Thank you for contacting me regarding efforts to achieve legalization of marijuana.
I oppose the legalization of marijuana for three reasons. First, legalization sends a harmful moral message that tends to legitimize drug abuse. The government should not undermine parents’ efforts to raise morally discerning children by sending a strong message to teenagers about the acceptability of mind-altering substances.
Second, many people who argue for the legalization of marijuana greatly understate the physiological effects of this drug. The intoxicant in marijuana, THC, appears to have mild effects because it is fat-soluble and slow-acting. However, THC stored in fatty tissue continues to affect the brain for a long time after the “high” wears off. This is why regular pot smokers feel and appear continuously distracted and unfocused. THC can remain in the fat of a regular smoker for months after he quits. This intoxicant can cause serious and lasting harm to the brain, the hormones, the lungs, and the reproductive organs of a smoker.
Third, and most importantly, I oppose the legalization of marijuana because it is a gateway drug. While not all pot smokers go on to use harder drugs, virtually everyone who abuses cocaine or heroine begins by smoking marijuana. In the Netherlands, the liberalization of drug laws has resulted in the proliferation of harder drugs, prostitution, and violent crime as users seek greater highs and new ways to feed their habit.
Likewise, I am not sympathetic with attempts to legalize marijuana for medical use. THC is already available in pill form with a doctor’s prescription. Thus, there is no legitimate medical need for raw marijuana. I see these initiatives as ill-advised attempts to legitimize this harmful drug.
It is a privilege to represent you and I hope that you will not hesitate to contact me regarding any matter where I might be of assistance. If you would like more information on issues, or would like to share further thoughts with me via e-mail, you may visit my website.
Sincerely,
W. Todd Akin
Member of Congress
Loading ...
Todd you just lost our my vote! This is very sad to me that the state that I live in and you represent has a very very bad Meth probably and I have to get a script for decongestant, not to mention that I can drive 15 mins away from my city and buy it with no problem, way to take the tax money away from the city that I live in. Meth users are going to find a way to use and make Meth no matter how far they have to drive. My husband and myself were big supporters of you but this is why we will no longer be. I am 27 years old and have a rare autoimmune disease that causes my so much pain and chronic fatigue that I can no longer work. I am on oxygen and take at least 40 pills a day that will eventually kill me before my disease. Also there is not a pill with THC available in script in MO e
ither! I have had chronic headaches for as long as I can remember and the only thing that helps all of my symptoms is medical marijuana, which is in fact illegal in MO, I have no other option. I have no other options and the 20 doctors on my team at SLU have no idea what to do with me, so do I just sit in my house and wait to die, or do die waiting for medical marijuana to become legal in MO? No, but we were very close to winning last time and there is another vote coming soon, if not looks like there are plenty of other states that will support me. I am so sorry that instead of sending you supporting letter to you as we have before, this is letter that this will be passed on to many to let them know they should NOT vote for you. I will pray that you are no one in your family have to live there life in pain as I do, but if you had to live it you might change your mind. You will be in our prayers so that you may open your eyes and doing what the people expect from you, SUPPORT! thanks but no thanks Todd
marijuana laws do way more harm to someones life than the marijuana itself. what kind of message does that send to people? you do something i dont like and we’ll destroy your life. that doesnt sound like a free country to me it sounds more like a bully in school trying to take your lunch money. i beg for anyone who read this to vote to legalize because i know first hand how the laws against marijuana not marijuana ruin your life. hell they will let me starve to death if i have no money, by not ever in my life giving me food stamps because i got caught with some marijuana but yet if i was a rapist, thief, even murder getting out of prison i would be allowed to get food stamps. what kind of message does that send? to think i would of been better off being a rapist lol insane.
Wow!! that poor man still thinks refer madness exists,my father who is a pretty rational guy and a nam vet,thinks his friend smoked a joint and shot himself with..are you ready…an M16 are you kidding me?
how can rational people believe this garbage..WAKE UP !!!
GET OVER POT YOU HAVE BEER WHICH IS A PLAUGE TO THE POOR!!
WIFE BEATINGS,BAR FIGHTS,DRUNK DRIVERS,AND ISNT THIS THE REAL”"GATEWAY DRUG?”
DRANK BEER BEFOR i EVEN SEEN POT!!
NOT TO MENTION METH!!! CRACK!!! AND WHAT IT DOES..
