cannabisnews.com: Still Illegal After All These Years Still Illegal After All These Years Posted by CN Staff on May 03, 2004 at 13:05:36 PT 5 Letters To The Editor Source: New York Times To the Editor:Re "Make Peace With Pot," by Eric Schlosser (Op-Ed, April 26):Too much money and time are being invested in the "war" against drugs, with little to show for it. All of the arrests and imprisonments are not stopping the epidemic, nor is our current system preventing children from acquiring and using marijuana. The mere "dealing" itself has become a problem of its own. This black market allows kids to make more money than if they got a high school or college degree. Putting a murderer in jail means one less murderer in the streets; putting a dealer in jail means one more position that is open to fill. SONYA BRYSTOWSKIOak Park, Mich., April 26, 2004•To the Editor:The argument for legalizing marijuana (Op-Ed, April 26) falls apart when one considers the impact on teenagers and children. If society gives marijuana a green light, more kids will use and abuse the drug.The majority of teenagers entering drug treatment programs list marijuana as their primary drug of abuse. For those who've used marijuana without consequence, this may be hard to believe. But for thousands of kids, marijuana is not harmless.Educating young people about the risks of drugs may be imperfect, but increasingly is proving effective. One published study, for example, documented a 27 percent decline in marijuana use among high-risk teenagers exposed to our media-based education campaigns. Teenagers themselves help shape such communication efforts, which are lowering social acceptance of marijuana and increasing understanding of the drug's risks.STEPHEN J. PASIERBPres. & Chief Exec., Partnership for a Drug-Free AmericaNew York, April 26, 2004•To the Editor:Although Eric Schlosser (Op-Ed, April 26) makes a valid point that medical marijuana should be made available to anyone with chronic pain, epilepsy and so on, his plea to decriminalize marijuana is dangerous and shortsighted. As Mr. Schlosser clearly states, "marijuana is a powerful, mind-altering drug."This country presently has scores of individuals battling alcohol addiction, addiction to illegal drugs and addiction to legal, over-the-counter drugs. Making marijuana legal will send the signal to children that using this "mind-altering" drug is perfectly acceptable and will only add to our country's growing problem of drug dependency. WILLIAM LOWNBronxville, N.Y., April 26, 2004•To the Editor:Cheers to Eric Schlosser (Op-Ed, April 26) for laying out the truth about marijuana. For nearly a century, Americans have been brainwashed by the dogma that marijuana is no less deadly than cocaine or heroin, even though all available scientific evidence points to the contrary. Somehow it's not surprising to find this administration waging yet another costly and unending war in defiance of the facts. RICHARD ZILIBloomington, Ind., April 26, 2004•To the Editor:Eric Schlosser's freedom to publicly criticize the government's war on marijuana is at the core of the constitutional protection of free speech.Unfortunately, thoughtful critiques such as his may soon be effectively outlawed in many public places. On Wednesday, a federal court in Washington heard a challenge to a law that cancels all federal financing to transit authorities that display ads promoting reform of marijuana laws. Evidently, criticisms of marijuana policy are so threatening to the government that it has resorted to enacting laws that blatantly trample our First Amendment rights.Mr. Schlosser's critique of American marijuana policies is courageous, insightful and, above all, necessary. Let us hope that in the coming weeks the federal court will uphold the First Amendment and defend our right to publicly question unfair and wasteful marijuana laws. GRAHAM BOYDNew Haven, April 29, 2004The writer is director, A.C.L.U. Drug Policy Litigation Project.Source: New York Times (NY)Published: May 3, 2004Copyright: 2004 The New York Times Co.Contact: letters nytimes.com Website: http://www.nytimes.com/Related Articles:Make Peace With Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18731.shtmlThe Last Word: Eric Schlosser http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16485.shtmlThe U.S. Bucks a Trend on Marijuana Lawshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16476.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #5 posted by JoeCitizen on May 03, 2004 at 20:38:14 PT RasAric - I agree PDFA can hardly be considered an impartial or disinterested commentator on this subject, since this is how they (immorally) get paid.I think this Upton Sinclair quote best sums it up:"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it."Follow the money. It usually leads down the rats' nest.JC [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by mayan on May 03, 2004 at 16:49:42 PT South African Cannabis... Sorry if this has already been posted...In defence of cannabis: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/11C3F740-E23B-478F-A3F6-A623AF57AF67.htm [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by mayan on May 03, 2004 at 16:43:51 PT Socially Acceptable "Teenagers themselves help shape such communication efforts, which are lowering social acceptance of marijuana and increasing understanding of the drug's risks." - - STEPHEN J. PASIERBPres. & Chief Exec., Partnership for a Drug-Free AmericaIs Pasierb kidding? Cannabis is more socially acceptable than ever! For example, almost all of the Democratic Presidential candidates admitted to having used cannabis. I believe Kucinich was the only one who said he hadn't...but he said it should be decriminalized! The people who support prohibition are either very ignorant, have jobs that depend upon prohibition, or are drug dealers themselves. The way out is the way in...Ed Asner Supports the 9/11 Truth Movement! http://www.septembereleventh.org/alerts/asner.phpWhistleblowers From Vietnam to 9/11 - A Conversation with Daniel Ellsberg and Sibel Edmonds: http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/04/29/1513230 9/11 Commission: The Panel Tones It Down http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4881058/9/11 Prior Knowledg/Government Involvement Archive: http://www.propagandamatrix.com/archiveprior_knowledge.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by cloud7 on May 03, 2004 at 14:16:15 PT Think of the children "The argument for legalizing marijuana falls apart when one considers the impact on teenagers and children."This seems to be the one of the sole arguments the prohibs still try to stand on. Every time this is trotted out there needs to be an immediate response of:1) It would be less available than it is now to teens/children2) What about the numerous children affected because they grew up without a father/mother because of this victimless crime?3) The rates of usage are lower where it is "legal" (Netherlands)"The majority of teenagers entering drug treatment programs list marijuana as their primary drug of abuse"Are they entering these programs voluntarily or because they avoid jail time, probation, or revocation of an extra curricular program at school?"One published study, for example, documented a 27 percent decline in marijuana use among high-risk teenagers exposed to our media-based education campaigns."What about the numerous other studies that show these ads are a farce and have had almost no impact? (Also, notice this only applied to "high-risk" users which are a small percentage of the overall users)"Educating young people about the risks of drugs may be imperfect, but increasingly is proving effective."As this and every other pro-relegalization site is helping to do every day by providing facts and not lies, half truths, and scare stories. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by RasAric on May 03, 2004 at 13:21:01 PT Partnership Against A Prohibitionistic America Funny that STEPHEN J. PASIERB's (Pres. & Chief Exec., Partnership for a Drug-Free America) arguement was even published. His paycheck is directly dependent on the continuation(not success)of this short sighted, never-ending drug war. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment