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I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it over and over again: there is never a good time to legalize pot.

The policies of the federal government relating to the classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug are there for a reason, and that is to protect the health and welfare of our public, especially our children who run a much greater risk of being exposed to marijuana’s health dangers.

While the Food and Drug Administration supports controlled usage of marinol and cesamet from THC, they are very much against people smoking weed as a medicine. In my conversations with the other county chiefs of police, we all agreed that the use of medical marijuana for those with serious debilitating medical conditions is the right thing to do. But unfortunately there are those who take advantage of the loopholes in the law.

Of the thousands who have medical marijuana cards, according to the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis, “less than 5 percent have cancer, AIDS, MS, or other serious illnesses.”

This means that over 95 percent are smoking pot just to get high and in the process places the general public at risk by driving on our roadways, operating heavy equipment, and the like. And while the pro-legalization people say this is speculative rhetoric, nothing could be further from the truth because of supportive scientific surveys and facts — something the legalize pot movement refuses to recognize and accept.

Although pot is currently legal in Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Washington, D.C., there are strong indicators uncovered by (SAM), that these jurisdictions are having serious regrets because of devastating social pitfalls that have literally destroyed families, while boosting the black market.

Neighboring states have filed civil lawsuits because of the collateral social and economic damages caused by pot to their communities.

SAM’s Science Advisory Board against legalization includes some of the most brilliant minds in the scientific, health, and advisory industry. (.)

Can all of those experts be wrong about the detrimental impact of pot? The multi-million dollar pot industry would like you to think so.

Then the question begs, if pot is that bad, why the big push to legalize it in Hawaii? The answer is simple: MONEY.

As Gary Hooser ranted in his Feb. 14, 2017 Community Voice article in Civil Beat: “Why are we waiting? Delaying an action we know will be taken in the coming years achieves nothing while costing our state hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue.”

I don’t have enough space to list down all the reasons why we should not legalize pot, but if you really care about the future of our island home and the future of our children, please do your own due diligence by researching the pros and cons of pot, and you can start at .

Letting the legalized pot genie out of the bottle will be the biggest mistake this state will ever make both socially and economically, as many communities are learning on the mainland. Please don’t let this happen in Hawaii because putting that genie back in the bottle will be absolutely impossible.

But, in the larger scheme of things, all of us can do more to reduce and prevent drug abuse, drug trafficking, and drug addiction. In 1982, then-President Ronald Reagan put together a task force which resulted in a five-point strategy: 1) Strong local law enforcement efforts, 2) Strong coordination with International countries, 3) Prevention and education, 4) Treatment and rehabilitation, and 5) Increase research in the causes of addiction. As a result, from 1982 to 1992, drug abuse was reduced by 50 percent. Not only did the criminal justice system go after drug cartels, and drug rings, to reduce the supply of drugs, but social and health-care providers joined in to reduce the demand side.

Please talk to your legislators and let them know how you feel; that you are for the reduction and prevention of drug abuse, drug trafficking, and drug addiction, and strongly against decriminalizing pot, especially for the poorest excuse of all — MONEY. Explain to them — from the heart — that you worry and care about our future generations, because, there is never a good time to legalize pot.