JANUARY 2019

from the EDITOR
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Not knowing is a scary place to be
I
didn’t realize a law could pass and still be confusing
even to law enforcement until I read
the recreational marijuana ballot proposal.
My head was spinning just writing this month’s
cover story. It’s legal yet, ambiguous; no one is
certain exactly how to interpret or enforce it.
At least that is what I discovered in my interviews.
It is scary because you are dealing with a
substance that can alter brain development and
cognitive function.
There are the supporters and non-supporters
of the law. We attempted to cover as many angles
to the story as possible. We looked at it from a legal
perspective, religious perspective, community
perspective and business perspective as the law impacts
various people and organizations. We wanted to understand
– now that it is legal – what does it mean?
As a mother and an aunt, I am
most concerned about the youth
and the long-term effects on
them if they use it while their
brains are still developing.
After all my interviews, I ended up with a 5,000-word
article which was ultimately edited down but is still quite
long; I assure you it’s worth the read. If nothing else, I
discovered that all of us in some way or another could be
affected by recreational marijuana becoming legal.
As a mother and an aunt, I am most concerned about
the youth and the long-term effects on them if they use it
while their brains are still developing.
I am a supporter of medical marijuana. I do believe
there are valid applications and positive results but I also
support scientific research of it and proper administration
of the substance. After all, it is a drug whether it is derived
from nature or not.
Just like it took about 10 years to tweak the medical
VANESSA
DENHA-GARMO
EDITOR IN CHIEF
CO-PUBLISHER
marijuana laws, it may take the same time or
even longer to solidify recreational marijuana.
There are still many unknowns at this point.
We don’t know what we don’t know. That is
a scary place to be.
I get the issues raised by law enforcement,
health professionals and educators. They are
valid and should be addressed.
There are many uncertainties in life. When
something is out of your control, you have to
take a leap of faith in God that all will turn out
okay or even better than you hoped.
However, it’s frustrating to know that there
could have been some kind of control over this
law but our leaders failed to do the right thing or that is
what appears happened in Lansing. The legislature didn’t
take on the marijuana issue and instead they let the people
decide and now we ended up with a confusing law.
We don’t know what we don’t know. As time passes,
I can only surmise things will come up regarding marijuana
that have to be addressed after the fact. We will be
scratching our heads saying, “Oh, we didn’t know!”
Obviously, marijuana is not the only story worth telling
this month but it an important one. No doubt each of
us know someone with a grow house or dispensary. I am
near certain that this will be a topic of discussion in our
community for years to come.
What does this new law really mean? We don’t really
know. How will it affect our families? We don’t know. What
will the long-term consequences be? We don’t know.
And what we don’t know, could harm us. It truly is a
scary place to be.
Alaha Imid Koullen
(God Be With Us All)
Vanessa Denha-Garmo
vanessa@denhamedia.com
Follow her on Twitter @vanessadenha
Follow Chaldean News on Twitter @chaldeannews
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6 CHALDEAN NEWS JANUARY 2019