Let’s move forward, not backward

Recently I have read an article discussing marijuana laws in Connecticut, and how it should remain illegal. It was written by a member of Guilford DAY.

First, I want to say that I am happy with what Guilford DAY is about; “A community coalition which works to reduce highrisk behaviors such as underage drinking and other illicit youth substance use and provides our youth with the opportunities, skills and values they need to grow into healthy caring and responsible adults.”

I am very proud of their efforts to improve our youth and our communities.

However, while they are against it, I strongly support the legalization and regulation of marijuana. I’ve considered the pros and cons only to find the pros outweigh the cons.

Most “cons” addressed in their article are pieces of propaganda against legalization that can easily be debunked. I’ll go over a few statements that were made, providing the public with additional information about it.

“I know that marijuana is a harmful substance … Kids will believe the legislature would not legalize marijuana unless it is safe.” This is a very misguided idea. Marijuana is medicine in 28 of our states. It is proven to have various medicinal benefits that outweigh the drawbacks. States with Medical Marijuana Programs have a significant reduction of opioid abuse.

It has been legalized for recreational use in 8 of our states and our nation’s Capital: Washington, Colorado, California, Oregon, Alaska, Nevada, Maine, Massachusetts, and Washington D.C.

Marijuana is a much safer alternative to alcohol, and that is a fact that prohibitionist always ignore! Do not point fingers at those who choose to get high instead of drunk, and call them foolish or criminal. Many marijuana users are responsible. They have jobs, families, pay taxes, attend college, served in the military, and contribute to society.

While it does not have addicting properties like cigarettes and alcohol do, it can be habit forming in the same way you would drink a cup of coffee every morning or browse Facebook every evening. Heavy users often, by their own will, take breaks from smoking. These breaks could last for months. That’s not saying there aren’t withdrawal symptoms, but it is very manageable.

Another note on marijuana addiction; when a teen user gets busted for pot, they are given the option of either jail or rehab. Of course, they choose rehab. The number of patient admitted for “true” marijuana addiction may be a lot lower than estimated.

“A closely related question is whether legalization will result in increased teen abuse of marijuana.”

If you read more than one published online source, you’d find this: In Colorado, a legal marijuana state: One study says teen pot use increase slightly, but insignificantly. However, another study claims that teen use has not changed between pre and post legalization. More studies came out after that to point toward a decrease of marijuana use among teens.

Colorado’s governor has publicly stated that there has not been a significant increase of marijuana users post-legalization:

“We haven’t seen a spike in teenage use. We haven’t seen a giant increase in people’s consumption of marijuana. Seems like the people who were using marijuana before it was legal, still are. Seems like the people who weren’t using marijuana before it was legal, still aren’t.” — John Hickenlooper, Governor of Colorado.

To say that marijuana should not be legalized because it is bad for the youth is an opinionated argument. While it is true that youth exposure to cannabinoids could affect the brain, it will not ruin their futures more than being arrested for possession could. Responsible adults should have the right to smoke marijuana without being criminalized.

A 2013 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention youth survey says that 26 percent of Connecticut teens admit to having used marijuana. That is less than 15 percent of Connecticut’s marijuana population, or about 50-60,000 teenage users.

Yes, that number is significant, but proponents of legalization are highly confident that education is the key to reducing teen drug use, along with regulations to restrict teen access to pot until they are at least 21 years of age.

Legalizing makes it easier to incorporate honest and factual education about cannabis in our school’s health class.

As of now, thousands of Connecticut teenagers could get pot if they wanted to because it is not restricted from them. It is available through the illicit drug market. This same market exposes everybody to hard and dangerous drugs like heroin or cocaine. If pot were regulated in a legal market, it would shrink the illicit drug market and reduce public exposure to hard drugs, minimizing drug epidemics. Regulating marijuana does make it harder for teens to get it, and protects them from being exposed to harder dangerous drugs.

The public should not be lied to by propaganda against legalization. Prohibitionist would direct you to all the negatives, continuing to agree that the prohibition is working. It is not working, and it is doing more damage to our society than pot itself is claimed to have done.

Proponents in favor of legalization want you to look at both the pros and cons.

Saying that, let’s touch briefly on marijuana and car-accidents.

Some say that car-accidents involving marijuana have increased in legal states. There are various conflicting studies about this, considering that the driver may have been sober at the time of the accident, but cannabinoids could be detected in their blood four up to 30 days after consuming pot.

In Washington State, where recreational marijuana was legalized in 2012; a 2016 AAA (Triple A) report shows that 23 percent of DUI drivers tested positive for cannabis alone. Between 2010-2014, pot was the only culprit for just 3.4 percent of automobile fatalities. Colorado reports only 6 percent % of fatal car crashes were related to active THC between 2013-15. Recent reports say that DUI’s in Colorado have reduced 33 percent the first quarter of 2017. Colorado also approved marijuana legalization in 2012.

To put that into perspective, compare to the various factors that cause, on national average, 30,200 car crash deaths each year: Alcohol 31 percent Drowsiness 21 percent Distractions 16 percent Weather related 16 percent Marijuana 10 percent There is very little reason to believe that legalizing marijuana would make our roads more dangerous. Consider this, alcohol related car-accidents have cut in half since the 1980s. Education works!

The choice of whether someone wants to smoke pot should be their own, not the governments.

I’d like to urge our legislators to consider the positive impact that regulating marijuana would have; stand by the responsible 300,000 pot users, and help your communities by shrinking our illicit drug market, boost our economy by producing 19,000 jobs, properly educate the public and protect our youth, and stop wasting millions of dollars trying to keep marijuana out of our state when it’s going to continue being available.

Let’s move forward, not backward, by legalizing the recreational use of marijuana for adults age 21 and older.