Jon Beydler’s opinion (July 16) that marijuana should be legalized is a great example of self absorption. If legalized, who would you rather have driving your child’s school bus, ambulance, fire truck, cab, personal car, etc.? A person who is high on “legal” hallucinate marijuana or non-user of marijuana? I would rather keep it illegal and fight the drug dealers and smugglers along with forcing the marijuana user to pay the high price to get the illegal drug. The article is a sad example of where some of our society is heading — the wrong way.
As stated on facts about marijuana at www.marijuana-info.org: “Not surprisingly, marijuana intoxication can cause distorted perceptions, impaired coordination, difficulty in thinking and problem solving, and problems with learning and memory. Research has shown that marijuana’s adverse impact on learning and memory can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off. As a result, someone who smokes marijuana every day may be functioning at a suboptimal intellectual level all of the time.”
Dennis Riswold, Chandler
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PeacefulCat posted at 8:17 am on Wed, Jul 21, 2010.
Recent Studies Find Marijuana Smoking Associated With Safer Driving: The March 2010 issue of the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs reports: Investigators from Hartford Hospital in Connecticut and the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine assessed the simulated driving performance of 85 subjects in a double-blind, placebo controlled trial. Subjects performed the tests sober and then again 30 minutes after smoking a real marijuana cigarette or a zero THC (placebo). Volunteers responded to various simulated events associated with automobile crash risk — such as avoiding a driver who was entering an intersection illegally, deciding to stop or go through a changing traffic light, responding to the presence of emergency vehicles, avoiding colliding with a dog who entered into traffic, and maintaining safe driving during a secondary (in-the-car) auditory distraction. Investigators reported that volunteers performed virtually the same after smoking cannabis as they did sober and/or after consuming a placebo. Investigators noted the marijuana users decreased their speed more so than those receiving a placebo cigarette during (the) distracted section of the driving test. This test validates results from other studies as far back as the 1976 Marijuana driving study in the Netherlands. A 2008 driving simulator study published in the scientific journal Accident, Analysis and Prevention also reported that drivers administered marijuana are likely to decrease their driving speed. "Average speed was the most sensitive driving performance variable affected by both THC and alcohol but with an opposite effect," investigators reported. "Smoking THC cigarettes caused drivers to drive slower while alcohol caused drivers to drive significantly faster than in 'control' conditions.” Individuals responsible for providing damaging misinformation should be held accountable. It is common knowledge that marijuana does not cause physical impairment; just ask our professional athletes. Yes there are a few out there that can’t walk and chew gum at the same time or text and drive a car or drink and drive for that matter. But its time we get our facts straight and expose the misinformation that has terrorized society and caused so much pain, suffering, death and destruction.
allamer posted at 11:31 am on Wed, Jul 21, 2010.
You know, there are a lot of people "operating" at a suboptimal level. Consider all of the able-bodied people who exist on government benefits. Marijuana and other drugs are usually a part of their lives. Then there's the reckless drivers who are on drugs. And what about the people we read about in the news who do wierd or violent things for no particular reason? Drug use has negative consequences.
wdgnas posted at 5:36 am on Sat, Jul 24, 2010.
And what about the people we read about in the news who do wierd or violent things for no particular reason? Drug use has negative consequences.
1st question: do you consider alcohol a drug?
people do weird or violent things because people are weird or violent...
buckeye1 posted at 9:00 pm on Tue, Aug 17, 2010.
Dennis, your arguement makes no sense.......you'd rather keep allowing drug cartels and gangs to have the drug money and force common american citizens to keep paying outrageous prices just to smoke a joint to relax. you got your priorities way otu of whack buddy.
P.S. prohibition makes it easier for kids to get drugs. Unlike a regulated licensed vendor for adults, a drug dealer will never I.D. your children. And they may have harder drugs in their other pocket.
But you keep thinking that its a good idea to keep something that thirty one million people did last year illegal and keep letting the drug cartels and gangs have the financing from it instead of the American economy and tax system........