Cost of legalizing pot is just too high

I AM writing to thank (you) for publishing the article (Feb. 7) in your Sunday Journal ... by Dr. Kevin Sabet. ... I believe the purpose of the article was to create more awareness about the legalization of marijuana. And I think (it had) the perfect title, “Legal pot promises all go up in smoke.”

In the early 1970s, I was a teacher and mother of three sons. I worked at a psychiatric hospital here in Albuquerque. I was the director of education for our adolescent unit, which was growing rapidly due to the increase of drug use among teenagers.

The biggest problem we (had) was our youth often switched to drugs that were stronger and even more addictive than marijuana.

Often marijuana can become what we called a “gateway drug.”

Marijuana does impair concentration, which interferes with learning. Use of marijuana is not just bad for the classroom, it can become deadly when the individual is behind the wheel of a vehicle.

As Sabet pointed out, the promise of future income from marijuana is truly small. Especially when it results in the loss of people’s lives.

Thanks again to Sabet and the Albuquerque Journal. DELOIS BAILEY Albuquerque