I write today with great concern for our children and youth. As a doctor of chiropractic, I would like to share with you some facts and personal experiences about marijuana use and to implore you not to put the pot shop business on the ballot as an advisory vote in the city of Federal Way, and to ban all sale of marijuana within the city.

In my clinical work as a chiropractor, I have seen the use of marijuana disrupt adrenal function and it is associated with increased amounts of hypoglycemia. The “munchies” effect of smoking cannabis is a sign of this adrenal disruption.

In a double-blind study it was found that THC (the main active chemical in marijuana) could be used successfully as a “hypnotic” in cases of insomnia. That should give us a clue. Marijuana puts you to sleep rather than elevating consciousness.

Many studies are coming out now about the effect of marijuana on the brain, especially the developing brains of our children.

While THC and other chemicals in marijuana can reduce pain and nausea, they do this by destroying very sensitive brain cells related to perception and coordination. The drug is highly toxic and literally destroys the brain. Given the importance of brain health for concentration, meditation and spiritual growth, marijuana use threatens the integrity of all aspects of our health and spiritual well-being.

The symptoms of THC brain damage include distorted perception, impaired coordination, difficulty in thinking and problem solving and memory difficulty. These are short-term side effects, but long-term marijuana use has been shown to increase the activity of the stress response and to alter the activity of dopamine containing nerve cells.

In short, this diminishes motivation and perseverance in work, relationships and on the spiritual path. While some people mistakenly believe this to be a more evolved state of non-attachment or emptiness, it is in reality “a numbness to life that inhibits our full expression,” according to Gabriel Cousens, MD, in a blog post about health and wellness.

Cannabis smoke also contains 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than tobacco smoke, Cousens said. Studies are ongoing and more data is coming out on the toxicity of marijuana smoke.

Marijuana legalization and pot shop proponents deny the health harms of marijuana just like the tobacco industry did, which brings to mind the first advertisements peddling cigarettes. They featured doctors endorsing tobacco as a health tonic! Denying harm was a tactic used by tobacco companies for 50 years to keep people smoking — and buying —cigarettes.

Sooner or later, marijuana legalization proponents will have to take responsibility for grossly misleading the public about the health harms of pot. To persuade people to legalize, they have to perpetuate the myth that marijuana is harmless.

It is not harmless as I sadly learned when I partook of marijuana. I experienced the effects: no motivation, complacency, lack of sharpness in thinking and all that I mentioned at the beginning of my statement.

The potent, toxic smoke injured my lungs and there has been some regeneration but they are still extremely sensitive. Think what it does to the delicate lung tissue of our children.

The real insidious and dangerous thing about marijuana is that when you are a user, you can’t see or feel yourself degrading. I was duped and fell for the myth that marijuana is harmless. Just like Big Tobacco duped the American people (and our children) that tobacco was harmless and not addictive.

Despite the misinformation you hear, marijuana is also addictive. I was addicted and in the grips of marijuana with a kind of mechanical habit. Finally, after many prayers I experienced a spiritual conversion and was cut free. Many people are waking up to the fact that they have been harmed by marijuana and they are angry with a society that has told them it is harmless.

One last point — the most important point. Statistics show marijuana use is up in our middle schools since marijuana was legalized in this state.

Besides the physical harm of the drug to developing brains, the apathy, the lack of drive and motivation, the “pot lifestyle” can cause our children to miss the normal and orderly cycles of marriage, family, children and career. The full flowering of their mission and contribution to society can be compromised. As the decades of a lifetime accelerate, it’s hard to recover from those lost years of non-productivity.

I was well into my 40’s when I embarked on my chiropractic degree. That’s what I mean by missing your cycles.

It’s really about the children, isn’t it? They copy what the adults do.

Let’s put our children before profit and stop this expensive advisory vote to  people who have been sold the myth of harmlessness. Do you think it would be an accurate, thoughtful vote of an informed populace? No! That’s how it unfortunately became legalized. And this experiment in retail marijuana is making merchandise of our children. Medical marijuana has some benefits, but at what cost. We are adjured not to do evil that good may come.

I counsel you to do your own investigations, educate yourself and assert the “local control” you still have and to ban the sale of marijuana from the beautiful city of Federal Way.

We are the guardians of our precious children and our choices will affect their future. We are the role models and children have an inherent trust in their parents and teachers. They depend on us for protection and to see that they have a safe and healthy environment. Let us keep this bond intact. Do not allow the promise of city coffers brimming with new income to take us down the wrong path. I went down that wrong path. I wish someone had warned me.

Jani Estrada, Issaquah