Pot legalization, water woes divide students

By Rosemary Laurito

Friday, Dec. 25, 2015 | 2 a.m.

What’s on our teenagers’ minds? In its 59th year, the Las Vegas Sun Youth Forum is intended to answer just that question. The annual gathering, which this year attracted about 1,000 students, provided an opportunity for public high school juniors and seniors to discuss issues of the day in groups of 40 or so students and was moderated by a community leader. Each group selected one of its participants to reflect on the experience. This column is written by Rosemary Laurito, a senior at Silverado High School. Publisher and Editor Brian Greenspun is turning over his “Where I Stand” column to these young adults, who have something to say.

What do a panther, skyhawk and cowboy have in common? They are the mascots of a few of Clark County’s high schools and just a few weeks ago they united under one cause: to improve society with innovative solutions.

The Sun Youth Forum brought some of the most creative minds in the Clark County School District together to discuss some of this world’s most pressing concerns. The members in my room used their intellect and experiences to discuss topics such as recreational marijuana and water sources.

One of the first questions was, Should recreational use of marijuana be legal in Nevada? Matthew from Coronado said yes, and he wants to tax it and use that revenue to fund our education. Those who agreed with the idea of taxing marijuana sales also believe Nevada could save a lot of money if marijuana-related crimes were not heavily prosecuted. Most students examined Colorado’s system of taxing and regulating marijuana and found that the $70 million raised from tax revenue in 2014 greatly benefited the state. Colorado increased in the quality of its education, and that could be a result of increased funding from marijuana tax revenue.

Is it worth it, though? Michael from Chaparral believes marijuana is immoral and dangerous. Marijuana is known as a gateway drug that can push users to more addictive drugs, such as cocaine, meth or heroin. Some people believe that if recreational marijuana is legalized, it will become much easier for younger kids to access, which can be detrimental to brain development. Marijuana can cause mental issues, breathing problems and a poor quality of life after years of use. The potential for abuse increases with the availability of marijuana. The question comes down to, Are people willing to sacrifice their health or others’ health to increase revenue that goes toward improving education and getting people back into the workforce? The majority of members decided that legalizing recreational marijuana would benefit Nevada.

Another difficult issue for Nevada deals with our water shortage. One proposed solution was a water pipeline from Washington to California. Instead of allowing areas in Washington to flood, the southern states could relocate some of the excess water to California. If California used water from a different source, it would not need as much from the Colorado River. Of the 7.5 million acre-feet that Nevada, Arizona and California are given to use, California receives 59 percent of it. Also, it would be beneficial if Southern California farmers used less water for their agriculture. To solve Nevada’s water problem, California must find a solution to its drought. Most people agreed the pipeline idea should be more heavily explored.

The students feel that to solve more problems, the solutions should be less bureaucratic and more about the greater good. Everette from Legacy said it best: “Not everything is about money.”

In society today, people have become very good at blaming others; people should become better at finding reasonable solutions.

This generation is full of intelligent problem-solvers ready to share their ideas. They just need someone to hear them.