ANTI-MARIJUANA BILL IS PACKED WITH ERRORS, UNPROVEN
STATEMENTS

I oppose Senate Bill 74 (and House Bill 96), a bill that will significantly
stiffen the penalties for possession of marijuana.

I know many of you have friends who are recreational users of this
relatively harmless drug, and some of you may know of the powerful
anti-nausea effects it exerts for people undergoing chemotherapy. Should
this bill become law, many productive and responsible citizens would become
felons overnight.

As if that weren't enough, the bill's text is full of assumptions and
outright falsehoods.

The bill is literally filled with assertions like this one: "A person who
smokes several marijuana cigarettes a week may be taking in as many
cancer-causing chemicals as someone who smokes a full pack of tobacco
cigarettes every day." There is no source given for this outrageous
conclusion. Or this: "There is evidence that it has addictive properties
similar to heroin." This is the kind of information the U.S. government
invented when it first criminalized marijuana use decades ago. Fortunately,
we now know that this is simply not the way people act when using marijuana.

Why do so many Alaskans use marijuana? Because people refuse to obey an
unjust law no matter the penalty. And people won't allow the Legislature to
control reasonable and responsible behavior in the privacy of their own homes.

Please oppose this misguided and unconstitutional assault on our privacy.

- Dave Swarthout

Homer