cannabisnews.com: It's Time for an Honest Approach to Marijuana Laws










  It's Time for an Honest Approach to Marijuana Laws

Posted by CN Staff on September 04, 2002 at 07:42:06 PT
By Allen Turnage 
Source: Tallahassee Democrat  

Jim McDonough, director of the state's Office of Drug Control, wrote an Aug. 12 commentary ("There's nothing 'fun' about the impact of illegal drug use") approving treatment as the primary means of dealing with drug problems. Florida's chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) commends this as a step in the right direction and especially welcomes his call for absolute honesty in resolving the issue of drug control.
Leaving aside the issue of "hard" drugs, for which there is no room for principled disagreement, it is time that this state and nation enacted a rational marijuana policy based on fact, reason and truth.Marijuana has been used for ceremonial, medicinal and recreational purposes for at least 6,000 years. In all that time, not one death has been attributed directly to marijuana use; McDonough concedes as much. Given that fact, what harm is done by smoking marijuana? Why was its use ever made criminal?Testimony before the U.S. House and Senate regarding the use of this recreational drug was often overtly racist. Past proponents of the new law claimed that smoking "marihuana" caused "race mixing" and an affinity for "negro jazz music." They also disguised the fact that "marihuana" was the hemp plant that all were familiar with at that time, and even lied about the position of the American Medical Association, whose representative had testified against prohibition of this plant because of its potential medical value.Thirty years ago, President Richard Nixon was battling the "counterculture" for control of the American psyche. Young adults were violating the laws against marijuana smoking and reporting no ill effects. Nixon wanted to end the debate once and for all and so commissioned a panel of medical and legal experts to quantify the ill effects of this substance on society and the individual. Contrary to the president's expectation, the Shafer Commission Report called for the elimination of criminal penalties for recreational use.McDonough cites a 1999 study by the Institutes of Medicine that "clearly states that smoked marijuana is not medicine and should not be." Well, if his call for truth is an honest one, he should re-examine his assertion. While the Institutes of Medicine study does state that smoked marijuana is not the preferred alternative, it goes on to state that there is ample evidence that the active ingredients in marijuana show medical efficacy. Until viable alternatives are developed, the study concludes, individual patients should be allowed to have access to the smokable form of the drug in controlled trials.McDonough also ignores the dozens of medical groups, including the American Public Health Association and the New England Journal of Medicine, which have called for the legalization of medical marijuana. Thousands of patients have presented testimonial evidence of the beneficial effects of this drug on AIDS wasting syndrome, glaucoma and recovery from chemotherapy, to name a few. And although alternatives exist in some cases, they are without exception more expensive and carry more, and more dangerous, side effects than the use of smoked marijuana.But the debate over the medical efficacy of marijuana is not the primary issue. Rather, it is the freedom to engage in personal behavior that has no proven ill effects on the users, their families, or society at large. Marijuana simply produces a mild intoxication, not unlike that of alcohol, one that has been indulged by millions of Americans. Marijuana use has never been shown to be addictive in any medical study. McDonough's claim that addiction centers are treating teen-agers for "marijuana addiction" simply demonstrates more harm from lies and mythology surrounding this substance. Frightened parents, catching their teen-ager with small amounts of marijuana, over-react with unnecessary and often harmful "treatment."Now, don't get me wrong. I do not believe that underaged teen-agers should smoke marijuana. Nor do I believe that they should sign contracts, buy cigarettes or alcohol, or drive. All of these activities are useful, with various degrees of risk, when adults engage in them. But if we based our laws for adults on what was safe for children, we would all be sitting at home drinking milk and eating cookies all day.Other nations have recently relaxed criminal penalties for this harmless substance as well. America should follow the lead of Great Britain, Portugal and the Netherlands (where marijuana use by teen-agers is 50 percent less than in America) and liberalize the personal use and possession of marijuana. We could then use the limited resources of our courts, police and treatment centers for the more serious problems that plague society.Allen Turnage of Tallahassee is chairman of Florida NORML. Contact him at:  ldissent hotmail.comSource: Tallahassee Democrat (FL)Author: Allen TurnagePublished: Wednesday, September 4, 2002Copyright: 2002 Tallahassee DemocratContact: tdedit taldem.comWebsite: http://www.tdo.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Florida NORMLhttp://www.floridanorml.org/ Illegal Drug Use is Abuse and Not 'Fun' http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13699.shtmlPot Users Relax with New Lawhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13410.shtml Outside View: Nixon Tapes Pot Shocker http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12680.shtml

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Comment #3 posted by Dankhank on September 04, 2002 at 13:03:09 PT:

Exit theory
At Cannabis Cup 9 one of the guest judges/speakers was a nice youngish family man with a darling little girl and a super wife who uses Cannabis to combat alcoholism.what a great trade he made ...
Hemp N Stuff
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Comment #2 posted by VitaminT on September 04, 2002 at 10:23:10 PT

Marijuana Treatment
How about a treatment facility that uses the blessed herb to wean Cocaine and Heroin addicts off of their drug of choice. This would take advantage of the observed effects of Cannabis as an "Exit" drug as opposed to the discredited "Gateway" theory. Marijuana Treatment: Gateway to Freedom!Is there any real evidence for an Exit theory?
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Comment #1 posted by st1r_dude on September 04, 2002 at 07:49:30 PT

common sense journalism
this is a well written article...hopefully honest common sense journalism like this will somehow get through the dis-information that the feds keep preaching to america...i particularly like this sentence:But if we based our laws for adults on what was safe for children, we would all be sitting at home drinking milk and eating cookies all day.st1d and eating cookies.
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