Dear editor:
On the Nov. 8 ballot, we are facing two legislative issues which have the potential for profound negative health impact on the individuals, families and, especially, the children of Arkansas, both now and for generations to come; I refer, of course, to "Medical" Marijuana Issues 6 and 7. These measures are opposed by every reputable health care entity in our state, including the physician members of the Arkansas Medical Association and Family Practice Association, multiple psychiatry, addiction treatment and mental health care specialists, the Arkansas Department of Health, Arkansas Nurses and Pharmacists Associations, UAMS and Arkansas Children's Hospital. These proposed issues are little more than thinly veiled ploys whose primary purpose remains the propagation of recreational marijuana here in our state, dressed up for Halloween, as it were, in the costume of "compassionate care."
Credible research now proves that adolescent and young adult marijuana use causes permanent memory and IQ losses, worsening of the symptoms of schizophrenia, depression and anxiety, and that marijuana is a "gateway" drug that leads to further and more serious life-threatening addictions. Drivers under its influence have demonstrably impaired judgment and reaction times with resultant increases in traffic violations, motor vehicle accidents, emergency room visits and fatalities in states where now legal.
Legalized marijuana is bad for businesses striving for workplace safety, for students and teachers striving for academic excellence and leaves both public health and law enforcement officials, already undermanned and over utilized, to deal with the grave aftermath, accounting for the staunch opposition by these bodies, as well as that of our attorney general and governor.
Notwithstanding the overwhelming medical evidence against legalized marijuana, the educational, moral, ethical and economic arguments against it, as well as the dangers of newly developed and marketed "marijuana edibles," such as candy and soft drinks and its synergism with alcohol consumption, the use of marijuana is not normative behavior for anyone! To make its use part of our state constitution and/or a legal part of our way of life is not "compassionate" and it is not "care." On behalf of those you entrust with your health care, those whose professional oath demands of them above all "to do no harm," and for the safety and benefit of generations of Arkansans to come, please vote No on Issues 6 and 7!
B.D. Fine Jr., MD, FACP, FASN
Arkansas Physicians Resource Council
Editorial on 10/27/2016