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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0314.041 1996-1998 July 1, 1997 To -Hawaii County Council ca -a From - Virginia (Ginger) Towle phone 329-2051 pC7 c 75-5788 Nele Place fax 329-6721 C n r- Kallua-Kona, Hawaii 96740 L,c (.1 N 7 Subject ~ In support of Communication 314 (Resolution 94) ai5d ~ ~ Communication 369 (Resolution 116) to accept funds '.to ~ eradicate Mari3uamas ~ ~ D~ ~ N O Tt is Imperative that we accept the government funds to continue our efforts to eradicate the marihuana on this island. blhat many of us have always believed has now been substantiated by hard scientific data. This was reported by West Hawaii Today in the June 27th issue. Marihuana is not the innocent product that many people have tried to make us believe. It indeed can cause changes in the brain. 'Phese findings were made in a laboratory. Our neighborhood, our home communities are where we observe, where everyday we see, what is happening. This is our laboratory where we work with the children and we see the results of the mariJuana epidemics and it is the gateway to other drugs. This was proved to me 1n the 60s and 70s in the San Francisco Bay areas working in our schools trying to do something about the drug problems of those days. More than once T have been told that individuals got started on "pot". A sampling petition I did a short while ago. and gave to the Finance Committee, Illustrated that the community, the ma3ority. want mari3uana destroyed. Only approximately lOp of the people I asked to sign the petition to eradicate marlJuana declined. No one wants Hawall to become the vacation capital for the "pot heads" of the world. We will be de114uent in our responsibility to provide a safe healthy environment in which to raise our families if we do not m::ike every effort to eliminate mariJuana from this Ssland. The teen years are difficult enough without adding the additional problem of mariJuana, a seductive drug, which for many young people starts them down the wrong road. rr f~. Y., 3~`~~_ VIbG ~ Presented Wy11K,1~ Ref. Date JUL 0 2 1997 14A -West Hawoii.TQdey day, Juue 27,1997 Study: Marijuana leads to Harder drugs By PAUL RECER corner across might-provide relief. Once the relief is AP Science Writer experienced, [hen the use of that drug is reinforced." WASHINGTON -Chronic use of marijuana taus- A second study in Science, by Italian researchers, es chemical changes that may prime the brain for also linked marijuana and heroin. That study found addiction to cocaine and heroin, according [o a study [ha[ both drugs affect processing of a neurochemical that provides the first hazd scientific support for the called dopamine in [he so-called "reward pathways" contention that marijuana can be a gateway to harder of the brain. drugs. Marijuana is often described as a relatively harmless Changes in brain chemistry caused by using maxi- drug by those who advocate loosening laws against its Juana are the same as those caused by withdrawal from use. cocaine, heroin and alcohol abuse, according [o the A proposition recently passed in California calls for research in laboratory rats. permitting medical uses of marijuana by allowing doc- In effect, chronic use of marijuana sets up a chemi- tors to prescribe the drug. cal pattern in [he brain [hat increases the susceptibility In Washington, the National Organization for [he to using any drug to relieve symptoms of withdrawal Reform of Marijuana Laws continues to lobby for or in response to stress, said Friedbert Weiss of Scripps decriminalizing marijuana, contending it is not astep- Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif. ping stone to hard drug use. "lt becomes a vicious cycle of dependence," said Dr. Lester Grinspoon of Harvard University, who is Weiss, senior author of the study to be published associated with NORML, cautioned that the Weiss Friday in the journal Science. study using rats "tray be good science," but may not The study shows that withdrawal symptoms from relate to humans. the use of marijuana are like [hose of "other drugs of "When you study drug abuse, you have to look at a abuse," said Dr. Alan I. Leshner, director of the lot of social issues, which you can't do with rats," National Institute on Drug Abuse, one of the National Grinspoon said. Institutes of Health. Many studies have attempted to link marijuana use "We know that a substantial number of chronic: mar- to later addiction to harder drugs, but the link has ijuana users become addicted, and previous research never been proven, said Dr. John P. Morgan of the City with animals has shown that stopping heavy marijua- University of New York medical school, who is also na use suddenly can cause distinct withdrawal symp- associated with NORML. He said Weiss' study also toms," said Leshner. fails [o do this. The research is the first to Iegd clear evidence that "The business of looking for an effect in the brain is marijuana use causes chemical changes in the brain interesting science, but it tells you nothing about the that can be directly linked to stress and anxiety that are gateway effect to using other drags at large in soci- relieved by drug use, Weiss said. ety," he said. "Chronic drug abuse often enhances the effects of The study was a joint effort by Scripps Research stress," said Weiss. "Any drug that an individual Institute and the Complutense University of Madrid.