opinion

Safe pot? Tell that to the 62 kids who died

Marijuana is an addictive and hazardous drug. But lately, some have taken to proclaiming that "marijuana is safer than alcohol," a message that is not only wrong but dangerous.

According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, in a study that examines all deaths in Arizona of children under the age of 18, a disturbing number of child deaths resulted from substance use. It was linked to the deaths of 128 of Arizona's children in 2013.

Guess which substance was the most prevalent? Not alcohol, not methamphetamine (although they were close seconds), but marijuana. In 2013, marijuana use was associated with the tragic and needless deaths of 62 children in Arizona.

MONTINI: Did marijuana actually kill 62 kids in Arizona?

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The point is this: Prevention, not legalization, remains the best model for addressing drug abuse. Approximately 7.5 percent of Americans regularly use marijuana while 52 percent use alcohol, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Why raise the first number to the second?

If you legalize marijuana, more kids will use it

Marijuana today is far more potent than decades past. It poses significant and real threats to the development of the adolescent brain, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

It negatively impacts memory, learning, attention and reaction time — basic skills for our students — and its effects linger even after the intoxication is gone. Research concludes that marijuana use causes a loss of up to eight IQ points in those who start young and use it over the long term.

Legalization of marijuana means more kids will use it. Colorado, where the reckless experiment with legal retail marijuana is unfolding, has seen its youth use rate skyrocket. Colorado students ages 12 to 17 use marijuana at a rate that is 38 percent higher than the national average. While the rest of the country saw a slight increase (less than half a percent) in use of marijuana by folks ages 12 and older from 2012-13, Colorado's rate jumped 22 percent.

Increased availability of a mind-altering drug plays an extremely important role in addiction and poor academic outcomes. Teens who use marijuana are significantly less likely to graduate from high school, are much more likely to use other illicit drugs, and sadly, face increased odds of suicide attempts, according to a September 2014 article in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Where the alcohol logic breaks down

The marijuana lobby argues that their plan is to legalize marijuana only for adults, just like alcohol. But consider how that has worked out for our youth and society. Arizona teens regularly use alcohol at almost twice the rate of marijuana. Legalization of a substance generates availability, acceptability and increased use.

To argue that marijuana should be treated more like alcohol is a failure of logic. According to one recent study, the annual cost to taxpayers for health care and crime based on excessive alcohol consumption was $94.2 billion. These billions of dollars do not include the intangible costs of the turmoil inflicted by the user on children, families and neighborhoods.

Legalizing an addictive drug that is linked to child abuse and neglect, increased psychosis and suicidal ideations, lowered IQ, memory loss, impaired learning, poor attention, and academic failure means more damaged lives and lost opportunities for our youth.

Arizona need be in no rush to go down this hole. Four other states have embarked on this experiment; let's watch them and examine their data.

It is unconscionable to experiment with legalization on Arizona's youth. Those 62 children whose lives were snuffed out in 2013 would certainly agree.

Sheila Polk is the Yavapai County Attorney and vice chair of Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy.

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