KEEP A LID ON THE POT

Harm Outweighs Good in Proposition to Legalize Pot

While there are good, reasonable arguments to be made in favor of
Proposition 19, which would legalize marijuana for personal use and
allow counties to legalize it entirely, it strikes us that the
potential harm from legalizing pot far outweighs any good it might
accomplish.

Society already struggles with the heavy costs of alcohol and tobacco
use. We lose more than twice as many people every year in this nation
to drunken drivers than we lost in the entire Iraq war. Add in the
number of people who die prematurely from smoking-related illnesses,
and the toll to substance abuse is far too high.

Adding legal marijuana to that mix is not the path to
take.

We acknowledge that legalizing pot might weaken the growing clout of
the ultra-violent Mexican drug cartels, as well as those marijuana
growers who plant in our state and national parks and forests, and
guard their illicit crops with booby traps, dogs and guns.

But when measured against increased traffic fatalities caused by
impaired drivers, and the health care costs of treating the additional
people who would regularly use marijuana were it legalized, the
benefits just aren't enough to justify passing Prop. 19.

Not that we advocate a crackdown on marijuana use,
either.

Rather, we support the current state policy of classifying marijuana
use as a low-grade crime and of allowing its use for those whose
doctors suggest it for legitimate medical reasons - and coupling
that to increased education about the risks of marijuana use, similar
to public education campaigns regarding alcohol and tobacco use.

The policies in place now are reasonable and prudent; we urge a "no"
vote on Prop. 19.