DON'T LET STATE GO UP IN SMOKE

Proposition 19 went up in pot smoke on Nov. 2 of last year. Pot would
have come to the state's rescue. Like medical marijuana, smoking dope
would have actually alleviated most of the state's ills!

Pot advocates claimed legalization would cripple the drug cartels and
thus allow police to focus more on violent crime. But, it's ludicrous
to assume that to be true with so much money to be made if pot were
legal. Organized crime would not magically disappear if marijuana
became legal, raking in huge profits selling weed cheaper than the
legal pot prices. Legalization would do nothing to undermine illegal markets.

Marijuana can be hazardous to one's health. It can even be more
harmful to users' lungs than smoking "safe" tobacco. Pot not only
causes lung damage, but may give people a chronic cough and
bronchitis, too. Pot can cause cancer. According to the National
Institute of Health, someone who smokes five joints a week can take
in more cancer-causing chemicals than someone who smokes a whole pack
of cigarettes every day. There are more chemicals in pot smoke than
in cigarettes: more than 400, in fact. It kills white blood cells,
important cells that fight infections and diseases.

Even though pot smoking doesn't produce severe physical dependency
like heroin does, potheads can still become psychologically addicted
to pot. Since users find reefer enjoyably rewarding, they believe
falsely that pot is not addictive. But, they become hooked - hooked
in the sense that many develop a tolerance for weed. In other words,
they've built up so much tolerance to it that they need more and more
marijuana to maintain a comfortable level of being "high." So,
although pot may not be physically addictive, it's still addictive.

Pot affects alertness, concentration and coordination, which makes
driving stoned dangerous. Drivers on pot don't see things well, have
problems with paying attention and perception, and their reaction
time slows down considerably so that car accidents easily occur while
driving high. Well over one-third of all accident victims have
marijuana in their bloodstream.

Someone who's high has a hard time completing sentences. They wander
from one thought to another and utter sentences that often make no
sense at all to others. Time can become so altered on pot that
important appointments, events and activities can go unattended. It
contributes to poor memory. Weed can make one drowsy, unsteady and,
in certain cases, delusional.

On pot, people can become dazed, confused and spaced out. Pot serves
as a convenient way of running away from problems. Chronic use of
marijuana can lead to mental health problems. And, of course,
marijuana possession can land the pot smoker in jail. With all of
pot's bad qualities, one wonders why people ever smoke marijuana in
the first place.

The reason why may be mainly because smoking pot gives such a highly
pleasurable feeling that it's well worth the risk. It gets people
high and feeling peaceful. Weed produces a mild euphoria, a strong
sense of well being. Smoking weed relaxes the body, alters
perceptions and changes mood. Also, being stoned gives one a feeling
of liberation, peace and makes one's cares or problems seemingly vanish.

The likelihood that a young person will have a drug problem depends
on several factors, such as behavioral problems at home and school,
failing academically in early grades, sensitivity to peer pressure,
inadequate supervision by a parent or guardian, lax attitudes within
the local community toward drugs, high availability of drugs and
having family members or friends who use drugs.

To be sure, access to pot comes easy nowadays. Drugs have permeated
society so much that most 17 year olds can find illegal drugs locally
within only a half an hour, according to one recent poll.

Pot smokers should quit. They should get involved in a new
relationship, move away to another part of the country away from
"druggie" friends, change their lifestyles, use willpower to finally
decide enough is enough, simply use until one simply loses interest
in getting high or grows out of it and, if all else fails, check into rehab.

Prevention remains overall the best solution. It takes time, effort
and resources that the government doesn't have at its disposal to
fully combat America's drug epidemic. Partially cut demand and the
battle is half won. Grassroots efforts are needed. Preventing the
need for drugs through education can greatly help stem the tide of
growing drug use. After all, America needs to be a land of the drug
free. Otherwise, California will just simply go to pot.