Editor:

The following is an example letter sent to all Democrat senators and representatives in Santa Fe just prior to the partisan vote on House Bill 2 legalizing recreational marijuana in the state of New Mexico:

No need to get lost in the weeds with amendments or any part of the monstrous and disastrous HB2.  Plain and simple:  Voting for the legalization of recreational pot in NM is illogical, immoral, and short-sighted.

As a 30-year university professor, father of 5, grandfather of 4, and sports coach of countless youth, I can tell you that the last thing that young people in NM need is a psychoactive drug to dull senses, destroy cognitive ability, decrease motivation and disrupt concentration.   They do not need to receive the message that pot/dope/weed/etc. is OK.   You can fool yourself all you want, calling it “adult-use cannabis” and putting in the bill a multitude of “safeguards” to keep the weed out of the hands of young people.  The fact is, it is a drug for the immature, and the immature will have even easier access to it.

Please ask yourself a few questions:

  1. Is this setting up our younger generations for success?
  2. Do I want to eliminate their opportunity for a career with one of the federal labs/agencies/facilities with their high paying jobs?
  3. Is there another chemical substance that has both medicinal and recreational use?  How does one justify that?
  4. How does smoking dope square with the concern for upper respiratory diseases like COVID?
  5. How many new criminals will be generated when “adults” give and sell the dope to minors?
  6. By voting for this, am I simply chasing dollars to the detriment of society?

I am not some innocent, self-righteous square.  I grew up in the ’70s and early ’80s.  I smoked the dope when I was a teenager under peer pressure, but I quickly recognized it as a bad and dangerous thing.  I have witnessed motivation and drive dwindle due to, yes, addictive use.  I have witnessed early-onset Alzheimer’s and decay of function in professionals due to overuse.  Please don’t compare it to alcohol.  THC has a long dwell time in the human body and its effects are cumulative.  Do you really think that it does no damage to the brain?

Again, you can fool yourself, and talk of all the good it will bring to the state with excess revenue.  But the direct and indirect costs to society will be enormous.

The voting record will be known, and beware if you are on the wrong side of this legislative vote.  When the list of socio-economic problems continues to stack up at even higher rates, I and otherwise citizens will hold you responsible.

I implore you to examine your conscience.

Concerned citizens of Socorro, to learn the details of this destructive bill, sponsored by Javier Martinez, Andrea Romero, Deborah Armstrong, Katy Duhigg, and Linda Lopez (all Democrats), and now headed to the desk of Gov MLG for signature, please visit the website https://www.NMlegis.gov. Find HB2 by number using 2021 Special, House, Bill, 2. View the 178-page piece of legislation, and the vote tally in both NM House and Senate. Save a couple of wiser, older Democrat representatives voting “NAY”, the passage in both chambers was bullied through on a purely Democrat partisan basis. Look out, the pot shops are coming to street corners near you!

Paul Fuierer, Socorro, NM

 

Paul Fuirer, Socorro