Legalization
groups such as NORML ignore the likely the harmful consequences
of increased access that would likely follow legalization.
The greater the access to a substance by our kids,, the greater
the experimentation, abuse and potential consequent addiction.
Those who believe legalization is an appropriate response
to the problem need only look at the human and economic toll
resulting from two legal substances: alcohol and tobacco...
Deaths estimated to be 506,290 every year. While pot growers/sellers
may make millions, costs to our economy are estimated to be
$298 billion every year....... DON'T UNDERSTAND? THINK OF
MONEY!!
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