Developer appreciates the kind words on Uvas Creek protection

Letters on Uvas creek protection, use of marijuana while driving
and the Congressional irony regarding health care
Developer appreciates the kind words on Uvas Creek protection

Dear Editor,

Many thanks to Violet Rentfrow for the kind words regarding our ongoing effort to protect Uvas Creek, which each year is the product of active cooperation and significant investment by the Garlic Festival Association, the City of Gilroy, the Christopher Family, and the Filice Family.   

Our erosion control measures are actively monitored and repaired as necessary; the annual strategy is continually refined based on results and on advice from various governmental agencies and professional consultants. 

Tim Filice, Glen Loma Ranch 

Marijuana use more dangerous for driving than alcohol? Proof please

Dear Editor,

I was surprised by statements in a recent letter. Because the author, Katie Hall, is listed as a public health practitioner and alcohol and drug specialist, I decided to look into the wide disparity between my assumptions and the author’s claims about the effect of marijuana on driving ability.

In a web search of “marijuana driving impairment” only a single article in the first page of results stated marijuana to be a significant danger for highway safety. The host of that site is David J. Hanson, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Sociology of the State University of New York at Potsdam, and he has a very impressive resume. But his article does not present anything near Ms. Hall’s statement that, “Nationally marijuana is … seven times greater than drunk driving.” 

Dr. Hanson cites a “… drug counselor and recovering addict … who “says that she got into several crashes as a teenager because of smoking pot while driving.” He also warns of the speed with which one could become high via marijuana as compared to alcohol, that parents don’t detect marijuana, and that it is easier for young people to buy marijuana than beer.

Hanson listed just a single reference, a 2006 newspaper article in The Daily Telegraph.

Others are from seemingly more neutral sources; The American Family Physician Web Archive, Iowa Telecom, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Even the two presumably “pro-marijuana” articles list many references, including (among sources like NORML) the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Each of these seven articles recognizes effects marijuana has on perception and performance, especially when combined with alcohol, yet none support Ms. Hall’s alarm. Here are some conclusions they present:

n “The research so far does not provide a clear answer to how much risk of accidents increase with moderate levels of cannabis intoxication, but only confirms that the risks of cannabis-alone impairment are lower than those of alcohol-alone impairment. ” 

n “A single glass of wine will impair your driving more than smoking a joint. And under certain test conditions, the complex way alcohol and cannabis combine to affect driving behaviour suggests that someone who has taken both may drive less recklessly than a person who is simply drunk.”

n “Drivers under the influence of marijuana retain insight in their performance and will compensate where they can, for example, by slowing down or increasing effort. As a consequence, THC’s adverse effects on driving performance appear relatively small.” 

In the interest of a rational examination of these marijuana issues that have become so important in Gilroy lately, I hope Ms. Hall will list sources that convinced her marijuana is more dangerous to driving than alcohol. Others too, may point to sources that have swayed them one way or another. I welcome the chance to base my own judgment on something more substantial than a brief Internet search.

Phill Laursen, Gilroy  

Dress like NASCAR drivers; we’d like the health plan Congress has

Dear Editor,

Robin Williams came up with a fantastic plan

For all the legislators of our cherished land 

He wants them to dress like the NASCAR Drivers

With different patches of their lobbyist providers 

Just like the racers who tell us of their incoming cash

The Congressmen would be exposing their funding stash 

So now when they abstain or vote against a bill

We’d be more informed of why their voice is still 

And now after the Supreme Court’s most recent decision

The corporations donations will be on public exhibition 

And another thing of which I’m very concerned

Of our nation’s healthcare bill and where it has turned

If Congress can’t decide what the people need

Looking at their health plan will bring us up to speed 

They seem to have no problem with their own plan

So let’s give that a try for the people of our land 

And I’m sure that’s something,

that we can all agree

If it’s good enough for Congress,

it’s good enough for you and me

Tom Engebretson, Gilroy