POT SHOULDN'T BE LEGALIZED

To those of you who smirk at those of us who do not believe in
legalizing marijuana, and in fact should be completely eradicated,
keep in mind that pot is addictive.

To simply illustrate how addiction consumes a person's life, consider
the agony and torture smokers of the ordinary cigarette go through
when attempting to kick the habit and how they will pay any price. I
would venture to say, should it get to $10 a pack, many will pay
it.

Some excerpts from the National Drug Control Policy: In 10 of our major
metropolitan areas, as many as 87 percent of people arrested for any crime
tested positive for drug use. The most common substances detected in
descending order are marijuana, cocaine, opiates and meth, reaffirming the
strong link between drug use and crime. Marijuana abuse is associated
with many detrimental health effects. All forms of cannabis are mind
altering. Short-term effects of pot use include problems with memory and
learning, distorted perception, difficulty in thinking and problem
solving, loss of coordination, increased heart rate and
anxiety. Marijuana can lead to addiction. In the case of United States
vs. Oakland Cannabis Club, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that marijuana has
no medical value.

If the above information doesn't convince anyone that pot should not
be legalized, I don't know what else would.

A confrontational response pot smokers dwell on is why single out
pot? What about alcohol? The answer is simple: Why add another drug
to our being?

Joe Canzoneri, Magalia