Editor,

Let‘s not for a moment forget cultivating cannabis (marijuana) is, “like hanging 100 dollar bills in your front yard” (Council Waits for Prop. 19, Sept. 22), because it is unfairly prohibited. Prohibiting the extremely popular and relatively safe, God-given plant is the only reason for the artificial black market pricing realities, which cause unnecessary risk and danger. When was the last time a 17-year-old died from a gunshot wound received while reportedly stealing from an alcohol producer such as grapes from a winery?

Murder rates decreased for 10 years after ending the original prohibition with alcohol and there is reason to believe ending the sequel will have the same results. Prop. 19 deserves our support.

Webpage: http://www.recorderonline.com/articles/deserves-46678-editor-let.html

Pubdate: 29 Sept.. 2010

Source: Porterville Recorder (CA)

Referred: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n770/a06.html?1398

http://whoknew.news.yahoo.com/?vid=22270732

Have a good one.

Faulty logic.

"....advocates of criminalization suggest that marijuana is highly toxic. Like other complex health issues, the truth lies somewhere in between."

Cannabis may be the least toxic medicine known. This guy ignores the truth.

"The California Society of Addiction Medicine is an association of physicians specializing in the treatment of alcoholism and other addictions."

Bias....what bias?

"Among people who begin smoking before the age of 18, this number is as high as 17%."

I don't think many prop 19 advocates are for teen, pre-teen, or pre-puberty uncontrolled use unless it is prescribed as a beneficial medicine.

"Although addiction to marijuana does not cause dramatic physical dependence, it can lead to substantial problems in education, work and relationships."

Most of these problems are caused by its illegality and not its effects. There are some people who are going to have problems no matter what the cause. That is human nature. Rather cannabis than alcohol, cigarettes, prescription drugs, or food all of which are more dangerous.

"....there is evidence that the processing of highly complex information is slowed."

I don't like to be very stoned if I am speaking before a large group or if I am teaching a class. I find if I am trying to follow ten or more people and adapt my presentation to the group dynamics and interaction I can do so more effectively with less of a buzz.

A slight buzz to reduce the natural stress of public speaking, I have found to mostly beneficial.

However if I am out photographing, I like a good buzz. With the complexity of today's cameras and all the parameters and factors that go into producing great art, I can say that particular complex task is improved. I let my art speak for that fact.

Different tasks require different levels and proportions of involvement of the thinking/feeling process.

"It is vital that they make their decision on the basis of accurate facts."

Confronting BS like this is one of our jobs here at Cannabis news.

Legal like alcohol.

Gynecomastia and cannabis smoking: A nonassociation among US Army soldiers (abst - 1977) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/920892

Yet, I still get questions about it, and the prohibitionist still use it as a "valid" argument!

I guarantee you, I am the antithesis of everything this guys claims.

I am 64, took my first hit in '64 and been smoking strong ever since. If any of what this guy claimed were true I would surely be a mess by now instead of feeling [at 64] like I am a healthy forty. [everyone says I look 20 years younger]. It is immodest to make such a claim but I am only try to illustrate my point that everything this guy says has even the devil howling with laughter!

Like Granny, I also have a list. It is runruff's BS list of "Lie's my Uncle told me".

Oh yeah?

Lies, lies, lies:

Top Anti-Drug Researcher Changes His Mind, Says Legalize Marijuana Post to:TwitterFacebookDiggStumbleUponRedditby Scott Morgan, June 03, 2009, 09:52pm For 30 years, Donald Tashkin has studied the effects of marijuana on lung function. His work has been funded by the vehemently anti-marijuana National Institute on Drug Abuse, which has long sought to demonstrate that marijuana causes lung cancer. After 3 decades of anti-drug research, here's what Tashkin has to say about marijuana laws:

"Early on, when our research appeared as if there would be a negative impact on lung health, I was opposed to legalization because I thought it would lead to increased use and that would lead to increased health effects," Tashkin says. "But at this point, I'd be in favor of legalization. I wouldn't encourage anybody to smoke any substances. But I don't think it should be stigmatized as an illegal substance. Tobacco smoking causes far more harm. And in terms of an intoxicant, alcohol causes far more harm." [McClatchy]

We've been told a thousand times that marijuana destroys your lungs, that it's 5 times worse than cigarettes, and on and on. Yet here is Donald Tashkin, literally the top expert in the world when it comes to marijuana and lung health, telling us it's time to legalize marijuana. His views are shaped not by ideology, but rather by the 30 years he spent studying the issue. He didn't expect the science to come out in favor of marijuana, but that's what happened and he's willing to admit it.

Here's the study that really turned things around:

UCLA's Tashkin studied heavy marijuana smokers to determine whether the use led to increased risk of lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. He hypothesized that there would be a definitive link between cancer and marijuana smoking, but the results proved otherwise.

"What we found instead was no association and even a suggestion of some protective effect," says Tashkin, whose research was the largest case-control study ever conducted.

Prejudice against marijuana and smoking in general runs so deep for many people that it just seems inconceivable that marijuana could actually reduce the risk of lung cancer. But that's what the data shows and it not only demolishes a major tenet of popular anti-pot propaganda, but also points towards a potentially groundbreaking opportunity to develop cancer cures through marijuana research.