DON'T BUY HYPE ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA

You say there are "only benefits" to medical marijuana? Not in San
Francisco, where this farce has already been enacted, leading to a
sharp increase in crime.

Here's how the scam works: well-meaning voters approve the use of
pot for "terminally ill" people. Pot dealers get a "medical pot"
card for their "glaucoma" and use it to buy pot. Dealers turn around
and sell the pot to teenagers. Dealers use the proceeds to acquire
harder drugs like heroin and crack. Teenagers become the
next generation of drug addicts. The areas where the pot shops are
located become crime-ridden slums.

The above scenario is why dozens of towns in California have passed
ordinances to outlaw medical pot in their towns. But don't take my
word for it. The ease with which anyone can get their hands on
"medical" pot has been profiled on 60 Minutes, the O'Reilly Factor
and even in the left-leaning New Republic.

Marijuana is decriminalized in Amsterdam. Authorities there are
currently cracking down on pot shops. Why? They're all run by
organized crime. The same thing will occur in New Jersey, where I
suspect the majority of the prescriptions will be written by Dr. Tony Soprano.

Reputable medical organizations such as the American Medical
Association know that marijuana is a potentially dangerous drug with
no proven medical benefits. The active ingredient in the drug, THC,
can be synthesized into pill form, eliminating the need to smoke pot.

"Nothing but benefits" to legal pot? That's just smoke and mirrors.

DAN J. DeFAZIO

Bound Brook