cannabisnews.com: Legality of Substances is Disparate 





Legality of Substances is Disparate 
Posted by FoM on November 27, 2001 at 08:30:34 PT
By Matthew Lepori, Staff Writer 
Source: UCSD Guardian
Of the three highly popular recreational drugs in America, two are legal, and one is not. We'll call the two legal drugs Drug A and Drug B, and the illegal drug will be called Drug C. First, we will examine the negative health effects of using these three drugs. Drug A is the cause of 400,000 deaths in America each year. It is the leading preventable cause of death in America and costs the health industry $50 billion annually. Each year, this drug kills more people than AIDS, alcohol, drug abuse, car crashes, murders, suicides and fires, combined. 
Drug A causes multiple types of cancer, including lung, throat and mouth cancers. This drug is the direct cause of emphysema, a disease contracted by half a million Americans each year. Emphysema debilitates the respiratory tract, leading to what has been described as "breathing through a straw." The drug also affects other areas of the body, including the heart, brain and bones. It contains toxic chemicals and impairs the immune system. Twice as many people who use Drug A get heart disease than those who do not. Drug A leads to strokes. It also leads to rheumatoid arthritis in women; those who use this drug have double the risk of developing this disease. Drug A damages fetuses. Mothers who use Drug A are three times as likely to have their babies die of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome than mothers who do not. Infants born to mothers who use Drug A can have reduced lung function for years after they are born, and suffer from deformities of the mouth and palate. This drug also has a strong relationship with miscarriages. In a New England Journal of Medicine study, 80 percent more miscarriages occurred among women who used Drug A than women who did not. In fact, women who use this drug are twice as likely to have a miscarriage than women who use cocaine. Moving along, Drug B also has a direct link to various cancers. Seventy-five percent of esophageal cancer is related to use of Drug B, and half of cancers of the mouth and throat are linked to its use. Drug B has also demonstrated a causal relationship with liver disease, called alcohol-induced liver disease. Cirrhosis of the liver, the term used for alcohol's effect on this organ, is one of the leading causes of death in America. Like Drug A, this drug has also been linked to birth defects. It has a syndrome named after its effects. When used by pregnant women, Drug B leads to mental retardation, growth deficiencies, central nervous system dysfunction, craniofacial abnormalities and behavioral problems. Now for the third and illegal drug, Drug C. While Drug C contains carcinogens, a causal relationship between its use and cancer has not been established. Using this drug leads to a greater risk of bronchitis, sore throat and respiratory inflammation. It leads to a short-term drop in hormones that govern development and growth, lowers sperm production in males and can alter the menstrual cycle in women. However, in adults, the latter three health effects are only temporary. Other negative effects of using this drug include forgetfulness, reduced concentration and anxiety attacks. Various negative effects have also been attributed to this drug, including birth defects, brain damage, reduced testosterone and increased drug abuse problems. However, recent studies have begun to refute these claims. Another disputed side effect of using Drug C is reduced hand-eye coordination and motor skills, resulting in poor driving performance and reaction times. In recent studies and reports, using this drug and then driving has proved to be far less of a hazard than when people use Drug B and then drive, however. In 1990-1991, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration performed a study in seven states, attempting to find a relationship between car accidents and Drugs B and C. Drug B was found to be a factor in 52 percent of crashes, while Drug C was only a factor in 7 percent of them. The report concluded that Drug B was by far the dominant drug-related cause of accidents. It also concluded that there was no relationship between Drug C and fatal automobile accidents. The three drugs are, in order, tobacco, alcohol and marijuana. The first two are legal, the third is illegal. After viewing the evidence, it seems that the legality of these three drugs seems to contradict both common sense and medical results. Both tobacco and alcohol are linked to multiple cancers, birth defects, and cost the health industry billions of dollars each year. Marijuana, on the other hand, leads to relatively minor health effects, such as slight respiratory ailments -- yet it is illegal. Tobacco and alcohol are unquestionably more deadly than marijuana. In fact, both tobacco users and alcohol users are known to cause death to other people. There is no known relationship between marijuana use and death for those around the user. The force behind this is money. The alcohol and tobacco industries spend millions of dollars each year in contributing to and lobbying Congress. So far in the 2001-2002 election cycle, tobacco companies have made $2.2 million in political contributions. Since 1997, the tobacco