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Page 18 ESPRIT By Joseph Lusignan Young Marines Drug Demand Reduction Resource Officer A politician from Texas says marijuana should be legal because God created it and God doesnt make mistakes. God created mountains with high cliffs as well but I also know he gave us the ability to decide not to jump if we knew the sudden stop at the bottom would be especially detrimental to our health. A Girl Scout troop in Oregon is now selling cookies outside of a marijua- na dispensary. As if the sugar wasnt harmful enough now were teaming Girl Scouts with drug dealers The party of American Family Val- ues is now endorsing the legaliza- tion of pot in order to capture the financial boon that taxation on its sales would bring. In the State of Washington one of the misguided States that have legalized recre- ational Marijuana theyre taxing the growth processing and distribution of the product as one of the original arguments used to legalize it. That financial boon would be used to erase all manner of deficits. Do they remember our history Remember the Tea Party of Revolutionary War fame We Americans dont like to pay taxes. The State also mandated that the THC level Tetrahydrocannabinolthe ingredient that gets you high would be a maximum of 3. The last sum- mer I worked in law enforcement we stopped and arrested a man for driv- ing under the influenceof marijuana not alcohol. He was an entrepreneur from Seattle Washington who had gone shopping in Colorado for product to supply a store he intended to open once it became legal to sell dope in Washington. He had samples of prod- uct with all kinds of different strainsin colorful packages that identified THC levels as high as 65. In 22 years as a cop the highest Id seen was 28. So if Im a consumer why would I buy State approved Ganja thats overly taxed with only 3 THC when I can get it cheaper from North of the Bor- der South of the Border or from a neighbor and it has a higher potency The adults that are voting to approve legalizationdo they realize that to- days marijuana just isnt the same drug they experimented with when they were kids They argue that by le- galizing weed well eradicate the drug trade and the illegal cartels. No we wont they are much more efficiently runwere just giving them more cus- tomers. Nowas an adultI dont care what you do in the privacy of your own home but when it harms our youth Im com- pelled to speak up. Though the law in Washington made it legal for only those over the age of 21 to legally con- sume Marijuana I arrested more high school kids in my last year of service for possession of marijuana than in the prior five years combined. By adults voting to legalize the drug we just told our kids it was safe. So is it safe Theres still a lot to be learned and studied but heres a little of what we know. Marijuana can be addictive. Marijuana smoke is even more destructive than tobacco often leading to issues like asthma and bronchitis. Studies on animals reveal that the chemicals in marijuana can result in permanent damage to the brain. One joint can contain as many carcinogens as five tobacco ciga- rettes. Marijuana releases chemicals that bind to receptors in the brain effecting memory thought concen- tration time passage and coordi- nated movement. Increases the heart beat up to four times as high as under normal conditions. Mentally users can experience hal- lucinations psychedelic effects and a severe impairment of their ability to perform simple motor tasks. Users often cant perceive danger be- cause the drug lulls them into a false state of relaxation. As a school resource officer I know what I saw. I worked with kids I cared about on a daily basis. Marijuana takes away their ability to learn their moti- vation to exceland their desire to care. Even When Made Legal Its Not Made Safe