Recreational pot use will lead to trouble
Recreational pot use will lead to trouble
Hawaii does not need marijuana to be legal for recreational use! Medical is one thing, but recreational? Scientists are finding that habitual use is now leading to schizophrenia, and do we really want to add to our already understaffed medical facilities?
We have a neighbor in Waimea who has pot smoke billowing out of her house from sunup to sundown every single day. The smell is disgusting. She’s the oddest lady and has only derelicts that visit her. She had a young man that would join in her partaking but that ended in crime. (He broke into her home and her tenants’ home and took all her dope).
We don’t need more drugs readily available on our island! Our neighborhood was once safe and now we have to lock our doors and windows because of this one person. I can’t imagine what it would be like if this bill passes?!
Ed Simmons, Waimea
The dopers are taking over this country. The devil’s lettuce will ruin Hawaii’s tourism along with people’s future. It’s a first class ticket to nowhere!
aiddings@hawaii.rr.com
Really, ? The devils lettuce? Try some sometime, I think you will change your tune a bit …
And maybe the tax proceeds will help with the infrastructure problems that we are facing. The tax revenues from the tourists alone would help provide so much that we could replace all the roads around the island …
Sounds like a win/win situation to me.
Ed…misinformation here. Marijuana is indeed known to exacerbate schizophrenia in individuals already suffering from the disease but does NOT cause it in an otherwise normal brain.
I for one do not partake in the pakalolo… grew out of it (ate too much made me nervous for no reason whatever) but i kind of disagree with you.. the way I see it if you let people grow and smoke their own weed then there’s no reason to buy from drug dealers. Legalize weed and harsher punishments for the stronger drugs cocaine meth heroin and opiates. As long as I’ve been alive I ain’t never heard of anyone O.D.ing on the Crip. Same regulations as alcohol… 21 and up and never while driving. And if people want to sell put a tax on it and only with a business license.
My guess your neighbor’s drug problem goes way beyond pot. Hard drugs don’t smell.
As if people haven’t been using pot recreational for over 60 years on Kauai …lol Where have you been ???
Ed, for starters, you need to include some factual, credible, scientific proof for your statement that “habitual marijuana use leads to schizophrenia”. Sounds like reefer madness bs to me…
Second, your opinion on your neighbor being “odd” has absolutely no bearing on the legitimacy of your claims of recreational marijuana “leading to trouble” and speaks more to your sensibilities than hers.
Also, it stands to reason, that, if your claims of a break in and theft are true, if recreational marijuana were legal, there would be options and outlets for this “derelict” to obtain, legally, his “dope”.
Your letter is rife with ignorance and intolerance and gives the impression that you really should get out more… maybe hang out with your neighbor and toke-toke-pass.
Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia currently have passed laws broadly legalizing marijuana in some form. The vast majority of evidence shows that the benefits far outweigh any harm, provided it is controlled and not sold to anyone under the age of 21. It is the same restrictions placed on the sale of alcohol.
The product is taxed and criminals no longer profit from its sale.
So you have a neighbor that seems a little whacky and everyone is terrified and have put deadbolts on their doors.
Why don’t you just call the police? They can pay her a visit and talk to her? Maybe she has troubles she cannot solve and they can get her some help from social services.
I know people who sit at their kitchen table all day with a bottle of whiskey.Unlike the pot smokers, they are more likely to turn violent when things go sour.
People like this need help. We should show compassion.
aiddings@hawaii.rr.com
Take a trip to one of the states that have recreational marijuana and see for yourself how people are acting. I think you’ll be surprised , less drama and lots of people smiling!
While there’s a lot, there’s not enough stupid people in America. Marijuana can solve this problem., so can alcohol, tobacco, opiates, cocaine, meth, prescription and over the counter drugs, and the encyclopedic amount of chemicals in and on our food.
The above can improve stupiity if they were all legal, free, with free delivery.
Ever notice that the tenants are on marijuana, and the landlords are not…?
Charlie
You are absolutely correct! We as a society will not know for years what the overall effects on us will be in areas where the majority of our population is using MJ because it is legal, open, and accepted. Preliminary indications in Colorado point to possible higher addiction rates for all other drugs and growing dependence on MJ for those who are smoking. It’s a good thing that cars will be driving themselves in the future because there’s also concern that increased traffic accidents and deaths due to traffic accidents is increasing in legalized states. You can’t alter the human brain in the direction of numbing one’s cognitive reasoning and senses and not pay a Societal price.
“Scientists are finding that habitual use is now leading to schizophrenia” said Ed.
From a study led by Ashley C. Proal and Dr. Lynn E. DeLisi of Harvard Medical School:
“While cannabis may have an effect on the age of onset of schizophrenia it is unlikely to be the cause of illness,” said the researchers, who were led by Ashley C. Proal.
“My study clearly shows that cannabis does not cause schizophrenia by itself,” DeLisi said. Rather, a genetic predisposition is necessary.”
I think most are far more likely to believe a study from the Harvard Medical School -VS- Ed’s opinion because he has a crazy neighbor that smokes pot. Respectfully Ed, it’s time to educate yourself before you continue exposing more naivety. And, I’m certain there are many that you come in contact with on a daily basis who unwind with a bit of pot at the end of their day.
The REAL issue is crack, ice, cocaine, heroine, prescription drugs, and excessive alcohol consumption. Legalizing pot will not only bring more revenue to the State, it’ll free up resources, and create more prison & rehab space that’s desperately needed for those addicted to the substances above. Those drugs, and the people who consume them, are creating the majority of problems within society.
BTW: It’s quite possible your neighbor is doing far more than just smoking pot.
Interesting Charlie. I’ve been a recreational user since I grew up in So. Cal in the 60’s, only abstaining when I had a career that did stringent drug testing (before drug testing became common place). I moved to Waimea 15 years ago, own my home and car outright, and at almost 70 have no cognitive issue either I nor my friends have noticed. Way too much indoctrination of the ‘older’ folks, (like me) who were told Marijuana led to hard drugs and even worse horrors. I can honestly say I have NEVER tried meth, cocaine, don’t take opioids – even when prescribed and I need them. Had I partaken in any of the above, yes, I WOULD be homeless. Pot is not the culprit here – ignorance is.
Susan, you don’t have an uptight, prudish neighbor who likes to submit exaggerated, fear-mongering letters to the local paper, do you… 😉