After my letter Aug. 1, “Eager for updates from Cannabis Committee,” I received agendas for each of the meetings. However, I have not seen any minutes of the meetings post on the city’s website. After nine meetings, the agendas lacked information if the health issues of cannabis was discussed.
The majority of people smoking pot today were not alive when the debate started over the highly addictive drug nicotine, which is found in cigarettes. Cigarette companies denied for decades the effect that nicotine had on the brain and body of smokers. Nicotine is a chemical that is dangerous not because it causes cancer but because it can addict you to cigarettes.
Doctors and scientists are now discovering that Tetrahydrocannabinol, know as THC which is a ingredient in cannabis, is now found to be highly addictive. In the early 1990s, marijuana contained just under 4% THC. Today marijuana can contain upwards of 80% potency of THC. A study by the National Institute of Drug Abuse found, “Substantial evidence from animal research and a growing number of studies in humans indicate that marijuana exposure during development can cause long-term or possibly permanent adverse changes in the brain.”
Scientists now agree high levels of THC use can lead to psychosis. As with cigarettes, advocates for cannabis distributors are ignoring the adverse health effects of THC on the brain. We do not need stores in Chico distributing an addictive gateway drug. THC leads to psychosis, psychosis leads to violence.
— Steve Simpson, Chico