Keys letter: Marijuana

Recently, one of the family practice residents gave a most articulate and cogent presentation at St. Luke’s regarding the harmful effects of marijuana in pregnancy. Essentially, the conclusion of her talk was that we are unaware of any long-term, deleterious effects of marijuana on the fetus. Ironically, alcohol, which is highly toxic to the fetus (fetal alcohol syndrome), is marketed to the public with millions of dollars on TV and via other media. Likewise, tobacco, which is also highly toxic to the fetus (growth retardation and prematurity), is advertised to our children with millions of dollars. So, I am mystified that alcohol and tobacco, which are highly toxic to the fetus, are both legal; whereas, marijuana, with no known toxic effects, is illegal. Usually when such a paradox exists in policy, the culprit can be traced to legislators who had trouble in the first grade, economic reasons, or both.

Well, at least we could include the harmful or unknown effects of these drugs in Idaho’s mature and proportionate sex education program beginning at an early age. Oh yeah, Idaho doesn’t have a mature and proportionate sex education program beginning at any age.

This story was originally published June 7, 2016 at 4:23 PM with the headline "Keys letter: Marijuana."