Saturday, March 22, 1997
Marijuana
Inaccurate, misleading
The letter regarding marijuana (Eve Lentz, March 14 "Why to legalize
marijuana"...lists a number of questions; most responses are inaccurate,
if not misleading. ...If the author of the letter or anyone else really
wants to be informed on this subject, I suggest they take a drug and
alcohol information course at the very least.
Marijuana is responsible for so many road and industrial accidents that
numerous states and legislators are looking into blood testing when
someone is cited by the police. We spend, as business owners, vast
amounts of money to drugtest employees, not because we want to lose the
employee, but because of insurance and labor productivity, as use can
cause amotivational syndrome and countless onthejob accidents. (Yes,
there are documented statistics.)
Since marijuana is in the plasma for up to six days, the impairment
caused to sight, motor skills and judgment is also. You are more likely
to get cancer from marijuana than cigarettes: One joint or bowl equals
one pack of cigarettes for cancercausing agents....
Marijuana increases pulse rate and blood pressure while at the same
time produces relaxation, slow speech and sedation. It has many of the
simultaneous, combined effects of cocaine and heroin.
...It has gained orphan status from the FDA to treat
chemotherapyinduced nausea and stimulate appetite in AIDS papients. But
should a drug with immunosuppressive properties be given to patients who
already have a compromised immune system?
Marijuana's use in adolescents causes physical and psychological
problems too diverse to list. If one were going to argue for
legislation, one would be wiser to compare our war on drugs to
prohibition. Trying to pass it off as a harmless herb is ignorant and
dangerous.

Ava Aldridge
SedroWoolley