'Legalizing Pot Would Send A Wrong And Hypocritical Message:' Guilford DAY Officials

By Jack Kramer, Correspondent

GUILFORD, CT – Nobody has been more adamant in its opposition to Connecticut legalizing recreational marijuana than members of Guilford DAY (Developmental Assets for Youth).

On Tuesday, people for and against legalizing pot were at the state Capitol to about several bills that would make Connecticut the ninth state in the country to legalize recreational use of marijuana.

The Public Health Committee of the legislature heard testimony on the debate.

Fueling the momentum for those who want to legalize recreational use of pot are a couple of factors – that border state Massachusetts recently approved it; that the state of Connecticut badly needs the millions of dollars in tax money that legalization would bring; and, lastly, that a 2015 Quinnipiac University survey found that 63 percent of Connecticut residents favor legalization.

But DAY isn’t buying any of it.

• To sign up for Guilford breaking news alerts and more, click here.

One of those submitting testimony against legalization was Lisa Ott, co-chair of DAY.

Ott said: “We are a community coalition working hard to change the culture of teen alcohol/ substance abuse in our town, and we have had a lot of success. Guilford has achieved a 40 percent reduction in teen alcohol/substance use over the past six years.

“A key ingredient has been the very active youth leadership of Guilford DAY. Our youth leaders tell us there is nothing more important to protect kids in Guilford than to oppose legalization of marijuana,” Ott said.

In her testimony, Ott claimed that legalization would cause increased youth of marijuana by Connecticut’s youth. She said that research shows that after Colorado became the first state to approved recreational marijuana in 2009, pot used increased by 65 percent and “Colorado now leads the U.S. in teen marijuana use.”

“This is a critical public health issue for Connecticut, and we hope you will consider your responsibility as a member of the Public Health Committee to protect Connecticut kids from the adverse health impact that will be caused by marijuana legalization,” said Ott.

Also imploring legislatures to not allow recreational pot was Guilford High School junior Gabby Palumbo, who is a member of Guilford DAY (Developmental Assets for Youth), a group who is active in substance abuse initiatives at both a local and state level.

She said legalizing pot would “send a wrong and hypocritical message.”

Palumbo said it would, first, be telling young people that smoking pot is ok; second, she said, it would send the message that “revenue outweighs public health concerns.”

Image credit: Jack Kramer