Legalizing recreational marijuana would bring bad consequences

The Guam Daily Post

After Guam voters approved allowing medical marijuana use in 2014, attempts have been made to use that as a springboard for various proposals to open the door wide open for recreational marijuana.
The latest proposal from freshman Sen. Clynt Ridgell needs closer scrutiny. The more we talk about it as a community – the better for all of us.

The proposal claims to be an economic boost by opening up a full-on marijuana manufacturing and retail industry that is supposedly going to help our tourism-based economy by enticing weed smokers to Guam.

But for every tourist who comes to Guam to smoke weed, more would no longer come here.

The Guam Visitors Bureau has made it clear that Guam's family-friendly image, which the island has cultivated for half a century, would be ruined. GVB has asked its tourism markets and the feedback has been clear that they're not in favor of recreational marijuana.

Another argument has been made that with Guam's serious meth problem, allowing recreational marijuana would somehow offer drug users a milder alternative.

We all should be concerned that our community could see more drug-related problems than the ones we already have. Guam's middle schools and high schools already are seeing problems with children showing up in school drunk even though the drinking age starts at 21.

Legalizing recreational marijuana for "adult use" will make it only easier for the youth to be exposed to marijuana in the presence of adults who use it. Is this the kind of environment we want for our young people?

Marijuana medicalization movements were predicated on the belief that medicinal marijuana would be available only to a limited number of people with debilitating conditions and would not facilitate recreational use of the drug, the American Medical Association has stated.

Even with medical marijuana use, doctors are hesitant to prescribe it because it still is a Schedule I substance under federal law that could jeopardize their licenses and put them at risk of getting in trouble with the law – not to mention the drug's ill health effects for healthy people.

AMA states marijuana "is a dangerous drug and as such is a public health concern."


A study published by the National Institutes of Health identifies marijuana as the key gateway substance between adolescent cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption and the subsequent use of hard drugs. Alcohol and marijuana use precedes the initiation of cocaine and methamphetamine, but only marijuana influences the initiation of heroin, the study states.

Proponents of recreational marijuana need to think beyond themselves and their pursuit of momentary pleasure or profit.

There are other ways to grow the economy and help people become employed.

Legalizing recreational marijuana, even though it's packaged as "adult use," isn't one of the solutions.
This decision is too great to be left up to 15 senators.

If the proponents insist on pushing this forward, all of Guam's voters should decide – via a referendum.