THOSE WHO KNOW SUPPORT MARIJUANA BAN

Pot advocates braying how wonderful marijuana is and calling to
decriminalize it are wrong on both counts. Marijuana is bad news, for
users and society. Pot impairs cognitive functions across the board.

Pot use produces dependency, cravings to use and withdrawal symptoms
when users try to quit.

Once marijuana contained less than 1 percent THC, now it contains 15
to 20 percent. That makes it a hard drug, especially among kids, for
whom pot's allure is particularly enticing.

Here are just a few of marijuana's detrimental effects. Not one is my
opinion. They come from Dr. Daryl Inaba, former head of the
Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic Drug Detoxification Program.

Dr. Inaba saw about 100 patients a month specifically for marijuana
detoxification - people who wanted to stop smoking and couldn't. They
had withdrawal symptoms and cravings and had to go through an
education treatment process like any other addict.

Pot decriminalization advocates, including Maui state Rep. Joe
Bertram, are blind to what would happen. Recently the city of
Amsterdam announced plans to close brothels, sex shops and marijuana
cafes as part of an effort to drive organized crime out. The city is
targeting businesses that "generate criminality," including the
so-called "coffee shops" where marijuana is sold openly.

Try keeping decriminalized pot away from kids. We would have the same
success that we do with tobacco - none. Drugs beget drugs beget drugs.
More easily available pot is the last thing we need.

Jerome Kellner

Wailuku