Letters to the editor

Vote no on Issue 2 You are now being asked to legalize marijuana. Get ready for Big Marijuana's ads telling you it isn't any different than alcohol. They are wrong. Once legal, you can bet that more children will be smoking marijuana and consuming marijuana edibles. Marijuana is very toxic to the developing brain. Depending on which study you read, today's marijuana is 7-10 times more powerful than marijuana from the 1970's. Per the American Academy of Pediatrics, teenagers who smoke pot are statistically far more likely to drop out of school, commit crimes and struggle with addiction as adults. How will we protect our children? It won't be easy. Frequent marijuana use can bring us more substance abuse which brings us more addiction, more psychosis, more antisocial behavior and more homelessness. Odds are legalization will lead to more substance abuse in general, and more teenage/children abuse specifically. Every day we read about substance abuse's cost to our communities. We do not need to legalize another drug just so more people can get high. The cost to our community is just too great. Vote no on Issue 2. Bob Edds Findlay Repeating the cycle? For decades we have been educating ourselves on the health risks associated with the usage of tobacco products. Baby boomers began hearing these warnings more than 50 years ago. Most of us have embraced these concerns. However, now with the possibility of legalizing marijuana for recreational use we seem bent on ignoring lessons learned. There remains much we do not yet know about the health effects of sustained marijuana use. A recent Columbia University study (August 2023) was featured in The Wall Street Journal. The study found that regular marijuana users have significantly higher levels of lead and other metals in their blood and urine. This is attributed to the nature of cannabis plants that are "hyperaccumulators" of metals in water, soil and pesticides. Additionally, a study completed in Denmark, which has a longer history with recreational marijuana, found higher incidents of schizophrenia among those with cannabis use disorder. Early and frequent cannabis use is associated with an increased risk of developing schizophrenia. This association has consistently increased over the past five decades, likely linked to higher potency cannabis. The research utilized health records from 6.9 million people. The study's author states: "This study adds to our growing understanding that cannabis use is not harmless." Ohio voters, please take the time to educate yourself on this issue prior to November. Dan Schwartz Findlay