POT DESTROYS KIDS' FUTURES

I am not willing to sacrifice the children and youths of Alaska by voting
to legalize hemp. People voting for the marijuana issue are only showing
the ignorance and/or self-centered need to get high. Hemp will never become
a realistic useful commodity, and in all reality the people supporting such
an issue have not thought out or researched the practicality. Yes, in some
ways hemp may be useful in small scale, but the millions of dollars it will
take to produce a realistic and usable product or fuel are not there.

There is, however, another issue that is not being looked at, and I submit
evidence in the form of statistics on youths and crimes. A 1998 Portland,
Ore., study showed that at the time of arrest in violent offenses, 48.2
percent tested positive for marijuana, 88.9 percent arrested on weapons
crimes tested positive for marijuana, 46.9 percent arrested in assaults
tested positive for marijuana and 73.7 percent arrested in vehicle theft
tested positive for marijuana.

When you legalize a product that lowers youthful inhibitions, all you do is
run the risk of damaging or destroying the future Alaska youths. One needs
only to visit the McLaughlin youth facility, North Star, Charter North
hospitals or state jails to see the damage that pot has done.

Dave Fredericks

Anchorage