Jessica Duff
News Editor
There is significant political opposition to Question 4 from an assortment of politicians, legislators, doctors, law enforcement and recovery groups.
Their primary complaint? Legalizing marijuana would be dangerous for an increasing number of youths.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) states young people – those who are 11 to 29 – are still the most likely group to use drugs, with teenagers being the most likely.
Under the new state law, marijuana would be legal for those 21 and older. The same age young people are supposed to, theoretically, first try alcohol.
Supporters of legalization say that taking marijuana off the black market will keep it away from kids, but teenagers will still be getting their pot on the sly even if Question 4 passes.
In the short term, marijuana alters how people experience the five senses, mood and time, according to the NIDA. It also impairs body movement, thinking, problem solving and memory.
For teenagers using marijuana, the parts of the brain developing memory and learning. functions are at risk in the long term.
According to NIDA, those who continuously smoked marijuana from the time they were teenagers “lost an average of eight IQ points between ages 13 and 38. The lost mental abilities did not fully return in those who quit marijuana as adults.”
And marijuana is a gateway drug – this isn’t just hearsay from critics.
In a 2013 survey, NIDA found 70.3 percent of illicit drug users said they began with marijuana as their first drug. Pain relievers come in second at a whopping 12.5 percent.
As it turns out, blaming the opioid crisis on marijuana may be dubious but not completely irrelevant.
As far as the child-safety packaging goes – presumably, there are a percentage of children willing to eat everything from dirt to Silly Putty, but many seem averse to eating smelly leafy-stuN.
The tricky-childproof lid is moot in the case of delicious-looking pot brownies.
For older children most likely to actually try weed, a child safety lid is not a deterrent.
The number of young people who believe marijuana use is ‘risky’ is decreasing, according to NIDA.
“Just Say No” gets a little more complicated when society endorses the use of pot as a recreational drug.
According to a 2014 study by the Pew Research Center, about two thirds of the American population believe alcohol is more harmful to a person’s health and society than marijuana.
Just because something is less risky doesn’t mean the risks should be glossed over.
There is no mention of providing education on marijuana in the initiative petition for legalization.
Alcohol education has been around for a little while now. Most students – and subsequently adults – have a working understanding of what alcohol does in the short term and the long term.
Can the same be said of marijuana?
If the average person understands nicotine is the addictive ingredient in cigarettes but has to Google THC, that’s a problem.
Having an informative label on the package is not sufficient education for public health and safety. If marijuana is legalized, some of that new state money better be going to drug education, abuse prevention and new healthcare costs.
Because marijuana is not just a health risk for teens.
Let’s start by stating the obvious. Smoking marijuana is still smoking. Even if users do not smoke marijuana frequently, there is still a greater risk for lung cancer.
Additionally, in a nation where obesity is described as an “epidemic,” getting a case of the munchies on a regular basis while enjoying a high can cause more than just a flabby belly. Marijuana is known to increase users’ heart rates and the risk of a heart attack.
It is dangerous to be high and drive, but police say there is no equivalent of the breathalyzer for pot.
Supporters of legalization complain legislators have been avoiding the issue of marijuana, and they may be right.
But if such is the case, suck it up and go bang on the doors of those legislators, educators and
administrators who need to be involved to do this right.
As is, the current legalization plan is still half-baked.