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Doesn’t this nation have enough problems?

Marijuana was criminalized and illegal. Now, Alpena city leaders are championing the promotion of recreational marijuana. With zero scientific credentials, these city leaders have turned their backs on the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, where marijuana was classified as a Schedule 1 drug on the basis of being addictive with “a high potential for abuse”.

I commend Councilwoman Susan Nielsen for saying that having the drug easily available would set a bad example for kids. She was convinced that because of the damage it causes our youth and to the people who may misuse it, it is not our place to introduce it, and her conscience would not let her agree to this.

She was right. Recreational marijuana is bad for the nation and bad for Alpena. Regardless of what the local politicians say the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration strongly stated that marijuana is well-known as a potential gateway drug and that many younger people starting on marijuana will abuse much stronger, addictive and dangerous drugs later on.

It has been highly publicized that marijuana causes parts of the brain to function wrong, can cause harm to the lungs and heart and serious respiratory issues from smoking it. More people will become addicts and more people will die. Those are facts.

Alpena’s local politicians are neither scientists nor doctors, and they have not made a convincing case to anyone except the users.

There will be a horrific price to pay for this folly. The politicians pushing this poison will only be in office in Alpena for a short term. Their legacy will be serious social problems, health issues and financial costs that fall upon the children, families and pocketbooks of everyone else.

MIKE WESTFALL,

Presque Isle

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