T
The420Guy
Guest
It is disturbing to see drug czar John Walters continuing to spread
misinformation about marijuana, and even more disturbing to see
newspapers like The Times-News repeating such misstatements
uncritically.
For example, Walters sounds the alarm at the number of teens and
adults entering rehab for marijuana, suggesting that this is proof
that the drug is dangerously addictive. But Walters leaves out a
critical fact: The government's own figures show that the majority
of people entering marijuana treatment are in treatment because they
were forced into it after being arrested. To use these
arrest-generated treatment figures as "proof"= of marijuana's
dangers is Orwellian doublespeak, and Walters knows it. Objective
examinations, like the one done by the Institute of Medicine in
1999, have consistently found marijuana to be markedly less
addictive than alcohol or cigarettes.
Surgeon General Carmona's claim that marijuana changes the brain in
ways similar to heroin and cocaine has been refuted so often it's
hard to believe he can say it with a straight face. As University of
Southern California psychology professor Mitchell Earleywine, author
of "Understanding Marijuana" (Oxford University Press, 2002) wrote
recently, "Marijuana's effects barely resemble those of alcohol and
cocaine and have next to nothing to do with heroin ... Only one
study has shown any changes in brain structure associated with early
marijuana use, and it's unclear whether the marijuana actually
caused those changes."
We agree with Walters and Carmona that teens should be discouraged
from using marijuana or other intoxicants. But -- as Carmona's own
figures about usage demonstrate -- marijuana prohibition has utterly
failed to achieve that result. Indeed, in a recent Columbia
University study, teens rated marijuana as being easier to purchase
than cigarettes or beer.
Rather than spreading urban legends, our government drug warriors
need to take an honest look at the data and consider that a
different policy might do a better job of protecting both teens and
adults.
Bruce Mirken, Washington, D.C.
Referenced: MapInc
Date: 10/06/2002
Source: Times-News, The (ID)
Details: MapInc
misinformation about marijuana, and even more disturbing to see
newspapers like The Times-News repeating such misstatements
uncritically.
For example, Walters sounds the alarm at the number of teens and
adults entering rehab for marijuana, suggesting that this is proof
that the drug is dangerously addictive. But Walters leaves out a
critical fact: The government's own figures show that the majority
of people entering marijuana treatment are in treatment because they
were forced into it after being arrested. To use these
arrest-generated treatment figures as "proof"= of marijuana's
dangers is Orwellian doublespeak, and Walters knows it. Objective
examinations, like the one done by the Institute of Medicine in
1999, have consistently found marijuana to be markedly less
addictive than alcohol or cigarettes.
Surgeon General Carmona's claim that marijuana changes the brain in
ways similar to heroin and cocaine has been refuted so often it's
hard to believe he can say it with a straight face. As University of
Southern California psychology professor Mitchell Earleywine, author
of "Understanding Marijuana" (Oxford University Press, 2002) wrote
recently, "Marijuana's effects barely resemble those of alcohol and
cocaine and have next to nothing to do with heroin ... Only one
study has shown any changes in brain structure associated with early
marijuana use, and it's unclear whether the marijuana actually
caused those changes."
We agree with Walters and Carmona that teens should be discouraged
from using marijuana or other intoxicants. But -- as Carmona's own
figures about usage demonstrate -- marijuana prohibition has utterly
failed to achieve that result. Indeed, in a recent Columbia
University study, teens rated marijuana as being easier to purchase
than cigarettes or beer.
Rather than spreading urban legends, our government drug warriors
need to take an honest look at the data and consider that a
different policy might do a better job of protecting both teens and
adults.
Bruce Mirken, Washington, D.C.
Referenced: MapInc
Date: 10/06/2002
Source: Times-News, The (ID)
Details: MapInc