NOTHING good comes from legalizing marijuana
Legalizing marijuana is the hot topic today. The money hungry pot lobby is on one side, small non-profit organizations on the other. One side is endangering our children the other seeks to educate and protect. Amidst all this controversy are ordinary citizens with a real world perspectives. The following is by Randy Philbrick, father of two and Director of Smart Approaches to Marijuana – Oregon.
How legalizing marijuana affects family outings
(From the Smart Approaches to Marijuana – Oregon Facebook page on May 2) Man, it was a beautiful day in Portland yesterday so we decided to take our kids to the Salmon St fountain to play for a bit. The sky was clear and there was a nice breeze by the river. Just enough breeze to waft the smell of marijuana in our direction. Off too the side of this picture is a guy in his motorized wheelchair hitting his pipe. Three problems immediately came to me.
1. He is consuming marijuana in public
2. He is consuming marijuana in the direct vicinity of all these children
3. He is now DUI
When they were pushing Measure 91 I kept hearing “Don’t punish responsible marijuana users.” Unfortunately I have yet to see a responsible marijuana user. This single marijuana user was violating two laws at the same time, much like most I described in the post a couple days ago. Within 10 minutes of this picture being taken I witnessed 3 different people consuming marijuana in public. You know what I didn’t see in the hour we were downtown? A cop. I can understand why they wouldn’t want to be down there because legalizers would throw a fit if someone got cited or attested for marijuana. This is what we’ve done by legalizing marijuana. If we don’t do something now we will not be able to leave our homes without being overcome with marijuana smoke. We are sending the wrong message to our kids about drugs.
Legalizing Marijuana = + Stoned Driving
(From the Smart Approaches to Marijuana – Oregon Facebook page on April 30.) Legalization is not what it’s billed to be. “Hey, legalize marijuana. Nothing bad will happen.” As I am writing this there is a guy towards the end of my street sitting in his car parked in the middle of the road, literally in the middle of the road, smoking a blunt.
My job has me out on the roads 5-7 days a week and I cannot tell you the last time I went a day without seeing someone smoking marijuana while driving. It is a daily occurrence in Portland now. The scary thing is that they don’t think they’re doing anything wrong because of all the false information flying around that marijuana doesn’t impair your driving. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it does. Using marijuana does impair your ability to drive just as alcohol does. I have seen many marijuana users condemning drunk driving on social media while on other posts bragging about or condoning stoned driving.
Several times this week I have also witnessed people walking down the street smoking marijuana as well. Normalization is making these people believe that marijuana is just like tobacco and it’s okay to smoke a joint while you’re walking down the street. They have the mentality of “If someone can smoke a cigarette walking down the street then I can smoke weed. After all tobacco is worse than weed”. Again, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but marijuana is not like tobacco. To say that one toxin is better than another is ignorant and asinine. Yes, marijuana is a toxin.
There is absolutely nothing good that comes from legalizing marijuana. The only thing you’re doing is legalizing another addictive substance that will not only cost lives but also end up being a financial drain on society.