industry has given more than $18 million to Congressional representatives and political parties. Since 1999, the four largest cigarette companies have spent $44 million in lobbying Congress. Alcohol companies are no better. In the period between 1987 and 1997, these companies gave $26 million to members of Congress and their political parties. The most flagrant example of "buying" favor in Congress occurred in 1997, when the House Appropriations Committee killed a bill that would use the media to warn young people against the use of alcohol. That year, the members of that committee were given $300,000 by alcohol companies. Obviously, marijuana growers are not contributing money to Congress. This a factor in the illegality of marijuana. Money buys votes. The answer to all of this is simple: Make the system fair. Either make all three of these drugs illegal, or make them all legal. Since everyone in America knows how well prohibiting alcohol went, I would suggest the latter option: Legalize pot. Like drivers who constantly ignore speed limit laws, which resulted in the government raising speed limits on highways, people have ignored the prohibition on marijuana for years. It is time to eliminate this useless law. The policy on marijuana only results in billions of dollars in costs to our government, from the price of court procedures and imprisoning marijuana users. It is simple logic here, and it is time the government realized this. Legalize pot and eliminate this problem in America. Doing so will save the government millions of dollars annually, free up jails and stop millions of Americans from having to sneak around in order to enjoy this innocuous drug. Note: Some legal drugs are more harmful than illegal onesSource: UCSD Guardian (CA)Author: Matthew Lepori, Staff Writer Published: November 26, 2001Copyright: 2001 UCSDGuardianContact:  editor ucsdguardian.orgWebsite: http://www.ucsdguardian.orgFeedback: http://www.ucsdguardian.org/feedback.htmlCannabisNews - Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on November 27, 2001 at 20:12:31 PT
p4me 
I haven't ever mailed an article to a writer if that's what you mean but writers of articles do read C News. I know they've posted here too. It has been said that they get ideas about new articles from reading the comments. It was said that the comments are intelligent and thought provoking. I'm sure proud of all of you and how you express your ideas on our subject.
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Comment #5 posted by p4me on November 27, 2001 at 19:59:35 PT:
vaporizers and stuff
Marijuana, on the other hand, leads to relatively minor health effects, such
   as slight respiratory ailments -- yet it is illegal. It looks like from todays articles that the media is feeling guilty over there lack of journalism on the subject of health decisions in America of which marijuana use is a part. Pretty soon one of these journalist will mention vaporizers as a way to reduce the number one problem associated with MJ use- particle inhalation.This article is starting to work its way down the list so I do not know how many prople will read this anyway. Has anyone ever thought about emailing the writers of the articles so that they might become familiar with Cnews and gain insight into their next and improved article. I will try it with this article and maybe some more later. I will mention it again as the writers need to know that Cnews is the place to get feedback on their articles and a source for what is happening in the cannabis world.The land of the free is now the land of pee.
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Comment #4 posted by E_Johnson on November 27, 2001 at 12:06:30 PT
That's not exactly what the study concluded
It also concluded that there was no relationship between Drug C and fatal automobile accidents. That's not exactly what the driving study concluded. It concluded that the relationship between marijuana and fatal auto accidents was the same, within statistical error, as the relationship between complete sobriety and fatal auto accidents.One must remember that some people drive like dangerous assholes when not under the influence of any drug.And this definitely shows up in the statistics. All of these statistics are measured relative to sobriety, which carries a nonzero risk of automobile fatalities of its own.Maybe one reason why these studies don't get publicized more often is that that most journalists, being trained postmodern humanities departments where facts and statistics are regarded as being beside the point, simply aren't skilled enough in quantitative reasoning to explain these kinds of studies to the public.Well, look at how many journalists mindlessly repeat the phrase "The potency of marijuana is believed to have been increased by as much as twenty times since the sixties."Thank heavens there are now young people in college who are motivated to explore the relationship between facts and justice! Good for you, Matthew Lapori.
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Comment #3 posted by QcStrt on November 27, 2001 at 11:39:14 PT
Marijuana Use Gets A Boost
 US OH: Editorial: Marijuana Use Gets A Boost URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1029/a09.html
 Newshawk: Sledhead
 Pubdate: Sat, 22 Jul 2000
 Source: Lima News (OH)
 Copyright: 2000 Freedom Newspapers Inc.
