Lawmakers need to look at pot legislation’s consequences

In Connecticut, Democrat state Sen. Martin Looney is pushing to legalize and then tax marijuana to solve our budget crisis. Fixing a problem is a good goal, but at what price? For me Looney’s follow the ‘leader attitude’ is not just dangerous, it’s also poorly researched.

While other states have adopted the legalization of marijuana like Colorado and Washington, facts and figures associated with the new laws have not readily been forthcoming except from those who don’t agree with its legalization. The only news we usually see is the promise of tax revenues and how marijuana is basically harmless, but are these true?

According to the Tax Foundation marijuana related taxes have brought in substantial revenue for some states, but other studies show that just where that money goes is another question. Connecticut under his leadership is already broke despite some of the highest taxes in the nation. According to his bill our state will not only still be broke, but too ‘high’ to protect its own wallet. This is a poor excuse for refusing to substantially reduce the size of our ever-growing government.

Connecticut has already legalized medical marijuana and is seeking to expand its list of treatments. This is not surprising. Many legitimate medicines come from plants including Digitoxin, a heart medicine, obtained from Purple Foxglove and Taxol, an anti-tumor agent, obtained from Pacific Yew.

For centuries, illnesses have been treated with similar nature-based drugs and thank God. Making recreational marijuana legal, however, is a whole different ballgame. Before we jump on the ’Cannabis bandwagon’ let’s take a closer look at what the ‘budding’ multi-billion-dollar pot industry and Sen. Looney won’t necessarily tell you.

According to the National Narcotic Officers Association’s magazine ‘The Coalition,’ current university studies show a very different story than the one presented by the pro-pot crowd. Some of the effects of marijuana includes impaired thinking, which can become permanent and financial, work related and relationship difficulties.

A UC Davis-Columbia University study concluded that longterm users had more anti-social behavior including stealing money, lying on job interviews and experienced more relationship problems such as violence and controlling behavior. The study also found that teenagers who regularly used marijuana had a greater chance of becoming dependent leading to depression, psychosis and cognitive impairment.

To think teenagers won’t be affected by the legalization of marijuana is foolish and, in fact, teenage use has increased in states where marijuana has been made legal. It would seem obvious that using a chemical that is ‘mind altering’ would affect our health. But this doesn’t seem to be a concern for some of our legislators or the marijuana industry.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, marijuana also increases your heart rate by 20 to 50 beats a minute, not good if you are prone to a heart attack. Other studies show it interferes with short term memory, that its smoke has 50 percent to 70 percent more cancer causing substances than its cigarette counterpart, that a single joint can cause as much damage to your lungs as five cigarettes, that it changes sperm cells, can temporarily induces sterility and can disrupts a woman’s menstrual cycle. It can also lead to hereditary defects, pre-mature births, reduced birth weight in newborns, reduced personal initiative, lessened abilities to concentrate and potentially increases the risk of developing leukemia. Areas of Colorado have also seen increased marijuana related Emergency room visits, increased traffic fatalities, homelessness, panhandling, public safety concerns and complaints about publicly consumed marijuana.

It doesn’t stop there. Still other studies show that marijuana use can reduce a person’s IQ by 8 points, opens the potential for opiate abuse, increases the chance of being unemployed or not getting a good job, negatively effects school performance and increases the chances of dropping out of school.

Before our legislature considers marijuana’s legalization I believe they need to look at the consequences and not fool themselves.