cannabisnews.com: Marijuana: DA's May Take Hard Line Marijuana: DA's May Take Hard Line Posted by CN Staff on January 12, 2003 at 22:26:46 PT By Michael Petracca Source: About.com The Office of National Drug Control Policy has teamed up with the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA) as part of its escalating war on marijuana. In recent letters sent to every prosecutor in the United States, NDAA president Dan Alsobrooks and the drug czar's Deputy Director for State and Local Affairs, Scott Burns, hoisted the battle flag against pot, signaling prosecutors that they should make the prosecution of marijuana crimes a high priority and urging them to fight efforts to reform the drug laws. While Alsobrooks portrayed the latest push as a matter of public safety, he also made it clear that the effort was inspired by attempts to reform the marijuana laws. "Attempts to legalize or criminalize controlled substances, and particularly marijuana, are springing up around the country," Alsobrooks warned. "Those who support drug legalization are well funded and highly adept at manipulating the media. And they do not mind deceiving the American public as well. Those who want to legalize drugs advance their position issue-by-issue, winning incremental victories. We can, and have stopped their efforts at the national level, but will lose all if the states yield individually."Writing that the drug czar's office had asked NDAA to aid in its battle against marijuana, Alsobrooks urged prosecutors to read Burns' letter containing "important information about marijuana" and to "consider ways that you can bring this message to your communities."In Burns' letter, he told prosecutors that "nationwide, no drug matches the threat posed by marijuana. The truth is that marijuana is not harmless," Burns wrote, citing research statistics concerning marijuana mentions in hospital emergency rooms. Marijuana "now surpasses heroin" as a factor in emergency room visits, he said.Burns letter then listed a number of marijuana-related "truths," including the following:* "The first is that marijuana is addictive," Burns wrote, asserting that 62% of all dependent drug users are dependent on cannabis. * Furthermore, "Marijuana and violence are linked."* "The truth is that we aren't imprisoning individuals for just 'smoking a joint,'" Burns continued, noting that only half of one percent of prisoners are doing time for marijuana possession.* "The truth is that marijuana is a gateway drug," Burns wrote. He added, "The truth is that marijuana legalization would be a nightmare for America," citing research to suggest that Dutch coffee shop policies led to a huge increase in teen marijuana use.Burns concluded his remarks to the prosecutors this way: "The role you play as prosecutors is indispensable to our success in fighting the normalization of marijuana. You can target and aggressively prosecute traffickers and dealers. You can help those who need treatment - a first offense for marijuana possession, for example - get treatment. You can intensify the detection and removal of marijuana growing operations. You can work with your legislators to update local laws impeding marijuana prosecutions and treatment." Drug Law Reformers Respond While drug war "hawks" applauded this latest White House offensive against marijuana and its decriminalization, drug law reformers have come out strongly against it. The Drug Reform Coordination Network (DRCNet), for example, counters by asserting that Burns' "truths" are, "at best, highly controversial and, at worst, mendacious and tendentious."DRCNet goes on to make the following arguments in rebuttal to Burns' key points:* Burns neglected to explain that an emergency room 'mention' of marijuana does not signify a marijuana-related medical emergency, or that marijuana overdoses are a practical impossibility, in the opinion of researchers.* Marijuana does not cause violence. On this topic, Dr. Mitchell Earlywine writes: "Direct links between cannabis intoxication and violence do not appear in the general population. A few studies show correlations between marijuana consumption and violent acts, but these links frequently stem from personality characteristics or the influence of other drugs. People who are violent or who use drugs that lead to violence often also smoke marijuana, but the marijuana does not appear to cause the violence."* A large percentage of marijuana users are affected seriously and unfairly by the legal system: "Burns ignores the serious consequences awaiting the 700,000 people arrested each year on marijuana charges, from jail time to lost benefits to lost licenses to financial hardship."* Marijuana may not be a gateway drug, as has long been believed. According to DRCNet, "Two of the most recent studies to debunk the gateway theory are a February 2001 study by Dr. Andrew Golub published in the American Journal of Public Health and a study released recently by the RAND Corporation indicating that 'the gateway theory is not the best explanation of the link between marijuana use and hard drug use.'"* Decriminalized marijuana in countries such as the Netherlands may not have occasioned the social disintegration that Burns suggests: "As Dr. Peter Reuter has shown in his book, 'Drug War Heresies,' the increase in Dutch teen marijuana use occurred only a decade after the Dutch began tolerating marijuana sales, when a wave of commercialization swept the coffeehouse industry. And as Reuter pointed out, Dutch teenage use levels remain lower than in the US."Those in the drug law reform camp conclude their rebuttal, "If prosecutors have any interest in accurate information about marijuana, they will shy away from Burns' rhetoric. The drug czar and his boss, President George W. Bush, are deadly serious as they fight what they fear is a losing battle against reform. They are seeking allies in powerful positions. And they are willing to resort to lies, misinformation, disinformation and distortion to do so."And so the offensives and counter-offensives continue to heat up. Stay tuned to this About.com site for further updates.Source: About.comAuthor: Michael Petracca Published: Monday, January 13, 2003Copyright: 2003 About Inc. Website: http://substanceabuse.about.com/Contact: substanceabuse.guide about.comRelated Articles & Web Site:DRCNethttp://www.drcnet.org/NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/Drug War Taking a Ridiculous Turn http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15173.shtmlPro-Marijuana Group Mounts New Offensivehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15100.shtmlMarijuana No Gateway To Cocaine and Heroinhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14879.shtml The Smoke That Terrifies, Satisfies & Mystifies http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13484.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #4 posted by torgie39 on January 14, 2003 at 07:50:14 PT: Social Interaction, a gateway drug When someone refers to pot as being a gateway drug what does that really mean. If it is used in a sence that pot smoking opens the floodgates to other drugs which may be harmful then couldn't highschool be dubbed as a gateway institution? While attending highschool I was exposed to many substances, it wasn't my indulgence in marijauna that brought these people into my life it was just plain old social interaction. I wish that people would stop using marijauna as a scapegoat for other problems in society."If you don't like my fire then don't come around"... [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by torgie39 on January 14, 2003 at 07:37:22 PT: Questionable comments by Mr. Burns Marijuana and violence Linked"??????????????? I don't think that anything can be further from the truth. How many violent offences/occurrences are linked to alcohol? Mr. Burns should evaluate the dependability of his sources and see the forest through the trees. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by delariand on January 13, 2003 at 08:49:55 PT Consider the source... "Those who support drug legalization are well funded and highly adept at manipulating the media"Translation:"Those who support drug legalization are finally getting enough money and support to get their message out, even our well-funded government propagandists aren't highly adept enough at manipulating the media to keep the sheep in line" [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by The GCW on January 13, 2003 at 05:28:18 PT That's a bad putty tat. Pussywillows with out the pussy.Guns backfire.Coffee (duel quads) is twice as addictive as cannabis.See chart at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/addictiv.htm [ Post Comment ] Post Comment