MARIJUANA SHOULD NOT BE LEGALIZED

J. Kalani English's move to change marijuana laws (The Maui News, Jan. 17)
means unquestionably more marijuana will become available in our society.
And more youths will, with the naivete of youth, see smoking marijuana as
a good thing, indeed as medicine.

Smoking marijuana may relieve symptoms of some disorders, but there is no
good outcome from inhaling any smoke - be it cannabis, tobacco or any
other. Whether pot's being smoked by someone with a prescription or by a
teenager who bought it from someone with a prescription making money by
reselling it - which is happening in areas where medicinal pot is sold -
bad outcomes follow. Besides tarring up the lungs, pot smoking hooks a
solid segment of users psychologically and emotionally.

Pot's harmful effects are particularly egregious to youths, as it
detrimentally impacts the brain's frontal lobe, center for logic, planning
and reason. The frontal lobe is also the seat of spirituality and
morality, and takes as long as 30 years to mature. The last thing we need
is our youths impairing their ability to learn, reason and make morally
sound judgments.

Sen. English may believe his move will quench our society's insatiable
lust for drugs, freeing up police to pursue more harmful drugs. Dead wrong
all around. Drugs and drug use beget more drugs and drug use. We do not
need more mind-impairing, dependence-producing substances readily
available to stone our citizens. This is exactly what will happen when
massive amounts of marijuana become available.

Jerome Kellner

Wailuku