Recreational Drug Use

To the Editor: 
It seems that every issue in the Herald contains stories of arrests for illicit drug use or people who overdose on heroin. Is this a moral, legal or health issue?
Those who wish to legalize marijuana overlook many negative factors. Scientists and doctors testify to the negative effects marijuana and other drugs have on the brains of adolescents. Pope Francis has stated, “Drug addiction is an evil and with evil there can be no compromise. Attempts, however limited, to legalize so-called recreational drugs are not only highly questionable from a legislative standpoint but they fail to produce the desired effects.” I can tell you from my own experience that if you grow up in a home where cigarettes and alcohol are used by parents, the teenagers will start using cigarettes and alcohol when mom and dad aren’t around. The same would be true for legalized marijuana. Stopping smoking cigarettes at the age of 23 was the hardest thing I ever did. I’m 69 now and nicotine in cigarettes when I was young was much more potent or addictive than today. And that overlooks the lung cancer issue associated with tobacco. Pope Francis goes on, “No to every type of drug use. It’s as simple as that.”