| US: Letter: A different leaf
Found: Wed Sep 15 21:16:52 2004 PDT
Source: Arlington Advocate, The (MA)
Copyright: 2004 Community Newspapers, Inc.
Contact: arlington@cnc.com
Website: http://www2.townonline.com/arlington/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3498
Source: Brookline TAB (MA)
Copyright: 2004, Tri-Town Transcript
Contact: brookline@cnc.com
Website: http://www2.townonline.com/brookline/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3502
Webpage: http://www2.townonline.com/georgetown/opin... [translate]
Newshawk: http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/
| |
[ topical analysis ] propaganda analysis
Letter: A vote for L'Italien
Letter: Note on Mental Olympics
Letter: A different leaf
Thursday, September 16, 2004To the editor:
Mr. Beck's Aug. 12 article "Waiting to Inhale" is an
artful portrait of deception. As chronicled in the
Record, I have followed Mr. Epstein's sinister campaign
now for some time. I would have little concern for the
radical and dangerous social experiment he proposes if
it weren't for the fact that a lot of other people seem
to be swallowing the propaganda he's been preaching,
most alarmingly some law enforcement officials and a
few air-headed politicians who seem to have no mind of
their own (Rep. Doug Peterson of Marblehead has no
opinion on the matter - how sophisticated).
The arguments that Mr. Epstein and his ilk present are
the same ones that were spun by the misguided
intellectual elite where I went to college, all whilst
many of my friends turned into potheads, some
ultimately moving on to harder drugs. I witnessed many
lives ruined and a lot of people hurt during that
period of my life. How much worse it would have been if
possession hadn't been a criminal offense. Like other
pro-pot advocates, Mr. Epstein invokes the reasoning of
a fool that reminds me of the lowering of the drinking
age to 18 back in the '70s, hailed at the time as great
"social progress" by the liberals on Beacon Hill. Only
after teen traffic accidents and DUI arrests
skyrocketed did the citizenry come to its senses. A lot
of kids paid a terrible price for the temporary
insanity of the ones who were supposed to be looking
after them.
The public needs to wake up and do their homework.
Marijuana is a dangerous drug and should never be
decriminalized. Mr. Epstein pompously claims that that
marijuana never killed anyone. Tell that to the
families of victims of a 1987 train crash in Maryland
that claimed 17 lives. The engineer who was high on pot
drove through four warning signals. In 1995, according
to the Drug Abuse Warning Network, there were more than
47,100 marijuana-related admissions into hospital
emergency rooms. According to the Department of Health
and Human Services, in 1996 there were more than
196,000 admissions of people into drug treatment
programs who stated that marijuana was their primary
drug of addiction.
According to a major study of motor vehicle collision
victims in a regional Trauma Unit in Toronto, marijuana
was the most commonly found drug in impaired drivers
other than alcohol. Marijuana is worse for the lungs
than tobacco with nearly five times more carbon
monoxide and three times as much tar. Marijuana smoke
contains 50 percent more cancer-causing materials than
tobacco smoke and has been linked to both pre-cancerous
growths and to cancer. Research has also long
implicated cannabis as an exacerbating factor in mental
illness.
In spite of the compelling evidence that debunks Mr.
Epstein's assertions, he wants to put marijuana use in
the same category as a traffic violation.
Decriminalization and legalization is virtually the
same thing. How many times have you exceeded the speed
limit without so much as a warning? Decriminalization
of marijuana will open a floodgate of use particularly
among young people. Growing cannabis will be the new
"in thing" and selling pot will go from a back alley
transaction to a commercial boon that will only benefit
the sleaziest segment of humanity. And if you think an
already overtaxed police force is going to scramble
around arresting people for misdemeanors you are from
another planet.
Perhaps the most outrageous contentions that Mr.
Epstein makes, echoed by the pitifully naove BU
professor Jeffrey Miron, are the predicted economic
benefits should pot become legal. Conveniently omitted
from their argument is the cost of rehab for a whole
new generation of smokers, to say nothing of lost
productivity, destroyed families and an increase in
crime, accidents and highway fatalities. And of course
those involved with the cannabis trade are gleefully
going to pay taxes. Right, and the earth is really
flat. Another equally bogus argument that needs to be
refuted is the need for medical use of marijuana.
Responsible physicians will tell you that there are
much more effective alternatives for pain relief.
In bringing my son up I face a host of bad influences
to battle with and I don't need one more demon let
loose just to satisfy the indulgence of some leftover
hippies from the '60s. Mr. Epstein needs to be sent a
strong message by this community - our kids' safety is
more important than Mr. Insuik's right to light up a
joint on the subway. And our elected officials need to
be put on notice that we will not be persuaded by
misinformation that Mass Cann and their disciples are
disseminating. We have enough problems to deal with
without battling this one.
It is heartwarming to read in the paper every week
about the sacrifices that so many individuals make in
serving this community - coaching a team, helping the
sick, mentoring to troubled kids, refurbishing
historical buildings, adopting orphans from foreign
countries. When Mr. Epstein and his narcissistic
crusaders take their last dying breath, should they
succeed in advancing their evil agenda, they'll be able
to say, "I made it easier for kids to get high and tune
out." What a disgraceful legacy to leave behind. Let's
keep those "waiting to inhale" waiting - indefinitely.
Richard Collins
Baldpate Road
Georgetown
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