What about tobacco and alcohol?

To the Editor, I am writing to comment on the April 21, 2021 article by WisPolitics.com. It was an excellent article, but I must add my two cents.

The criterion for a Schedule One drug is, as stated in the article: “Schedule 1 drugs have no medical value and high potential for abuse.” Using this very criteria cigarettes and alcohol fall into that very category.

Cigarettes obviously have no medical value and that has been known for decades. It even says on the cigarette pack that it is harmful to your health. It is a well-known fact that it causes cancer, heart disease and stroke, as well as the detrimental health effects of secondhand smoke to anyone in the vicinity of a smoker. Anyone who has tried to quit cigarettes also knows how hard it is to quit even with help from nicotine patches or gum and how easily they became addicted to cigarettes once tried.

Alcohol, like cigarettes, has no medical value as well. We’ve all heard the warnings about how drinking causes liver disease, heart damage, cancer, and it is especially harmful to pregnant women and their fetuses. There is also the death and destruction caused by driving under the influence. Alcohol also has such a high potential for abuse, that there are myriad institutions out there to help people with alcohol addiction.

This tells me then, that our State legislators are more interested in keeping their alcohol and tobacco lobbyists happy, rather than vote how their constituents want them to vote. It is a well-known fact that alcohol sales drop in states that have legalized recreational marijuana.

Another argument is there will be a huge uptick in crime in states with legal marijuana. Statistically this has been found to be false. There has been minimal to no uptick in property or other crimes in states with legal, recreational marijuana. As for teenage use, some states have seen a mild increase while others have seen an actual drop. But that brings me back to tobacco and alcohol – teens also use and abuse these and they still find ways to indulge despite the illegality of them.

Recreational marijuana is legal in 17 states so far, some with majority Republican legislatures. Ninety-one percent of the U.S. population says marijuana should be legal for adult recreational use. Rather than throw our tax money away on follies such as the Foxconn debacle with their empty promises, we need to grow our tax base by legalizing marijuana and using the tax dollars brought in to help our state with infrastructure, education, social programs and environmental concerns. The increase in tax revenue has been proven by those states with legal recreational marijuana.

It’s time we made our voices heard. In a recent past election in Eastern Wisconsin, legalization was on the ballot and passed. It was basically a test to see if there was support and there was. It’s time our legislature listened to the people who put them in office and not the Tobacco and Alcohol lobby.

Cathy A. White Hager City