POT STINKS

I get so tired of hearing uninformed people say that marijuana is harmless,
or that it causes "little harm," as recent contributors to the Forum have
stated.

Call up the American Cancer Society and ask for some of their literature.
Marijuana smoke contains a great many more toxic substances and carcinogens
than tobacco smoke. Smoking grass on a regular basis is a great way to
destroy one's health.

And those who say that marijuana is not addictive have obviously never spent
much time with a pothead who can't think about anything except getting high
and staying high and figuring out how to get some more weed once his stash
has been all smoked up, even if he has to lie or steal to get it.

The reflexes and mental acuity of someone heavily stoned on marijuana are as
seriously impaired as those of someone who is drunk. Ask people who have
been involved in a car wreck caused by a stoner if they think pot is
harmless.

And look at your friends who smoke alot of pot. Are they ambitious? Do they
get much done when they're stoned? Do they contribute to society? Are they
going places? How clearly can they think when they're loaded?

The most insidious aspect of marijuana use is the delusion that it is
"safe." It may not make people as violent or as crazy as ice does, but it
just as relentlessly wrecks lives and damages the social fabric of our
communities by teaching our kids that it's okay to break the law.

Pot stinks.

Evelyn Cook

Kapa'a