JUMPING OUT OF THE PAN

I confess that I braced myself for the backlash from my last column,
on Proposition 19, the bid to legalize marijuana that was defeated
Nov. 2 by California voters. While surveying other's opinions to
legalize marijuana, I found mostly respectful dialogue.

One dissident, "Always Right" writes, "Demonizing marijuana as a
'gateway drug' is humorous. And if you check with the private and
public drug rehab facilities, you'll find that marijuana is way
behind other drugs like heroin, meth and, the big winner, alcohol."

He's right about the alcohol. A pastor from Green Oak Ranch in Vista
who ministers to drug and alcohol abusers said, "I've been to more
funerals in the last nine years. And the majority of them were caused
by alcohol."

"Always Right" further comments, "Alcohol is truly the gateway drug
that is accepted in our culture and accepted by high school parents
as a part of growing up (wink, wink). 'As long as my kid doesn't drive!'"

I emphatically agree. Parents are hypocritical to ignore their
teenagers' alcohol use. Many turn a blind eye to this destructive
drug of choice. Since I grew up in a family that used alcohol and
drugs, I know liquor captures unsuspecting people of all ages. Mark
Nordquist, former professional football player, argues, "Yes, alcohol
is a bomb in the street for our children. But why would we throw
marijuana, another explosive, into traffic for them to play with, too?"

Where "Always Right" and I part ways is about pot not being a gateway
drug. I disagree. Unfortunately, I grew up dodging drugs because I
saw what they did to my 18-year-old brother. I don't know if he
started with alcohol, but he did smoke pot. Then he graduated to
cocaine, and while high on it, killed himself. Were the drugs the
reason he committed suicide? No, many other red-flag issues
contributed to his self-destruction. But I know the drugs didn't do
him any favors.

With my highly addictive family background, I decided never to put an
illegal drug into my body. Unfortunately, friends and family members
ridiculed me for refusing to take drugs. They even tried to sneak
drugs into my food. It seems that many users want others to join them
because it validates their drug use.

Hopefully, the public knows that the Prop. 19 sequel is a con. It's
like placing a frog in tap water. If you slowly heat the water to a
boil, the frog will won't hop out. He will boil to death and never
even know he's dying.

With this subtle push to change public opinion about weed,
Californians should jump out of the pan - before the water's too hot to escape.