Highway speeders should be a top priority

I recently returned from a car trip to Southern California. As I crossed over the state line on Interstate 15, I was met with an large electronic sign stretched across the road reading, “Zero Tolerance Zone.” This was meant to inform drivers that there was “zero tolerance” for speeding.

I must admit that as I proceeded down this stretch of road I was exceeding the speed limit of 70 mph by about 6 mph. But it was like I was standing still. Cars where passing me on the left and right.

I would estimate that some of them were going 80 mph to 90 mph in addition to weaving in and out of lanes around slower cars.

This section of highway is always in the news for backups of huge proportions due to serious accidents. I will guess that in most instances these accidents are due to speed.

I know we can’t have the police everywhere, but I believe these are also bad guys — maybe not with guns, but their weapon of choice is the car.

Neil Schwartz

Las Vegas

Sad state

It is a sad state of affairs when the front page of the Review-Journal (June 27) features women rejoicing that a U.S. Supreme Court decision will allow more unborn to be killed.

In the photo, women are seen smiling, crying and laughing. I guess they and others think they won a “victory” with the Monday decision. I doubt the unborn would rejoice.

It is truly a sad state of affairs when more killing of the unborn is allowed and championed.

Brian Gardner

Las Vegas

Pot and opioids

Thank you to the Review-Journal for covering a recent day-long meeting to discuss the opioid crisis in Nevada. (“Sandoval opens summit, calls drug abuse one of deadliest epidemics,” June 21). I know first-hand the pain associated with this epidemic, as my ex-husband, the father of my 8-year old son, died from an accidental overdose of methadone and Xanax.

I have spent the past three years researching opioid addiction, the methadone maintenance treatment plan, and non-opioid solutions to addiction.

As we attempt to address the opioid crisis within our state, we need to be open to all possible means of reducing the use of these addictive and potential deadly drugs. Along those lines, it is important to consider the findings of researchers at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and Medical School. In a recent study, they reported that the use of medical marijuana resulted in a 64 percent reduction in opioid use, as well as a 45 percent increase in quality of life.

As an advocate for this industry, I have done extensive research on the topic, authoring a paper on the introduction of cannabis into the methadone maintenance treatment program.

We need to get over our pre-existing biases against marijuana and recognize that it has the potential to improve — and possibly even save — the lives of many Nevadans. In my research I have found patents from the early 1900s citing the use of cannabis as a treatment for alcohol and opioid dependence. As such, I am currently working with a local Stanford medical doctor to petition our state chief medical officer to approve opioid addiction and methadone maintenance treatment as qualifying conditions for the use of medical cannabis.

While there is a time and a place for its monitored use, opioid addiction affects us all, not just those struggling with the addiction. It’s time we put an end to the control it has over our lives and those of our children.

Kiera Sears

Reno

No show

I am trying to understand this. If I get a court subpoena, I can ignore it and nothing happens to me (“Parents won’t show; daughter freed,” Tuesday Review-Journal)? What is the purpose of a court order if you can ignore it? What good is the law if you don’t have to comply?

Michael Stilley

Mesquite