FACTS ABOUT AMENDMENT 44

(Editor's note: This letter was originally addressed to elected
officials in Eagle, Garfield and Pitkin counties.)

Dear Editor:

I find it alarming that the Pitkin County commissioners unanimously
agreed to support Amendment 44, which legalizes possession and use of
non-medicinal marijuana for adults. Please do not follow suit. What
the commissioners failed to acknowledge are the extreme health and
safety risks associated with marijuana use:

Fact 1: Even low doses of marijuana tend to induce intoxication, which
includes alterations in thought formation and expression.

Fact 2: Even low doses of marijuana tend to distort time and space
relationships and impair coordination which can result in driving,
occupational, or household accidents.

Fact 3: The stronger the dose, the more intense the
reaction.

Fact 4: Marijuana contains more identified toxins and cancer-causing
chemicals than tobacco smoke.

Fact 5: Marijuana is stored in fat cells for as long as several
months.

Fact 6: Marijuana users experience the same health problems as tobacco
smokers, such as bronchitis, emphysema, bronchial asthma, long-term
risk to the lungs and reproductive system, and immune system
suppression.

Fact 7: Other known side effects may include: substantial increase in
heart rate, rapidly fluctuating emotions, fragmentary thoughts with
disturbed associations, an altered sense of self identity, impaired
short-term memory and concentration, fantasies, hallucinations,
paranoia and impairment of motivation and cognition making acquisition
of new information difficult.

The potency of marijuana is much stronger than in days past, resulting
in an inability to accurately assess how much was used, when the last
use was and to what extent residual side effects are impacting the
user. Any use nowadays is often problematic for days after.

Shelley Evans

Carbondale