cannabisnews.com: Just Say No To Easy Answers





Just Say No To Easy Answers
Posted by CN Staff on January 15, 2003 at 20:15:52 PT
Opinion
Source: Mercury News 
Marijuana isn't a gateway drug to heroin or cocaine. But neither is it a relatively harmless recreational drug, as many Americans believe. And telling youngsters to ``just say no'' to drugs without examining the facts behind marijuana use in the United States does no one any good.These facts speak out loud and clear in a series of research reports published in the British journal Addiction. Policy makers in Washington should review them carefully before they decide where money should best be spent on the ``war on drugs.''
The ``gateway'' thesis that has long been a basic principle of drug policy in this country was disproved by a study by the private, nonprofit Rand Drug Policy Research Center in Santa Monica. Americans may use marijuana at an earlier age than harder drugs, but only because it becomes available at an earlier age, said the lead author, Andrew Morral. Teens who are predisposed to use drugs do so regardless of whether they smoked marijuana first.But if it doesn't lead to those harder drugs, is it OK? Hardly, judging from another report by American researchers. Today's marijuana is three times as potent as the pot the baby boomers smoked in their college years, and many teenagers become dependent on it. It's now the most prevalent illegal drug used in the United States and many other countries. Heavy use is associated with difficulties in school and work, health problems and, of course, involvement with the police.Most worrisome: Youngsters are trying marijuana at earlier and earlier ages, and those who start the youngest seem to end up with the most problems. But which came first, the drug use or the criminal behavior, depression and anxiety?Regular youthful users of cannabis typically also smoke cigarettes and engage in binge drinking, and have experienced physical, sexual or emotional abuse. Clearly, there's more at work here than youthful rebellion. Much marijuana use may be an effort at self-medication by people whose lives are hard to bear.The war on drugs is a popular political tool for officials seeking to drum up support from the hard-on-crime crowd. But the hard science suggests that much of the war has been a waste of time and money. Worse, it has filled prisons with drug offenders while ignoring the reasons so many Americans engage in substance abuse, legal or illegal.With this many unanswered questions just involving marijuana, Americans should demand a more logical approach to drug use and abuse. Red ribbons on the playground fence look nice, but they haven't reversed the younger and younger ages at which children experiment with drugs. Perhaps an approach based on the successful efforts to reduce smoking and drunken driving might be best. We won't know until the politics is taken out and the science put in to the war on drugs.Note: It's not a gateway drug, but potent Marijuana of today is hardly for teens; What's needed is more science.'Source: Mercury News (CA)Published:  Wednesday, January 15, 2003Copyright: Copyright 2003 Knight RidderContact: letters sjmercury.comWebsite: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/Related Articles & Web Site:NORML's New Truth Campaignhttp://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5515Government Is Lying To You Again About Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15199.shtmlMarijuana No Gateway to Cocaine and Heroinhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14879.shtml
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Comment #3 posted by freddybigbee on January 16, 2003 at 13:04:16 PT:
Health Problems?
"Heavy use is associated with difficulties in school and work, health problems and, of course, involvement with the police."I have never known anyone who has health problems caused by cannabis. Anyone else? On the other hand, I've known many who have problems at work: it's called drug testing. People like myself refuse to be tested, and ultimately, to work for companies that require testing. The fraud of drug testing is that it mainly tests for cannabis, an herb, while missing the dreaded illicit drugs whose proceeds do not go to pharmaceutical companies.Don't Americans ever tire of this drugwar nonsense?
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Comment #2 posted by CorvallisEric on January 16, 2003 at 05:37:30 PT
p4me
In my opinion the article you linked is well within the acceptable bounds of parody and will not be yanked (but I copied it just in case). I would call it parody or satire rather than a hoax, since I don't think it was seriously intended to be believed. Notice that it never mentions Rush's surname. I thought the first half was absolutely brilliant, then it started to drag a little. As for the real Rush, I've mostly switched to O'Reilly for my occasional conservative fix since he covers three times as much ground per minute.
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Comment #1 posted by p4me on January 15, 2003 at 20:58:00 PT
The most amazing thing I ever read
Now you say p4me is drunkor experimenting with drugs that readily are undetectable to a p-test. No this is the most amazing thing I ever, ever read. I have looked at Free Republic to see if it is some kind of hoax and there is nothing up yet. Someone may want to post it there and let's follow the fallout. I cannot believe it is a hoax because it seems some lawsuit would start tomorrow. If it is a hoax it is one of the most brilliant pieces of writing I have ever witnessed.I suggest you copy this to word as this falls into the realm of things that get yanked from the web.Please comment on this link that says it presents a letter from Rush Limbaugh saying he is actually a liberal. I know people put up a lot of links, but I assure you this is all but unbelievable. Please comment on this piece of work - http://www.counterpunch.org/cook01152003.html and if you have a question about the word "emendations," here it is: An alteration intended to improve: textual emendations made by the editor
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