California isn’t ready to handle stoned drivers if Prop. 19 passes

I’ve been called a prohibitionist a lot lately.

It’s a phrase that marijuana users hurl like a rock at opponents of Proposition 19.

Sorry, but the more I learn about the November initiative to legalize marijuana for recreational use in California, the more I believe statewide voters should reject it.

It’s not a question of morality. I’ve had my share of marijuana. As a senior at San Jose State University – in the year of our Lord, 1985 – I was tight with the hippie lettuce. Sadly, I also drove while stoned. I was absolutely impaired while doing so and thankfully never hurt anyone or myself.

On Friday, an elementary school teacher was killed near Chico when hit by a motorist who police suspect was stoned. It was a reminder that legalized pot would only increase the number of reckless drivers in California.

The suspect in the traffic fatality has a medical marijuana garden in Butte County, authorities said. Just imagine the hazards when anyone 21 and older can get legally high for the fun of it.

Pot advocates claim alcohol is more deadly than marijuana but fail to mention the decades of science and law regulating alcohol. In California, a 0.08 blood-alcohol level means you’re legally drunk.

What’s the equivalent to measure marijuana intoxication? There isn’t one. “This is why it’s going to be so dangerous and challenging if Proposition 19 passes,” said Susan Manheimer, president of the California Police Chiefs Association. There is little consistency in “drugged driving” laws compared with DUI laws. Drugs like marijuana are harder to detect by police officers and in drug tests.

Manheimer said that because DUI laws are more developed, California cops are allowed to force DUI suspects to take drug tests. That is not so for “drugged driving” suspects, she said. At a March conference of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, researchers found: “Because testing fatally injured drivers for drugs is not as consistent, a literature has not developed on what drug driving laws or community programs to reduce drugged driving are most effective.

” So we’re going to allow recreational marijuana use when laws and science are not ready for it? It’s no problem, according to pot people.

“The impairment does not appear to play a significant role in on-road traffic accidents,” according to NORML, the Washington, D.C-based marijuana nonprofit group.

Sure. Pot users believe they do everything better while stoned. The temptation is great for the uninformed simply to vote yes on legalization. It’s a great idea in the absence of facts – unless you’re the one getting run over.

Marco Breton/Sacramento Bee

A Day in the Life of American Adolescents: Substance Use Facts Update

Adolescents Do What Every Day?

Have you ever wondered how many American teenagers use alcohol and illicit drugs on an average day? A new report from SAMHSA, 

A Day in the Life of American Adolescents: Substance Use Facts Update

, presents information about teens’ use of cigarettes, alcohol, and illicit drugs “on an average day,” including their use of these substances for the first time.

SAMHSA first released a report of this nature in 2007 

(see 

SAMHSA News

 online, November/December 2007)

. 

The 2010 report offers updated data as well as a new section that focuses on drug-related emergency department visits.

*

Substance Use Data

The report reveals that on an average day in 2008, more than 1 million teens age 12 to 17 smoked cigarettes, more than half a million drank alcohol, and approximately 563,000 used marijuana 

(see chart)

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In addition, 7,540 adolescents drank alcohol for the first time, more than 3,800 smoked cigarettes for the first time, and more than 4,300 used an illicit drug for the first time on an average day.

In the Emergency Room

On an average day in 2008, there were 465 emergency department visits for adolescents age 12 to 17 that involved the use of illegal drugs, alcohol, or the misuse or abuse of pharmaceuticals.

Alcohol played a role in many of the visits—151 visits involved alcohol only and 54 involved alcohol taken with other drugs. Marijuana was involved in 129 visits.

In addition, SAMHSA estimates that, on any given day in 2008, 63 emergency department visits took place for drug-related suicide attempts among adolescents.

Treatment

The following numbers of teenagers under age 18 received substance abuse treatment on an average day in 2008: 76,484 were in outpatient treatment; 9,219 were clients in non-hospital residential treatment; and 762 received hospital inpatient treatment.

The report also provides data on the primary substances of abuse reported by teens in treatment and the major referral sources (e.g., criminal justice system, schools).

For more, download the 

full report

.

* The data presented in this report are from four 2008 SAMHSA data sources: the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS), the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS), and the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN).

On an Average Day: Teen Substance Use

Enlarge image

Source:

 SAMHSA, Office of Applied Studies (April 29, 2010). Figure 2. Number of Adolescents Age 12 to 17 Who Used Cigarettes, Alcohol, or Illicit Drugs on an Average Day: 2008 NSDUH. 

The OAS Report: A Day in the Life of American Adolescents: Substance Use Facts Update

. Rockville, MD.

Myths about Marijuana

URGENT ISSUE:

What you need to know about the legalization of marijuana that will negatively effect you and your children's lives? Voters in California are going to the polls in November 2010 to decide if they want to legalize marijuana. Did you know that smoking marijuana damages the brain?

To learn more about myths and facts, CLICK HERE

MYTH #1: Marijuana is harmless

FACT: Marijuana damages the brain, which is not fully developed until age 21-25. It effects memory, coordination, higher cortical levels of thinking, and vision according to Neuroscientist, David A Goodman, Ph. D., author of Ten Startling Facts about Brain Damage and Marijuana. Recently, Dr. Goodman stated that the strength of marijuana has increased so dramatically that it should no longer be called "pot." One puff can give you an immediate high, which demonstrates the effects upon the brain. A study reported by the National Institute of Drug Abuse Newsletter in 2008 followed people who had regularly used marijuana over 25 years. A major finding was that these folks managed their lives from one day to one week, but were unable to do tasks requiring higher cortical levels of thinking, such as planning ahead and setting goals. This is called the "amotivational syndrome".

Feinstein backs effort to defeat marijuana legalization

L.A. NOW   Southern California

This just in from the metro staff of the Los Angeles Times and KTLA5NEWS

July 12, 2010 |  8:24 pm

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, California ’s senior senator, has lent her support to the campaign to defeat Proposition 19, the marijuana legalization measure on the state’s November ballot.

The prominent Democrat, first elected to the Senate in 1992, signed the ballot argument against the initiative. On Monday, she issued a statement through the opposition campaign calling the measure “a jumbled legal nightmare that will make our highways, our workplaces and our communities less safe.”

Roger Salazar, spokesman for Public Safety First, said the opposition committee sought Feinstein’s support.

“She’s one of the most respected figures in California ,” he said. “She has a great history with law enforcement and dealing with this type of issue. We’re looking at a bipartisan effort.”

Proposition 19 would allow adults 21 and older to possess, grow and transport marijuana, and would allow cities and counties to regulate and tax commercial sales. Most of the state’s top elected officials and candidates for statewide office — from both major parties — are against the initiative.

“-- John Hoeffel