LET THEM HAVE POT IF IT MAKES THEM FEEL BETTER LISTEN TO ARNOLD THE TERMINATOR
TIME TO SIT DOWN AND HAVE A SERIOUS TALK WITH THE FACTS FROM THE OTHER COUNTRY’S
THAT ARE 420 FRIENDLY..JUST ANOTHER OPINION…THANKS FOR LETTING ME SHARE
i have had and curently have people in my family that have passed on or are suffering from cancer. The throwing up, and the pain could be less …….if my grandma was to smoke im betting that she would NOT be as sick as she is from the cemo i wounder if rep.tom akin has ever seen a cancer patint that is so sick that they cant eat or anything else for that matter but lay in a bed in a hospital a shell of there former self .if my grandma or anyone with a pain or sickness that can be helped with the use of pot leagl or not i would do all i could to find them the med. to help them and if it happens to be pot that helps them .i am 110 % for the use of medical use of pot . Missouri is behind the times people we need to scream it loud at our state government to get this done and get it done now .
i have had and curently have people in my familt that have passed on or are suffering from cancer the throwing up the pain …….if my grandma was to smoke im betting that she would NOT be as sick as she is from the cemo i wounder if rep.tom akin has ever seen a cancer patint that is so sick that they cant eat or anything else for that matter but lay in a bed in a hospital.if my grandma or anyone with a pain or sickness that can be helped with the use leagl or not i would do all i could to find them the med. to help them and if it happens to be pot that helps them .i am 110 % for the use of medical use of pot . Missouri is behind the times people we need to scream it loud at our state government to get this done and get it done now
If Congressman Akin spent his time speaking of the REAL intoxicant that kills many more Missourians than marijuana ever will, I would assist him in beating a drum. Alcohol Congressman!!! That should be your primary focus in making Missouri safer. Alcohol abuse kills more innocents, ruin their own lives, their families, to include child abuse, neglect and frequent domestic difficulties. Anyone that can’t handle a little marijuana use is weak minded, over-indulgent morons. Moderate marijuana use hasn’t hurt anyone. Over-indulgence of any substance is the true problem. This commonly touted farce that marijuana use leads to hard drug addiction is also hogwash. Get up off the “what I think my constituents want to hear” bandwagon and purvey “common sense reality”. Lord knows Congress could use some of that for a change. Refreshing to say the least.
Dont worry, Im a speaker by trade so unfortunatly my spelling is terrible, but yes this is really only a rough draft. I just couldn’t help posting real quick to get it off my chest while it was fresh in my mind. The copy the Rep will get should by sqeaky clean.
The greatest voice you have is your vote. Vote these misinformed twits out of office.
You make some very good points, line by line.
I particularly like your 3-syllable schedule.
Leave it in, if that’s how it’s pronounced there.
You do want him to “understayund” you.
Just ‘effin’ witcha man, knock it out of the park with spell-check.
Grate lettar!
Man, nearly the whole batch of elected idiots need to be replaced
This guy genuinely has no idea what the real effects of cannabis are. Its important to make sure elected officials have the real facts regarding cannabis use.
Yes! very nice you should run for office I think you would do a better job than this turd!
I’m so glad to learn you intend to help this poor, misguided fool see through some of the silly things he’s been taught. So often we see such ignorance displayed by so-called representatives and no-one does anything about it. What you do probably won’t amount to much, but it will be something, which is better than nothing. Well done!
Sorry correction Reresentative not Senator
As a resident who is being represented by this man, I am also going to be writing him back. I would like to establish a rational discussion on this subject and I will be adressing his arguments line by line.
1)”First, legalization sends a harmful moral message that tends to legitimize drug abuse….”
I agree wholeheartedly that minors(under 21) should NOT have access to ANY drugs. But we are undermining our own authority by trying to equate Cannabis(a substance less toxic than asprin) with Heroin, Cocaine, Opiate prescription pills and Missouris BIGGEST problem… METH!!! If we tell young people that “Cannabis is going to ruin your life if you use it”, and then through their own illicit experimentation see that is not the case, then why should they not also believe we could be wrong about these other actually chemically addictive, toxic drugs that can lead to LETHAL overdose?
2)”Second, many people who argue for the legalization of marijuana greatly understate the physiological effects of this drug..This is why regular pot smokers feel and appear continuously distracted and unfocused..”
