Pot dangers
EDITOR: From the Smart Approaches to Marijuana website: “Marijuana users are also three times more likely than non-users to become addicted to heroin, and a 2017 National Academy of Sciences report found a statistical association between marijuana use and the development of substance dependence for other drugs like opioids and heroin. The average potency of marijuana has skyrocketed since the 1970s and research demonstrates it is associated with substance use disorders, drugged driving crashes, lower IQ and other negative consequences. Today, more young people are voluntarily seeking treatment for marijuana addiction than for all other drugs combined, including alcohol.”
The younger people are when they use pot, the more likely they are to become addicted and the greater possibility there is for negative psychological outcomes.
Brent Gudzus
Windsor
How I feel
EDITOR: 2018 is here and we have been through so much in Sonoma County regarding these terrible fires. My heart is so broken. May 2018 be a better year. I just wanted to say that I have renamed the White House. I now call it the Nut House. Be safe.
Roz Morris
Windsor
Better and more just
EDITOR: A very important law for our local community went into effect on Jan.1 in California, one that has not been featured in many “new laws” reports.
SB54, the California Values Act, supported by both Senator Mike McGuire and Assemblymember Jim Wood (thanks!), bars local and state law enforcement officers from arresting individuals based solely on civil immigration warrants, from asking about a person’s immigration status and from participating in any joint task force with federal officials solely for the purpose of enforcing immigration laws.
The bill does not prohibit Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Department of Homeland Security from enforcing federal immigration laws in California, it just says California will not use its own law enforcement resources to help in those actions.
The law does not give a pass, however, to immigrants who commit crimes, since it exempts from the protections those immigrants with previous convictions for an estimated 800 crimes.
It will also help local law enforcement to build the strong relationships necessary to public safety and community well-being, since immigrants often fear approaching police officers when they are victims of and witnesses to crimes and when local police are entangled with federal immigration enforcement.
As Gov. Brown said when signing the law, “These are uncertain times for undocumented Californians and their families, and this bill strikes a balance that will protect public safety, while bringing a measure of comfort to those families who are now living in fear every day.”
We have a better and more just California today because of The California Values Act.
Dave Henderson
Healdsburg
