MARIJUANA IS NOT GOING TO GO AWAY

Online Book Offers Unbiased Look

AnnaMaria Olsen("Efforts to legalize marijuana are contrived and
getting really old," Nov. 11) finds initiatives to legalize marijuana
tiresome. The best way to keep such initiatives off the ballot in the
future is to approve one!

Marijuana isn't going away no matter how many people are jailed, fined
or have student loans denied. Do people "want to get high and not be
punished for it"? You're darn tootin', and so what?

Olsen expresses concern about heavy equipment operators, airline
pilots or drivers who may smoke marijuana. Driving while impaired by
any substance -- alcohol, prescription drugs or marijuana -- is
illegal and should remain so. Forward-thinking companies use
performance tests to determine who is fit to operate equipment -- or
fly a plane -- on a given day; these are more useful and reliable than
screening for any substance, as they also reveal employees impaired by
stress, fatigue or illness.

As for the assertion that "pot stays in your system for hours," being
"in your system" doesn't mean someone is still "high." Think of that
doughnut you had for breakfast; it may be "in your system" for hours
(or days!) but the sweet sugar taste doesn't linger.

Those interested in an unbiased look at marijuana and its
physiological effects should read the 1999 report of the National
Academy of Sciences/Institute of Medicine, available online at:
www.nap.edu/books/0309071550/html/index.html.

Mariann Garner-Wizard

Anchorage