To the editor:

With the referendum concerning the “legalization” of marijuana in Lewiston nearing, I thought of the situation in Colorado.  In that state, ‘pot’ has become legal, and widely available in smoking form and in ready-made food products.

Although Enterovirus D68 has shown up elsewhere, Colorado recently has experienced a large number of cases in children.  We know that children are at great risk of illness when breathing secondhand smoke; there also are numerous reports of children having innocently ingested marijuana-laced treats in Colorado.

I’m not a doctor, but am pondering what I view as a very real possibility that children’s immune systems are being compromised, making them not only more susceptible to respiratory illnesses such as Enterovirus D68, but more likely to incur greater negative effects.  Do we even want to take those risks in Lewiston-Auburn?  Do we want to go against the research-based advice of the medical and law enforcement people, much less state statutes and federal laws?  Just wondering.

Robert Hansen

Auburn