FLASHREPORT

THE HARSH CONSEQUENCES OF AMMIANO'S DRUG EMBRACE

Dr. Paul Chabot, 63rd AD Candidate

[Publisher's Note: We are pleased to present this original commentary from 63rd Assembly Candidate Paul Chabot - Flash]

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Last week, the ultra liberal San Francisco Assemblyman, Tom Ammiano, from San Francisco pushed forward his agenda, in a public hearing, on legalizing marijuana. Having fought against drug legalization issues myself, it’s time to push back to protect our communities, our state, and most importantly our children.  Tom Ammiano, surprisingly, is also the Chair of the Assembly Public Safety Committee, as such one would assume he has a responsibility to “public safety.” It appears the exact opposite is occurring.

Drug cartels have long ravaged our border and are now spread across our Nation. In mid October, California law enforcement made a number of drug cartel related arrests here in our state. These arrests involve some of the most violent illegal aliens on our streets. What we are discovering as a state is that loose border policies allow thug organizations to attack, murder and rape our citizens. They do so under the guise of “business” as drug traffickers. These drug cartels not only bring into the U.S. heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, weapons, illegals, but also a great deal of marijuana. They also control significant marijuana grows in our state’s forests, tended to by criminal illegal aliens. To legitimize marijuana would only fuel the black market for domestic sales, which would be controlled by drug cartels, who are linked in with our violent prison gangs and domestic street gangs.

Some on the left talk about “all the tax” our state could receive from legalizing pot. What they fail to understand is the facts. A 2009 Columbia University study recently showed that with every dollar collected from cigarette tax, over $8 is spent cleaning up the health and societal costs (pot and tobacco share the same cancer causing chemicals). Legalizing pot is a non-starter for public safety. We already have enough problems with alcohol and prescription drug abuse that adding one more “so-called legit” substance to the market would surely further degrade our communities.

It’s especially startling considering the facts: More youth enter drug rehab for pot than any other drug combined; a 2009 National Highway Traffic Administration study shows more people are driving high on our roads than those that are drunk.  New research shows links to testicular cancer, depression, schizophrenia, and many other ailments. Earlier this year, California rightfully placed pot under the products “known to cause cancer.”

Despite these facts, if the far left has their way, we will see more, not less harm done to our youth. We will see more drug cartel violence on our streets, not less. We will see more illegals crossing our border to facilitate the “pot black market” not less. Maybe that’s the grand plan the liberals have had in mind all along, and without remorse. 
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Dr. Paul Chabot is Candidate for the 63^rd Assembly District. He is an Iraq war veteran, Lieutenant Commander (s) in the armed forces as an intelligence officer with 3^rd Fleet San Diego; 14-year law enforcement and anti-gang officer; former parole board commissioner,  founder of Coalition for a Drug Free California; past White House Drug Czar Senior Advisor and wrote a dissertation on the Mexican drug cartels, a foundational piece for his upcoming non-fiction book, “Without Remorse.”  Visit Paul at www.paulchabot.com , www.drugfreecalifornia.org, and www.starsandstripesunited.com