SPOTLIGHT: Illinois Can’t Afford to Sit Back on Marijuana Legalization

SPOTLIGHT: Illinois Can’t Afford to Sit Back on Marijuana Legalization

Written by John Biver

David Smith and Monte Larrick recently sat down with Jo McGuire while she was visiting Illinois. She warned about the many consequences of legalizing recreational marijuana. Jo comes from Colorado, where they have had recreational marijuana since 2013.

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Jo McGuire serves on the board of directors for the Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association and co-chairs the Marijuana Education Committee. She is also a DATIA Certified Professional Collector and Trainer (CPCT) and a Certified Designated Employee Representative Trainer (CDERT) who consults and trains professionals overseeing Safety Sensitive Employees in the compliance of federal DOT guidelines for drug and alcohol screening programs. Jo assists educators with classroom and assembly-style presentations aimed at youth drug prevention and parent awareness and education.

They discuss why marijuana can’t be regulated like alcohol because of the sweeping differences; the strain it puts on first responders and traffic; the minimal revenue from recreational pot; big tobacco’s influence; the proposals in the Illinois recreational marijuana bill which makes allowances for the messy and complicated home grows; butane hash oil extractions, which are concentrates up to 95% THC; and the need to be a driving force against the legalization of recreational marijuana.

The message is: don’t buy the lies from those supporting legalization recreational marijuana. In this podcast you will learn more about the following:

The science explaining the differences between how the human body metabolizes alcohol and marijuana.
The negative impact on things like motor skills.
The fact that alcohol addition is treated seriously while society tends to dismiss the harm done to individuals that use marijuana.
Today’s marijuana is many times more potent in its THC levels than in previous decades. It has been genetically modified.
The percentage of highway accidents and emergency room visits related to marijuana use have spiked upwards in Colorado and other states that have legalized.
Unlike alcohol, there is no roadside test for those impaired by marijuana, and scientists are not close to developing one despite what weed proponents claim.
Big Tobacco is tremendously invested in “Big Weed.”
Home grows are legal in Colorado, which results in a number of problems, including the increase in mold inside and outside of homes growing the product.
The drug cartels thrive in Colorado despite legalization.
It’s common for extraction labs to explode, much like meth lab explosions.

Monte, Dave, and Jo get into a great deal more detail in this 20 minute podcast so be sure to listen.

Take ACTION: Click HERE to urge your state senator and state representative to oppose any and all attempts to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in the state of Illinois. The drug is addictive and significantly impairs bodily and mental functions, even impairing fine motor skills for 72 hours or longer after usage.

More drugged people in the workplace, on the roads and in schools is terrible public policy and unacceptable for a state already in crisis.

Please also call Gov. Rauner’s office to encourage the him to oppose the legalization and to safeguard the public. Call his Springfield office at (217) 782-6830 or his Chicago office at (312) 814-2121.

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