Hawaii’s soaring opioid-related medical issues and costs should see some relief once the licensed medical marijuana dispensaries are able to sell products.

Recent studies are showing that in states with licensed medical marijuana dispensaries (LMD), opioid-related deaths, prescriptions and hospitalizations declined. A study published in the July 2016 issue of Health Affairs journal found doctors in medical-marijuana states prescribed 1,800 fewer painkiller prescriptions for patients a year.

Another study by Yuyan Shi, University of California San Diego public health professor, found hospitalization rates of people suffering from painkiller abuse and addiction dropped on average 23 percent in states that offered medical marijuana.

An earlier study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine in 2014 found a 25 percent decrease in opioid overdose deaths in states with legal medical marijuana.

Rather than accusing cannabis of being a gateway drug, cannabis instead should be viewed as an exit drug off of opioids and other addictive prescriptions, and the scientific data seems to confirm this.

Dr. Sue Sisley

Medical director, Manoa Botanicals

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State skims funds from ‘city’ project

In a recent article concerning the rail, House Speaker Scott Saiki said that it was a “city” project only, and not a state project (“Next stop: special session,” Star-Advertiser, June 20).

If that is the case, why has the state been skimming 10 percent of the 0.5 percent general excise tax surcharge collected each year since 2007? According to the Economic Research Organization at the University of Hawaii, the total collected by the state to 2016 was $185.1 million. That would make it about $200 million today.

Will the speaker retract his inaccurate statement or explain?

Paul Mark Manuel

Downtown Honolulu

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Rail supporters want others to ride it

It is not surprising that pro-rail candidates are voted in and that rail is “approved” whenever brought to vote.

Despite the increasing costs, those always frustrated in traffic are voting for rail for a simple reason — they want everyone else to use the rail so they can drive their cars in less traffic.

The question on the ballot should be, “Are you in favor of continuing to build rail, and will you use it?”

Clark Himeda

Waialae

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Unlikely pesticides are being misused

Dawn Webster complained about the lack of environmental law enforcement on Kauai (“State needs to enforce environmental law on Kauai,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, June 19). She said that “powerful restricted use pesticides” are liberally applied. She doesn’t mention what kind of pesticides she is complaining about — insecticides, herbicides, rodenticides, or whatever. But, she thinks that whatever it is, she is sure it is harmful to the people of Kauai. And she seems sure that Syngenta is violating some law.

Those in the farming business know that agricultural chemicals are expensive, so farmers, including Syngenta, use the absolute minimum needed to get the job done. There is no “liberal application.”

The Environmental Protection Agency has tightly regulated all chemicals, pesticides and hazardous substances of all kinds since it was instituted in 1970 under President Richard Nixon. There have been numerous public hearings dealing with pesticides, and amendments to pesticide regulations.

If Webster has discovered new dangers unknown to the Departmen of Agriculture and the EPA, she should notify them immediately.

Jack Roney

Hilo

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Child’s mental need begins in infancy

According to Joan Beck, author of “How to Raise a Brighter Child,” education begins at birth, which is sooner than reported in a recent commentary on preschool education (“UH study found early ed benefits,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, June 14).

A child’s mental need begins at birth and is met through the stimulation of his or her five senses (hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, touching). For example, words heard by a child will start a hearing vocabulary, which in approximately 11 months from birth becomes their speaking vocabulary. Thus, the more words heard, the larger the speaking vocabulary becomes. Later on, when seeing these words in print, a reading vocabulary develops.

If our high schools would educate our future parents on the mental needs of their children to come, there will be less of a need for preschools. Additionally, it could have immediately effective results as word gets out on ways to meet a child’s mental needs.

Bill Punini Prescott

Nanakuli