James Lambert
Legalizing recreational pot - - a bad idea for Colorado, Oregon & Wash.
By James Lambert
Two years ago, California voters defeated Proposition 19 — an initiative which would have effectively legalized recreational pot — by a 54% plurality. During that year (2010), Proposition 19 received massive donation support of the initiative by Peter Lewis and billionaire George Soros. Both Soros and Lewis have long been associated with funding far-left causes including efforts to legalize marijuana. Lewis is the CEO of Progressive Insurance Company which advertises quite a bit on television. Lewis once said that the "war of drugs is causing more harm that the abuse of drugs itself." Please tell that to my seven friends who have died from illegal drugs (five of whom started with marijuana).
Gratefully, California voters that year eventually understood the terrible ramifications of legalizing recreational marijuana. The No on Proposition 19 majority also included a significant majority of voters from the African-American and Latino communities who recognized the dangers that illegal drugs (including marijuana) posed to their children and their neighborhoods. It was also encouraging to see a sizeable majority from the Los Angeles Latino community supporting the no position on legalizing recreational pot. Their strong support occurred despite the cowardly silence from L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on the issue.
Now Colorado (with Amendment 64), Oregon (with Measure 80), and Washington (with Initiative 502) are considering legalizing recreational pot during this year's (November 2012) election cycle. What most people don't understand is that marijuana legalization has already been tried in Alaska during the late 1980s. It was a dismal failure. When marijuana is readily available to the public, it also becomes readily available to the youth as well. The negative results are that children get it much easier and eventually get hooked too. That's why after a couple of years of legalization in Alaska, their state legislature decided to totally reverse course and prohibit marijuana. Fully legalizing recreational pot doubles, or in some cases triples, the availability to children, putting at risk their developing brain.
If recreational pot use is legalized in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington, drugged driving will become commonplace. It will be a new "right" to get high on marijuana at work, even with transportation jobs. Marijuana legalization means cities and counties could OK selling marijuana in grocery stores and permit marijuana operatives to buy thousands of acres of farmland. These new sources (of marijuana farming in states that legalize pot) will become the drug dealers to neighboring states as well. Do the voters of Colorado, Oregon, and Washington really want this? The negative effects on the general population will ultimately outweigh any tax revenue that these states could get from retail marijuana sales.
Pot legalization measures in Oregon, Washington, and Colorado are, quite simply, a bad idea. If you live in or know anyone in these three states, please urge them to vote NO on these measures. For additional reasons on why it is a good idea to oppose recreational pot legalization, please go to the website:www.MarijuanaHarmsFamiles.com .
Lambert is the author of the new book 16 Amazing Stories of Divine Intervention (Xulon Press) www.16AmazingStories.com
© James Lambert
Two years ago, California voters defeated Proposition 19 — an initiative which would have effectively legalized recreational pot — by a 54% plurality. During that year (2010), Proposition 19 received massive donation support of the initiative by Peter Lewis and billionaire George Soros. Both Soros and Lewis have long been associated with funding far-left causes including efforts to legalize marijuana. Lewis is the CEO of Progressive Insurance Company which advertises quite a bit on television. Lewis once said that the "war of drugs is causing more harm that the abuse of drugs itself." Please tell that to my seven friends who have died from illegal drugs (five of whom started with marijuana).
Gratefully, California voters that year eventually understood the terrible ramifications of legalizing recreational marijuana. The No on Proposition 19 majority also included a significant majority of voters from the African-American and Latino communities who recognized the dangers that illegal drugs (including marijuana) posed to their children and their neighborhoods. It was also encouraging to see a sizeable majority from the Los Angeles Latino community supporting the no position on legalizing recreational pot. Their strong support occurred despite the cowardly silence from L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on the issue.
Now Colorado (with Amendment 64), Oregon (with Measure 80), and Washington (with Initiative 502) are considering legalizing recreational pot during this year's (November 2012) election cycle. What most people don't understand is that marijuana legalization has already been tried in Alaska during the late 1980s. It was a dismal failure. When marijuana is readily available to the public, it also becomes readily available to the youth as well. The negative results are that children get it much easier and eventually get hooked too. That's why after a couple of years of legalization in Alaska, their state legislature decided to totally reverse course and prohibit marijuana. Fully legalizing recreational pot doubles, or in some cases triples, the availability to children, putting at risk their developing brain.
If recreational pot use is legalized in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington, drugged driving will become commonplace. It will be a new "right" to get high on marijuana at work, even with transportation jobs. Marijuana legalization means cities and counties could OK selling marijuana in grocery stores and permit marijuana operatives to buy thousands of acres of farmland. These new sources (of marijuana farming in states that legalize pot) will become the drug dealers to neighboring states as well. Do the voters of Colorado, Oregon, and Washington really want this? The negative effects on the general population will ultimately outweigh any tax revenue that these states could get from retail marijuana sales.
Pot legalization measures in Oregon, Washington, and Colorado are, quite simply, a bad idea. If you live in or know anyone in these three states, please urge them to vote NO on these measures. For additional reasons on why it is a good idea to oppose recreational pot legalization, please go to the website:www.MarijuanaHarmsFamiles.com .
Lambert is the author of the new book 16 Amazing Stories of Divine Intervention (Xulon Press) www.16AmazingStories.com
© James Lambert
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