Why NO: on Prop 19?

The negative physical and mental effects of marijuana use are well documented. (each statement of fact has been published in well-done academic studies. I can provide some papers to you if you would like)

1) Social: It’s associated with lower educational accomplishment, lower work productivity, increased risks of motor vehicle accidents, and heart and lung disease.Cannabis use in adolescence is a predictor of depression in later life. Students who regularly use marijuana have lower grade and test scores and are less likely to achieve personal goals. Marijuana smokers often jeopardize their future by engaging in risky sexual practices or committing criminal acts. Marijuana impairs a person’s judgment, coordination, balance, ability to pay attention and reaction time.

2) Physical: All forms of cannabis are mind-altering drugs due to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active chemical in marijuana. THC affects nerve cells in the region of the brain where memories are formed. This makes it difficult for the user to recall recent events. Chronic exposure to THC may hasten the age related loss of nerve cells. Smoking marijuana is more harmful than smoking tobacco because it contains 50-70 % more carcinogens than tobacco. It has the same adverse effects on the respiratory system as tobacco smoke and is associated with chronic cough, respiratory infections, bronchitis, emphysema, and lung cancer. Marijuana use has been found to increase blood pressure and heart rate and to decrease the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood.

3) Illicit nature: Considered a “gateway drug,” it often leads to abuse of even more dangerous substances. Most adolescents who use other illicit drugs admit that marijuana was the first drug they used. It is often intentionally used with other substances, such as alcohol or crack cocaine. And it has addictive qualities.

4) There has been some argument that legalizing it will decrease drug traffickers' crime. But when alcohol was legalized again, mobs turned to other alternatives - so the result was that it legalized a drug (alcohol) that is associated with destruction of many lives but did not decrease the crime it intended.