April 26, 2013

 

What on earth are the promoters of legalized Marijuana thinking? How can anyone think that the legalization of a “dangerous” mind bending drug be a good thing for our country? I have to believe that anyone endorsing smoking pot as beneficial to society in any manner must themselves be partaking in this mind-numbing pastime.

 

Any argument about Cannabis being useful for medicinal purposes to say the least is unwarranted. We currently have an array of legal and controlled prescription drugs that can accomplish and exceed the benefits of Pot.  Some are a derivative of THC combined with Cannabidiol and delivered in a mouth spray while avoiding the adverse effects of smoked marijuana. With the passage of the “Affordable Health Act” (Obamacare) and its supposedly all inclusive coverage for everyone, there is no reason for anyone to resort to street drugs for pain control. These drugs are also controlled for a reason and are monitored by a physician for both effectiveness and addictiveness.  If for some reason these drugs are not available to everyone, perhaps we should spend more time, effort and money in curing this problem instead of creating a new one.

 

Who thinks the workplace will be enhanced by these new laws? Loss of productivity, which is a given, can only exacerbate our problems in an already competitive business arena where competition from overseas and other drug free parts of the world is so keen. Make no mistake productivity will be severely impacted.  According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a study done among postal workers found that employees who tested positive for marijuana on a pre-employment urine drug test  had 55 percent more industrial accidents, 85 percent more injuries, and a 75 percent increase in absenteeism compared with those who tested negative for marijuana use.  The question I have with this study is why were these people who tested positive for drug use hired in the first place, but that’s another topic for another blog.

 

Another area to be considered is the ability of someone under the influence of Cannabis to make intelligent decisions. According to the NIH, “marijuana’s negative effect on attention, memory, and learning can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off.  Consequently, someone who smokes marijuana daily may be functioning at a reduced level most or all of the time.” Who would knowingly hire someone who is not up to full speed? Think about this! Would you?

 

I am not aware of anyone who has done a study on the overall negative costs associated with marijuana use but I’m sure the amount would be staggering. Can you imagine how many business decisions alone are made on a daily basis, while under the influence of this supposedly recreational drug? The argument most often put forth by the pro marijuana lobby is that people are going to use this drug anyway so why not make it legal and enjoy tax benefits from it. This a totally absurd argument as the loss in productivity not to mention the social malaise resulting from this mind-bending drug more than offset any potential tax gain. How irrational a thought we would throw the welfare of our country overboard just to collect more in taxes.

 

There are many other arguments to be made with regards to this idiotic rush to legalize stupid behavior, but I will save them for future blogs.  We haven’t touched on the effect of this drug on our youth, health, driving…….. Well you get the point. This is a Pandora’s Box and I hope we come to our senses before it’s too late to close the lid.

 

Richard Charron