AMERICANS ARE STRESSED, BUT SHOULDN'T TURN TO MARIJUANA

I keep seeing all these passionate letters about legalizing marijuana.
People are saying that people just don't understand how marijuana has
helped their pain management. The truth is that there are a lot of
drugs out there that help people escape pain and stress. Alcohol is
one among many others. Just like alcohol, marijuana has a lot of
unhealthy aspects that people do not want to talk about because of how
good it makes them feel.

It is not a light issue. Teens who can get it more easily can become
addicted, and it has been proven that if they have a recessive
schizophrenic gene, it can become active. I don't know if you remember
your high school days, but it does not improve the brain cells of
teens, either. It slows the brain down quite a bit. The pure act of
putting so much smoke in one's body is also not the healthiest thing.
Have you noticed that people just about cough a lung out after smoking
it?

Americans are stressed, and their bodies are reacting. Another
drug--whether alcohol or marijuana--is not going to solve our
problems. A change in lifestyle is the only way to make life better.

If Americans could view "medicine" similar to Native American
medicine, we might see other medicines out there besides drugs. We
would not need to continue taking them day after day. Maybe once is
all it would take, like homeopathics.

Since alcohol has been legalized, it has been a part of life for
people, and it is considered normal to get drunk on weekends--or even
for a conservative person to regularly have a drink. Mainstream social
life centers on bars. And so now we may do the same with marijuana.

Personally, I think God is the answer. But I know that's not what
everyone wants to hear. And something besides another "pill" to make
it all go away is what we Americans need, not legalizing another drug.
How about just not working so hard on jobs that are not meaningful and
talking to people more and connecting? How about building community?
Working passionately on helping others? It doesn't look like Jimmy
Carter needed a smoke to build Habitat for Humanity. How about helping
the needy?

If people were not so self-absorbed and lived more like Jesus, then
maybe we wouldn't feel so much pain and stress and build cultures
around alcohol or marijuana.

Gina Turley

San Luis Obispo