Legalizing Marijuana is Unreasonable

Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, January 12, 2018 – By Sue Ella Deadwyler

The first phrase in Isaiah chapter one, verse 18 says, “Come, let us reason together, saith the Lord.”  So, let’s be reasonable about marijuana, one of the hottest topics in culture today. There are valid reasons Georgia farmers should not grow marijuana, although many may be wondering: What’s the big deal?  What’s so bad about smoking a little weed?

Heartland Research Corporation did a great job of exposing the hazards in its 14-page booklet Warning … Medical Marijuana Has Dangerous Side Effects.   For example, with marijuana, alcohol and, perhaps, synthetic drugs in her system, a woman actually put her naked little girl in the oven, where she was badly burned, but miraculously survived.

Another woman under the influence of marijuana was caught driving 90 miles an hour. When she was stopped, they found a 2-year-old in the booster seat next to her, but the mother didn’t know the baby’s name or age.Although that 2-year-old experienced a wild ride, she was safe, but another child died when her mom rolled over in bed and suffocated her.  That mother used marijuana along with her regular dose of medication.  Still another mom, while hallucinating that she was having a baby, took her 9-year-old son into a field, where she stripped naked and had him run for help.  When help came and examined her, she tested positive for marijuana.  Her son couldn’t remember the last time he had eaten.

Sadly, pregnant women often continue using marijuana – about ten percent of them do, despite life-long disastrous effects on the women and their unborn babies.  The women may develop rapid heart rates; they might become paranoid; and they often hallucinate.  While that’s happening, how does marijuana affect unborn children of pregnant women who use marijuana?  Its affect is immediate because marijuana is trigger-fast.  It enters the bloodstream within seconds, the brain within minutes, and travels through the placenta to the fetus, where fetal brain functions may be altered as early as two weeks into the pregnancy.  It can cause low birth weight, or premature birth and, in years to come, it will interfere with the child’s ability to think, focus and solve problems.

Remember Isaiah 1:8, when God says, “Come, let us reason together.”  So, I ask you: Is it reasonable to legalize and cultivate a crop that causes such bad things to happen to innocent children?  A civilized culture is supposed to protect its children.  For Georgia Insight, I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol correspondent.