POT MEASURE FOES LAUNCH CAMPAIGN

Opponents of a ballot measure that would legalize the possession of up
to one ounce of marijuana for adults of legal drinking age launched a
campaign yesterday morning to fight Amendment 44.

National anti-drug group, Save Our Society From Drugs, held a press
conference at the Denver office of Signal Behavioral Health Network,
an organization that provides access for drug and alcohol treatment.
Physicians, community activists, and law enforcement and drug policy
officials joined Lt. Governor Jane Norton to suggest that Amendment 44
will do evil to children, result in increased marijuana use, cause
additional traffic accidents, and bring more people to hospital
emergency rooms.

If approved by the voters, Amendment 44 would legalize the possession
of up to one ounce of marijuana for adults 21 years of age and older.
Language in the voter's guide suggests that the initiative would also
approve the non-compensated transfer of marijuana to juveniles, 15 to
18 years old, but that has been debunked. Colorado statute would
continue to make it a felony for an adult to induce, aid or encourage
a child under the age of 18 to violate any state of federal law.
Amendment 44 would still make it illegal for people under the age of
21 to possess marijuana.

"The question really is, do the voters of Colorado want an imperfect
initiative to vote on?" Norton responded when the Denver Daily News
asked about the discrepancy in the initiative.

The question was referred to Jeff Sweetin, the special agent in charge
of the Denver office of the DEA, but he declined to comment.

Calvina Fay, executive director of Save Our Society From Drugs said,
"Even if that part is nullified, the initiative is still not good for
the state."

The coalition cited many statistics and reasons for not voting in
favor of Amendment 44:

. Of all teenagers in drug treatment in 2000, about 62 percent had a
primary marijuana diagnosis;

. More young people are in treatment for marijuana dependency than for
alcohol or for all other illegal drugs combined;

. Recurrent or frequent use of marijuana suppresses the immune system,
damages brain cells and decreases short-term memory, attention span
and motivation

. Marijuana can result in anxiety, panic, hallucinations, delusions
and paranoia;

. Amendment 44 would make Colorado the No. 1 drug tourist destination
in America;

. Amendment 44 would have a negative economic impact on every Colorado
citizen;

. Other places that decriminalized marijuana showed jumps in juveniles
using marijuana and also in its crime rate;

. Marijuana is between 6.7 percent and 30 percent stronger than it was
30 years ago;

. Bus drivers, doctors, sexual predators, to name a few would use
marijuana and endanger society;

. There are more marijuana emergency room visits than there are for
heroin;

. Marijuana makes juveniles four times as likely to engage in violent
behavior;

. Marijuana causes students to drop out of school and increase
absenteeism.

Most of the statistics and fears produced by the coalition yesterday
have been refuted in the past by Safer Alternative For Enjoyable
Recreation, which is leading the campaign to pass Amendment 44.

Campaign Director Mason Tvert said there has not been one official
study conducted that documents negative effects to decriminalizing
marijuana.

When asked by representatives from Hispanic broadcast station
Telemundo to provide citations for its statistics, Dr. Andrea Grubb
Barthwell, former deputy director for Demand Reduction from the White
House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said an "estimated"
study was conducted by the Department of Justice. She could not verify
the accuracy of the findings.

Dr. Joseph Sakai, director of adolescent psychiatric services for
addiction research and treatment services at the University of
Colorado School of Medicine, also addressed the media and agreed that
studies indicate that marijuana has detrimental medical effects on the
body.

Tvert had challenged Sakai at a Denver City Club meeting last week to
present official studies that would support his claims. Sakai
explained that ethical restrictions prevent researchers from testing
the long-term effects of marijuana on a person. He said it would be
unethical to have someone smoke marijuana for several years in the
name of science and therefore those studies are not available.

Organizers behind the opposition said the campaign will consist of a
series of lectures given around the state and a radio advertisement
campaign designed to educate citizens about the hazards of marijuana.
The lectures are being called, "Colorado Marijuana Lectures."

For more information, visit www.saveoursociety.org

For statistics and citations, visit www.illinoismarijuanalectures.org.