 Contact: letters limanews.com
 Address: PO Box 690, Lima, Ohio 45802-0690
 Website: http://www.limanews.com MARIJUANA USE GETS A BOOST The news that U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer has modified a previous injunction
 against California cannabis clubs is good news on the medical marijuana front. The federal
 government's previously unyielding wall of marijuana prohibition is beginning to crumble. It's
 about time. Breyer's ruling almost certainly clears the way for the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative
 to begin dispensing marijuana to certain patients. Medical marijuana became legal in
 California through a 1996 ballot initiative, though the federal government refuses to accept
 that fact. In addition to Breyer's decision, University of California San Francisco medical school
 researcher Donald Abrams reported promising results earlier this month at the international
 AIDS conference in Durban, South Africa, on his pioneering studies on the use of marijuana
 by AIDS patients. Dr. Abrams' research showed no damage to the immune systems of
 patients in his study, but noted improved appetites and ability to hold down food and
 medicine. In San Francisco, meanwhile, District Attorney Terence Hallinan kicked off a new program
 of issuing city identification cards for medical marijuana users that are intended to protect
 patients from arrest by local law enforcement agencies. As Jeff Jones, executive director of
 the Oakland cooperative, said, "You can go to the same window where you apply for a copy
 of your birth certificate and get a cannabis card. From what patients tell us, the program ... 
 is working smoothly." The San Francisco ID card program doesn't change federal law, but Breyer's decision affects
 the way federal law is applied in limited but significant ways. Breyer issued an injunction
 against the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative and five other northern California medical
 cannabis distribution centers in May 1998, forbidding them to distribute cannabis to patients. The Oakland cooperative appealed Breyer's injunction and last September the federal 9th
 Circuit Court of Appeals ordered him to reconsider the case after allowing the club to offer a
 "medical necessity" defense that would create exceptions to federal laws against marijuana
 use. On Monday, Breyer modified his injunction "as a result of the government's failure to
 offer any new evidence and in light of the 9th Circuit court's opinion." Specifically, Breyer ruled that under federal laws the Oakland cooperative could distribute
 marijuana to patients who meet certain criteria. They must: Suffer from a serious medical condition. Face "imminent harm" if they do not have access to marijuana. Need marijuana for treatment of a medical condition or to alleviate symptoms associated with
 the condition. Have no reasonable alternative to cannabis because they have tried other available legal
 treatments and those treatments that either have not worked or have produced intolerable side
 effects. The ruling also doesn't require a physician's certification because, as Raich put it, "Under the
 law if it's a necessity that settles it, no authority figure is needed." It is also worth noting that the federal government has not challenged California's medical
 marijuana law in court. So under that state's constitution, California officials are obliged to
 enforce the law as written. The next step, as Jeff Jones said, is for the federal government to recognize medical reality
 and remove marijuana from Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act. Schedule I is
 reserved for drugs that have no recognized medical use and cannot be used safely under a
 doctor's supervision. Federal courts and recent medical research have now recognized that there are accepted and
 safe medical uses for marijuana. The Drug Enforcement Administration should act
 immediately on a petition currently pending to reschedule marijuana and cease its cruel and
 unjustified war on sick people. Now is the time for Ohio's lawmakers to pass laws allowing for the medical use of
 marijuana. MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager 
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Comment #2 posted by Jose Melendez on November 27, 2001 at 10:03:31 PT:
more on (moron?) tobacco
from: 
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA3PQGXJUC.html
Study Finds No Health Benefits for Smokers Switching to Low-Tar and Light Cigarettes
By Nancy Zuckerbrod Associated Press Writer 
Published: Nov 27, 2001
WASHINGTON (AP) - People who switch from regular cigarettes to brands marketed as "low tar" or "light" do not reduce their chances of getting smoking-related diseases, the National Cancer Institute said Tuesday. 
"The use of these 'decreased risk' cigarettes have not significantly decreased the disease risk," an NCI report concluded. 
It found some people who switched to low-tar brands smoked more to get the same amount of addictive nicotine, since the ratio between tar and nicotine generally remains the same in all cigarettes. Tar is a carcinogen that is produced when tobacco is burned. It helps deliver nicotine to smokers. 
(remainder snipped) 
more at:
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA3PQGXJUC.html
documents filed at www.ash.org show that tobacco companies knew this 30 plus years ago... 
Just saying no... is LYING
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Comment #1 posted by Doug on November 27, 2001 at 09:53:41 PT
An effective argument
 I thought the argument was slightly slanted against marijuana, but that's part of the point. If you state the known health effects of drugs A, B, and C completely and reasonable, drug C is clearly seen as much less damaging. This was known thirty years ago, and the scientific research in the intervening years has only proved the case more strongly that tobacco and alcohol are more harmful drugs.  Many of the people who make arguments against marijuana don't realize how deadly those other two drugs are. One of the reasons for this is that those people likely either use the drugs that are legal (after all, that are legal and sold everyplace) or know people who use those drugs. And while they perhaps know some people who use cannabis, the people they know don't admit to using cannabis.
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