An important warning of the dangers of marijuana
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TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | APRIL 30-MAY 6, 2021 15
BY PHIL ORENSTEIN
The state Legislature passed a bill legalizing
recreational marijuana in New
York state, but with its passage, the public
has been sold a bill of goods.
It was deceptively sold to the public
as good policy signifying a “historic”
end to the “failed policies of marijuana
prohibition.” The good news is that
several Long Island mayors, the entire
Town of Hempstead, and many other
cities, towns and villages stood up and
chose to opt out of selling marijuana in
their municipalities.
Assemblyman Kieran Lalor and
other legislators also said no, claiming
that legalization will not reduce crime,
will not end the black-market sale of
pot, won’t be a big job creator, won’t help
poor communities, won’t bring in major
revenue to the state, will lead to accidents
and addiction, and will endanger
families and their children.
But that’s just half the story. Even
more serious is the story of marijuana’s
insidious harm to one’s body and mind
which must be told. This is my own
story of the major mental health consequences
of marijuana use, which is
the chronic psychiatric disorder called
amotivational syndrome.
I was part of the hippy culture of the
1960s epitomized by Cheech and Chong
movies which achieved notoriety portraying
the life of potheads and their
hedonistic culture of free love, drug
abuse, living for the moment and drifting
through life without a purpose.
I started my freshman year at Stonybrook
University enthusiastically pursuing
science studies, majoring in biology,
but soon fell in with the hippy crowd.
Marijuana was our drug of choice, and I
started out as an occasional user.
Soon, it turned into a daily habit. We
celebrated our drug and counterculture
experience with monthly dance concerts,
wild rock festivals and psychedelic
light shows presented by the physics
department with more and more of the
student body participating.
No one warned us about the consequences.
We didn’t buy the overblown
scare tactics, the old canard that marijuana
was “the killer weed.” We viewed
marijuana as a non-addictive, mild,
mind-altering experience, safer than
alcohol. It became a way of life, and
then we found out the truth about the
deceiving weed.
I’m writing this message as a public
service announcement to parents, children,
students and professionals and as
a warning of the real danger of marijuana.
Soon after my first year, my grades
plummeted, and I stopped going to class
regularly. I stopped taking schoolwork
seriously and nearly dropped out of college.
To our pot smoking crowd, everything
in life was a big joke.
Later, I learned that many of my former
colleagues suffered terrible fates.
Several committed suicide, some died
young, and others became business failures,
losers and slackers.
Fast forward decades later, I was
teaching with the REACH Foundation,
a private sector drug abuse prevention
and educational program in the
NYC public school system designed to
help kids reach their full potential. We
delivered comprehensive daily classroom
lessons on drug identification and
awareness, dealing with peer pressure,
goal setting, critical thinking skills,
conflict resolution and pursuing “natural
highs.”
At the REACH Foundation, I learned
that I suffered from a disorder known
as amotivational syndrome in my pot
smoking college days, characterized
by lethargy, apathy, dullness, impaired
concentration, loss of ambition, loss of
concern for personal hygiene and appearance,
loss of interest in all daily life
activities including work, school, family
and everything else except smoking
pot.
New York’s governor and our elected
officials who have done the unthinkable
and legalized and legitimized pot, do
not understand its devastating effects.
Now, it’s up to all of us to stand up in our
communities, towns and cities, and educate
and inform our politicians and the
general public.
We, the people, have the ultimate
power and authority by getting involved
in the local political process, organizing,
running for office and voting!
Phil Orenstein is the president of the
Queens Village Republican Club. Historian
Jerry Matacotta, founder of History
Seminar Series at Queensborough Community
College and High School American
History teacher, was the adviser for
this op-ed.
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OP-ED
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