Newsom is wrong about marijuana

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is in favor of Proposition 19 on the November ballot, which would legalize the recreational use of marijuana. He states that the proposition would decrease trafficking and use of marijuana among youth.

He must not have read the literature about the data from Colorado, which legalized the use of recreational marijuana in 2012. The report from the federal government Rocky Mountain Drug Trafficking area revealed that in 2014, just one year after retail marijuana businesses began operating, marijuana-related traffic deaths increased 32 percent.

Almost 20 percent of traffic deaths were marijuana related as compared to 10 percent five years ago. Marijuana-related ER visits increased 29 percent, and marijuana-related hospitalizations increased 38 percent.

Exposure to marijuana (secondhand smoke) from previous years increased about 250 percent among children 0-5 years old. Cannabis has 33 documented carcinogens.

Also traffickers in Colorado did not turn into choir boys. Instead they exported 25 percent more marijuana out of state.

California should lead the country. Say “No!” to Proposition 19.

This story was originally published May 31, 2016 at 2:55 PM with the headline "Newsom is wrong about marijuana."