Marty Post
Friday’s Rutland Herald article on needing $8.4 million more for child protection highlights the large increase needed for the Department for Children and Families to protect children due to family opiate abuse.
Children under 3 represent 80 percent of DCF’s opiate caseload. Although not identified as a direct cause, the National Institute on Drug Abuse identifies 4.2 million people 12 or older as having a marijuana addiction or abuse problems. In addition it identifies addiction as a significant problem with both ties to health issues and to some degree leading to drug/opiate addiction.
NIDA data also shows that one in six who start using marijuana in their teens become addicts, and 25 to 50 percent of people who use marijuana daily become addicted. I mention this as our Legislature is blindly looking at the potential income identified in the Rand Report and is poised to legalize this drug with no regard to public health or safety or the impending millions of dollars and suffering it may cause.
Just because Vermont has been identified as already having substantial marijuana users does not mean that we need to increase those numbers with the concomitant risks and costs associated with legalization. In 2010 a nationwide study of deadly crashes has shown that 36.9 percent of the drivers tested positive for drugs.
And since there is no reliable field test for marijuana, local law enforcement has its hands tied to try to identify marijuana abuse without more time consuming and costly laboratory testing.
NIDA studies have also shown that daily use by teens leads to lower grades, lower IQ, and a higher likelihood of dropping out of school. That is one reason why pediatricians strongly oppose any marijuana use by teens. Some might argue that teens can’t legally smoke marijuana, but evidence shows that doesn’t necessarily inhibit cigarette or alcohol use either.
As our governor and Legislature are desperately trying to encourage more science and technology education for better job preparation in the 21st century, the negative effects of readily accessible marijuana are clearly counterproductive. With all the health effects, deaths, and costs associated with cigarette smoking, and the millions spent on mitigation, why is the Legislature now promoting more smoking of a product with suspected carcinogenic impact?
Although, just as with tobacco, it may take several years to fully document some of these effects, and many more years to fully identify the costs to society, and human tragedy. In my opinion this is a slippery slope that should definitely not be promoted by our Legislature.
Let’s keep Vermont a healthy environment for all. For more information about marijuana addiction, see the NIDA website at www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/marijuana
Marty Post is a resident of Killington.
Friday’s Rutland Herald article on needing $8.4 million more for child protection highlights the large increase needed for the Department for Children and Families to protect children due to family opiate abuse.
Children under 3 represent 80 percent of DCF’s opiate caseload. Although not identified as a direct cause, the National Institute on Drug Abuse identifies 4.2 million people 12 or older as having a marijuana addiction or abuse problems. In addition it identifies addiction as a significant problem with both ties to health issues and to some degree leading to drug/opiate addiction.
NIDA data also shows that one in six who start using marijuana in their teens become addicts, and 25 to 50 percent of people who use marijuana daily become addicted. I mention this as our Legislature is blindly looking at the potential income identified in the Rand Report and is poised to legalize this drug with no regard to public health or safety or the impending millions of dollars and suffering it may cause.
Just because Vermont has been identified as already having substantial marijuana users does not mean that we need to increase those numbers with the concomitant risks and costs associated with legalization. In 2010 a nationwide study of deadly crashes has shown that 36.9 percent of the drivers tested positive for drugs.
And since there is no reliable field test for marijuana, local law enforcement has its hands tied to try to identify marijuana abuse without more time consuming and costly laboratory testing.
NIDA studies have also shown that daily use by teens leads to lower grades, lower IQ, and a higher likelihood of dropping out of school. That is one reason why pediatricians strongly oppose any marijuana use by teens. Some might argue that teens can’t legally smoke marijuana, but evidence shows that doesn’t necessarily inhibit cigarette or alcohol use either.
As our governor and Legislature are desperately trying to encourage more science and technology education for better job preparation in the 21st century, the negative effects of readily accessible marijuana are clearly counterproductive. With all the health effects, deaths, and costs associated with cigarette smoking, and the millions spent on mitigation, why is the Legislature now promoting more smoking of a product with suspected carcinogenic impact?
Although, just as with tobacco, it may take several years to fully document some of these effects, and many more years to fully identify the costs to society, and human tragedy. In my opinion this is a slippery slope that should definitely not be promoted by our Legislature.
Let’s keep Vermont a healthy environment for all. For more information about marijuana addiction, see the NIDA website at www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/marijuana
Marty Post is a resident of Killington.
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