Parents fear link of pot and violence.

• Position: Marijuana

Parents Opposed to Pot and Parents for a Healthy Colorado Insist there is a frequent connection among marijuana, suicides, and violent crimes that must be examined.

The organizations say they have found evidence of at least 42 children's deaths related to caregivers' pot use since November 2012--and no less than four of the children died at the hands of their mother's marijuana-impaired boyfriends. Neglect by marijuana-using parents contributed to 24 of those deaths, especially in fires, hot cars, and swimming pools. Whether neglectful or violent parents or mothers involved with violent boyfriends, most of those responsible for the deaths were marijuana users.

Moreover, marijuana use was a factor in two recent murder-suicides of young women by their current or former boyfriends. The Virginia News Leader reported Zachary Ham, 19-year-old boyfriend of Jasmine Hayslett, also 19, had been using marijuana since he was 13. Their 20-month-old son survives. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that, when Rebekah Eldermire's ex-boyfriend shot her and turned the gun on himself, THC (the psychoactive component of marijuana) was the only drug in his system.

Evidence found in studies from around the world reveal that marijuana is addictive and that this...