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Darke County Commissioner
A Look at Issue
3
By Mike Stegall
This November Ohioans will go to the polls to vote on issue 3, the
legalization of marijuana statewide. This is not the only issue to be
voted on, but by far is the most contentious. The County Commissioners
Association of Ohio (C.C.A.O.) has come out against it, Most county
Commissioners are against it, The National Federation of Independent
Business is against it, a lot of people I talk to are against it, and I
am too. Now, before I get called an old fogey, or a dinosaur by
those in favor of the issue, let me state that I do not make decisions
on gut feeling alone (although that was my first reaction to the
issue), I usually try to find out more about issues before I make my
decision, and that is what I did. I hope those for the issue will
listen to what I have discovered, think about it, and then vote wisely.
My good friend and fellow Commissioner, Julie Ehemann from Shelby
County, wrote an outstanding letter opposing the issue in the Shelby
County Newspaper. (I read it and decided I needed to understand
more. After some research, especially, with some of the research
Julie already did, (Thanks Julie!) and with some help from the Daily
Advocate (Thanks Christina!) I was fortunate enough to come across a
Study done by The Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area
(www.rmhidta.org). This is volume three of the study from
September of 2015 called The Legalization of Marijuana in Colorado: The
impact. This study was prepared by Intelligence Analysts Kevin
Wong and Chelsey Clarke. It is 182 pages long, so I won’t bore you with
all the details. Page 11 thru 15 give you the Executive Summary
of the key areas the study looked at; Impaired Driving, Youth
Marijuana use, Adult use, Hospital admissions, Marijuana exposure,
Treatment, Diversion of Colorado Marijuana, Diversion by parcel, THC
Extraction Labs, Related Data, and Related Material. As you
can see, this is quite a comprehensive report. So before I go
into detail, let me give you some things to consider. Issue 3
will NOT mean you can use marijuana without repercussions, It will
remain a Schedule I substance under federal law. This indicates that
the FDA and the DEA consider this a high potential for abuse substance,
with NO ACCEPTED MEDICAL USE IN THE UNITED STATES. Some people
will argue that marijuana is not addictive, but research has shown that
1 in 11 users become addicted with the number increasing in those
people who started as teenagers (1 in 6). If you talk to law
enforcement, almost all will tell you that marijuana is a gateway drug
to harder substances such as Heroin, Cocaine and Methadone.
Marijuana Stays in the body for 30 days, so even minimal use WILL
GUARANTEE A FAILED DRUG TEST. (Goodbye Job!). Other States that have
legalized marijuana have seen employers faced with increasing costs in
worker’s compensation, liability, and auto insurance due to increased
on the job injuries. Even the Colorado Supreme Court has ruled
that marijuana usage, ever for medical purposes, is not allowed in the
workplace, so think about this, especially you teens and users who may
consider marijuana harmless if you need a job!
One of the reasons I am against Issue 3 is that it creates a
monopoly. I hate that! We have a monopoly with the Casino’s
and I think that is wrong. If only a limited number of businesses
can control their industry, competition goes out the door, and the
chance for increased costs, misuse and abuse increases. Vote yes
on issue 2 to eliminate the monopoly on marijuana providers.
Voting yes on issue 2 will terminate Issue 3 for sure!!
Now, let’s take some information from the Study cited above. This
is just a very small capsule of the sections, so please if you need
more information, go to the study. On impaired driving, In the year
2014, when retail marijuana businesses opened, there was a 32% INCREASE
in related traffic deaths in just one year from 2013. Colorado deaths
INCREASED 92 % from 2010 to 2014, all other traffic deaths only
increased 8 %.
In youth use, in 2013 11.16% of Colorado youths aged 12-17, were
considered users compared to 7.15% nationally. Colorado was 3rd in the
nation, and 56% higher than the national average. Drug
related suspensions increased 40%, mostly marijuana related.
In adult use in 2013, 29% of college age students (18-25) were users
compared to 18.91% nationally. Colorado was #2 nationally, 54%
higher than the national average. 10.13% of Adults 26 and over
were users, compared to 5.45% nationally, 86% higher than the national
average. In the other sections, looking at the study, let’s just
say that no good can be achieved by legalizing marijuana. A few
more stats for you though, from 2009 to 2012 when medical marijuana was
commercialized, the yearly average number of interdiction seizures of
COLORADO MARIJUANA INCREASED 34%, and the average pounds of Colorado
marijuana seized destined for 36 OTHER STATES increased 33% from
2005-2008 compared to 2009-2014. (people aren’t trafficking in
legalized marijuana, are they? Sure!)
Overall, crime in Denver increased 12.3% from 2012 to 2014. The
annual tax revenue (one of the big promises of the pro-marijuana
movement) from the sale of recreational marijuana was $52.5 million or
only .07% OF THE TOTAL GENERAL REVENUE FUND! (FY2015). Not
exactly a windfall, huh? The majority of cities and counties in
Colorado have BANNED recreational marijuana businesses! National
THC potency (the chemical most responsible for marijuana’s
psychological effects including thinking, euphoria, paranoia, memory
impairment, coordination, and time perception), has risen from 3.96% in
1995 to 12.55% in 2013, average potency in Colorado was 17.1%!
Homelessness increased with the appeal of legal marijuana being a
factor.
I have thrown a lot of stats at you, but these are just the tip of the
iceberg. After perusing the study, it was easy for me to see that
Issue 3 really does no real good for anyone. With our
unemployment rate so low, and with jobs wanting, and a low crime rate,
why would anyone want to jeopardize our companies, our families, our
friends, or our lives by legalizing a substance we know has little to
no use for our society? We do not tolerate alcohol or drug use in
the workplace now, and legalizing marijuana as proposed will not change
the rules! Please, parents, children, teens, adults, users, non
users, and everyone, look at the study, contemplate the value of your
life and communities, and then vote NO on issue 3!
Mike Stegall- Darke County Commissioner
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