Sen. Susan Collins hit the nail on the head when she explained to the Sun Journal (Aug. 29) her opposition to the legalization of recreational marijuana. Collins is a leader in the Senate for supporting youth substance abuse prevention.

We at SAM Maine (Smart Approaches to Marijuana) wholeheartedly agree with her concerns.

As Sen. Collins stated, there is an immense body of clear and unquestionable science documenting the negative impacts of marijuana on youth and public health. There are links to issues of mental health, academic performance and future success.

Colorado is seeing these dangers play out now as they see increases in youth use, kids going to emergency rooms for marijuana poisonings and increases in marijuana-positive fatal car crashes.

Sen. Collins is also right to question the intent of the marijuana industry — creating and marketing edible products that are clearly intended to appeal to children.

Sen. Collins and most Mainers agree that families have a right to be able to raise their children in communities that provide the best possible environment for learning, growing and succeeding. As someone who has lived and worked in Lewiston-Auburn for years, I know there is a lot of great work here that has been done and is being done to foster that environment.

Legalizing marijuana in Lewiston takes us in the wrong direction. It puts up hurdles to learning while we are trying to break them down.

Let us all stand together and stand up for our community.

Scott M. Gagnon, Gray, state director

Smart Approaches to Marijuana