No one is arguing that Cannabis doesn’t have physiological effects. Thats why its being used both recreationaly and medically. And it should only be allowed to adults over 21. The specific effects on individuals DOES vary from each person. But we already trust adults to recognize and control an altered state of mind with alchohol, how is this different? But making a sweeping generalization about how lazy ALL Cannabis users are is just ridiculous. Just ask Michael Phelps, Toby Greer or one of the many other successful athletes or proffesionals who consume Cannabis. The most laughable part is that, statistically the good Senator probably comes into contact with successful Cannabis consumers frequently, but is unaware because they don’t exhibit the “a-motivational syndrome” that he goes on to describe. Now as far as negative health consequences, (Im not sure if the Senator is familiar with a term called vaporization since he does not adress it? ) YES smoke of any kind is bad for your health. That includes burning charcol, wood fires, tobacco, and prettymuch anything that combusts. But so do fatty foods(dont even get me started on how much obeisity is causing this country), alchohol, and a whole host of other activities that can kill us but we would never dream of locking up our otherwise law abiding citizens for exercising their INDIVIDUAL freedoms no matter how reckless we personaly think they might be!
3)”Third, and most importantly, I oppose the legalization of marijuana because it is a gateway drug.”
Cannabis is only a gateway in the sense that it is a portal to the black market that sells all illicit goods. Where pushers who certainly do downplay the effects of drugs, are quick to equate harder drugs to Cannabis(on the word of the Feds no less). Why not move this gateway to an avenue more like a casino or psuedo-pharmacy speacialty store where only adults may enter upon signed ID verification. Where products are labeled for potency.Where they can be limited in quantity(this will deture purchase for outside resale). Where they can be zoned away from schools,churches,and parks. Where addicts who exhibit excessive use can be identified & targeted honestly by their peers for treatment.
4)”Likewise, I am not sympathetic with attempts to legalize marijuana for medical use. THC is already available in pill form with a doctor’s prescription. Thus, there is no legitimate medical need for raw marijuana..”
So he agrees that THC has medical value, Marinol a Schedual III substance right? And clearly you dont mind that THC is available for prescription already. This is not consistant. How can the God-Made plant Cannabis be any more harmful than its active ingriedient THC, a Schedual III substance? The “legitimate” medical need for “raw marijuana”, is that it’s a much faster and more controlable delivery method than trying to take down a pill and then wait for a time release capsule to dissolve before you throw it back up. This is especially true for people who use Cannabis to treat nausea(i.e. cancer patients). When raw Cannabis is used in a vaporizer it heats up the flower material just enough to release the beneficial componenents but without releasing most of those negative tars and carcinogens everyone is worried about. Vaporizor technology is not so different from current inhalors.
Lets keep responsible adults out of our overburdened criminal justice system and into the world of productivity. Using threat of force by one group of adults to deter another group of adults in a matter of individual freedom is an inequality.
Dear Rep. W,
First,
The RE-legalization of the safest therapeutically active substance known to man will send a strong message to everyone, regardless of age, that your morally reprehensible attitude is irresponsible and will not be tolerated by informed citizenry who are registered to vote in your state. The government (of which you are unfortunately a part) should not be undermining parents’ ability to raise children able to make informed decisions on important matters relevant to their health.
Second, your ridiculous assertion that marijuana’s “intoxicant”* is “slow-acting” only serves to point out that you know very little of what you speak…the effects of inhaled marijuana smoke, or vapor if you’re worried about the potential harms of smoke, are virtually instantaneous (unlike dangerous legal opioids), bringing rapid relief from a wide range of medical symptoms. I hope your constituents are not “slow-acting” in removing you from a position where your irrational beliefs will no doubt prolong the suffering of the seriously ill.
Third, your “gateway” theory is utter nonsense, and has been considered such for years by anyone with a brain who pays attention to scientific inquiry. Your preposterous claims about rampant vice and crime in the Netherlands are about 180 degrees from the actual situation in that country. Their progressive policies and compassionate treatment of drug users has led to DECREASES in crime, disease and drug abuse, with their teen use of marijuana about half the current rate of usage by teens in the US.
Fourth, (maybe you can’t count, but WE can) you apparently see nothing wrong with the pill form of 100 percent potent THC, which has serious negative side-effects and very little actual benefit.
Fifth, it is a privilege, nay an obligation, to debunk and deride your idiotic prohibitionist propaganda, and to urge your constituency to immediately seek a replacement for such an astonishingly inconsiderate elected official.
*THC and other cannabinoids are not “intoxicants”, as alcohol is, by definition: a cellular poison.
Raw marijuana is non-toxic. Look it up.
If there was a way to get these public servant responses to an outlet where the people they represent could read them, would be a great way to possibly motivate people to vote them out of office.
Uh. Like Michael Phelps? Like Tim Lincecum?
Well, I can see how…wait…what was that? Marijuana’s not a “gateway drug?”
another wack job…..