Pubdate: Sat, 30 May 2009
Source: Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL)
Copyright: 2009 The Daily Herald Company
Contact:  http://www.dailyherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/107
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n527/a02.html

DON'T CONFUSE POT USE WITH ABUSE

I don't know exactly where I stand on the legalization of marijuana, 
so I eagerly read "Think about this before legalizing pot (Fence 
Post, May 17) with the idea that it would clarify my thoughts. 
Instead, I ended up a bit confused.

Mr. Yohn describes marijuana users as people who are unproductive and 
sickly, who are at greater risk for mental illness, who will likely 
become violent and steal, and who pollute the rest of their 
environment and our children with secondhand "intoxicating" smoke.

It seems to me that there are many people out there who use alcohol 
to the point that it affects their job performance and causes them to 
call in sick. There are also mentally ill people out there that can 
become addicted to any variety of substances - but the substance 
doesn't necessarily cause the illness, nor does it cause people to 
steal and become violent. As for exposure to secondhand smoke, I fail 
to see the logic here. Cigarette smoking has been banned in most 
public facilities. I would expect that, should pot smoking become 
legal, the smoking ban would still apply so any concerns about 
additional smoke exposure are invalid.

There will be people who will abuse marijuana, but there are people 
now who abuse alcohol and people who ruin their health with 
cigarettes, and I don't see any federal plan to make these illegal. 
Most people who are casual, social drinkers are responsible. It is 
quite possible that there are responsible, casual users of marijuana as well.

I'm still not entirely sure where I stand on the legalization issue, 
but it's wrong to make sweeping generalizations about all pot 
smokers. Let's not confuse use with abuse.

Laura Miller

Carpentersville
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom