cannabisnews.com: Study Debunks Feds' Marijuana Claims Study Debunks Feds' Marijuana Claims Posted by CN Staff on May 03, 2004 at 17:29:31 PT For Immediate Release Source: Common Dreams Washington -- A new study appearing in the May issue of the American Journal of Public Health debunks several of the major claims made by the federal government and other proponents of marijuana prohibition. The study, which compared patterns of marijuana use in Amsterdam, where possession and purchase of small amounts of marijuana by adults are allowed under a legally regulated system, and San Francisco, where such activities are illegal and punishable by fines or jail, found no significant differences in patterns of marijuana use in the two cities, and greater use of hard drugs in San Francisco. Researchers from the University of California and the University of Amsterdam conducted detailed interviews with hundreds of randomly chosen marijuana users -- people who had used marijuana at least 25 times-in both cities. "Proponents of criminalization attribute to their preferred drug-control regimen a special power to affect user behavior," the authors write. "Our findings cast doubt on such attributions. Despite widespread lawful availability of cannabis [marijuana] in Amsterdam, there were no differences between the two cities in age at onset of use, age at first regular use, or age at the start of maximum use. ... We also found consistent similarities in patterns of use across the different policy contexts."One significant difference: Marijuana users in San Francisco were much more likely to use powder or crack cocaine, opiates, amphetamines or ecstasy than their Amsterdam counterparts. Lifetime crack cocaine use in the San Francisco sample was five times that of the Amsterdam group. "Dutch decriminalization does not appear to be associated with greater use of other drugs," the researchers report. "Indeed, to judge from the lifetime prevalence of other illicit drug use, the reverse may be the case."Bruce Mirken, communications director for the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project, commented, "Despite the claims by federal officials like White House Drug Czar John Walters, the evidence continues to grow that marijuana prohibition not only doesn't curb marijuana use, it actually contributes to the so-called 'gateway effect,' by exposing marijuana users to criminal dealers of hard drugs. A system of responsible regulation can break the link between marijuana and far more dangerous substances."Complete Title: Study Debunks Feds' Marijuana Claims - Regulated Sales May Stop "Gateway Effect" Without Increasing Marijuana Use The full study can be obtained on the American Journal of Public Health's web site --http://www.ajph.org/ Contact: Marijuana Policy Project Bruce Mirken, 202-543-7972 or 415-668-6403Source: Common Dreams (ME)Published: May 3, 2004Copyright: 2004 Common DreamsContact: editor commondreams.org Website: http://www.commondreams.org/Related Articles & Web Site:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Dutch Drug Policies Do Not Increase MJ Use http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18782.shtmlDutch Authorities Oppose Tighter Drugs Law http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18743.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #9 posted by Petard on May 04, 2004 at 12:26:47 PT FoM Sasser IS a nasty little bugger. The self-proclaimed experts suspect it was designed by some script kiddie just to prove that it could be done, and that they themselves could indeed do it. Kinda like climbing Mt. Everest. Why do it? Because it's there and it tests one's abilities to do it. They forget the fact the climb has killed and maimed many others, people still do it anyway.Some of the proliferation of viruses and stuff is for financial gain. Think of it this way: If you have a certain moral lack, or block, and don't care HOW you get $, but you're intelligent and physically lazy, which would you rather do? Knock little old ladies down and steal their SSI check, or sit at a PC and write a program that does the work for you by stealing their banking and identification info? Then there's also those now-somewhat-grown-up schoolyard bully's that just what to hurt others by writing a program to destroy peoples hard work, or perhaps a spurned lover writes a program just to get back at one person, but then his/her buddy is in the same position so the buddy gets a copy, then they have a buddy, etc., etc., etc..And then I also tend to think that since there's big $ in "them thar" AV programs that people fork over $ willingly to get, why not operate an AV company to protect people from said company's own malicious code? Kinda like the old mafia protection scheme: "buy protection from them or need protection against them" kinda thing. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by FoM on May 04, 2004 at 08:40:09 PT Petard This worm sounds really bad. I have an old windows system so the only thing I've noticed is a slowing of the Internet. I wonder why all these viruses and worms are happening. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by Petard on May 04, 2004 at 07:29:43 PT RE: OT Sasser Worm That really is a nasty bugger. I spent all Saturday afternoon getting a friends PC (and fellow college student) back up and running, and right and the beginning of Finals Week at that with almost all his notes on that PC.Not only did Sasser eat up ALL of his Windows Drivers and cause a never-ending loop of the start-up process, it reset his BIOS to boot only from the hard drive so it could not be booted from CD or floppy until the boot BIOS was reset manually.A firewall is essential to prevent Sasser as users don't even have to click on anything to get infected, simply being connected to the net without a firewall is enough. Several public and private schools, a hospital, and two Police Departments in my region are some of the victims of this bug.2 good, FREE for personal use firewalls that I have experience with are: Zone Alarm and Kerio. (I personally prefer Kerio due to the advanced capability it offers of controlling not just internet activity, but what is going on inside your own hard drive too. You choose to accept or deny programs launching, so you'll know it if someone has gotten in and is trying to remotely operate your PC.)Microsoft also has tool to scan and remove Sasser for free. Of course it's no use if you've already been infected since Sasser corrupts the boot up and if you can't even boot you can't get online to use the tool. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by ubas on May 04, 2004 at 07:18:09 PT Santa Cruz Sentinel story on decrim study http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2004/May/04/local/stories/01local.htm Print Article | Close WindowMay 4, 2004 UCSC sociologist says making pot legal does not boost use By ANNA GOSLINE Sentinel CorrespondentSANTA CRUZ — A leading critic of U.S. drug policy contends there is no link between the decriminalization of marijuana and increased drug use.In research published in the May issue of the American Journal of Public Health, Craig Reinarman, a UC Santa Cruz sociologist, said he found there was no difference between drug-use rates in Amsterdam, where marijuana is freely bought at licensed coffee shops, and San Francisco, where pot-smokers still can get busted. "Drug policy doesn’t appear to have much relevance," Reinarman said in an interview Monday. "There is not a lot of evidence to suggest that criminalization has a deterrent effect." In the late 1990s, Reinarman conducted random door-to-door surveys of 265 adults from San Francisco who had used marijuana 25 times or more. The research team, including two scientists from the Center for Drug Research in the Netherlands, then compared the data with identical survey information gathered from 216 adults in Amsterdam.The results showed no difference between the cities for key factors such as age of first use, and age and duration of maximum use. Dutch marijuana users also were less likely to use other illicit drugs such as cocaine, crack, amphetamines or opiates such as heroin."It seems to us that the burden of proof is now on those that support criminalization to prove that it actually reduces drug use," said Reinarman, who won a lifetime achievement award from the Drug Policy Foundation in 1999. Paul Armentano, a senior policy analyst at the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said he isn’t surprised by Reinarman’s results."The results (from similar studies) have been remarkably consistent, whether the study comes from university researchers or the government," he said. "Marijuana use ebbs and flows regardless of marijuana penalties. That’s the case in this country and frankly, in countries all over the world. I’d like to think that if the drug policies were based on science, they would change."But others on the front lines of the war on drugs, like Richard Westphal, commander of the Santa Cruz County Narcotics Enforcement Team, remain opposed to decriminalization. "There would be increased usage and more people will try it," he said, arguing against decriminalization. Westphal believes criminal punishment does prevent people from using the drug excessively. Rhonda Jones at Janus of Santa Cruz, a drug treatment center, agreed: "We believe that pot is a gateway drug. If a person smokes a lot of pot, they will likely try something stronger."Jones also said addicts recovering from harder drugs such as cocaine or heroin will sometimes pick up marijuana, then slide back into their old habits. Robert MacCoun, a sociologist at UC Berkeley, also has studied marijuana usage in the United States and the Netherlands. He said he saw a rise in marijuana use in the mid-1980s when legal marijuana sellers launched aggressive advertising campaigns. The Netherlands has since restricted these campaigns."We think that commercialization has the potential to significantly increase marijuana usage," he said, "but decriminalization poses very little risk."What we really need to understand is why countries like Sweden, who have restrictive drug policies similar to the U.S., also have low levels of drug use."Contact Anna Gosline at agosline santacruzsentinel.com. Print Article------------------------------------------------------------------------ You can find this story online at: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2004/May/04/local/stories/01local.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright © Santa Cruz Sentinel. All rights reserved. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by WolfgangWylde on May 04, 2004 at 02:22:58 PT I really don't understand the brouhaha.... ....over this. First study? Hardly. The statistics from the last 20 years have shown the same thing. Will it be swept under the rug? You bet your bee-hind it will. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by delariand on May 03, 2004 at 23:43:29 PT It's encouraging... but what's to keep this study from being swept under the rug? I hope this can be a turning point... [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by FoM on May 03, 2004 at 21:12:23 PT Off Topic: The Sasser Worm I thought this should be posted in case anyone is having computer trouble. I don't have a new pc so I think I'm ok. ***'Sasser' Worm Strikes Hundreds of Thousands of PCs By Brian Krebs, Washingtonpost.com Staff WriterMonday, May 3, 2004; 5:40 PM A new Internet worm that infected hundreds of thousands of computers over the weekend picked up speed as people returned to work on Monday and turned on their infected PCs, security experts said. The "Sasser" worm began spreading early Saturday morning, infecting or crashing computers that run the Windows 2000 and XP operating systems. The worm attacks systems that were not updated with software fixes Microsoft released less than three weeks ago to address security holes in Windows. PCs infected with Sasser will either crash and restart repeatedly or start scanning the Web for other vulnerable computers to infect. The worm can infect unprotected Windows XP computers less than 10 minutes after they are connected to the Internet, said Mikko Hypponen, director of antivirus research at F-Secure Corp., in Finland. Complete Article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63002-2004May3.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by ekim on May 03, 2004 at 20:51:38 PT Ws speach could have been about the drug war today W said in Kal that freedom is a god given right.he said that Gov't is not in the business of making people wealthy.we must go after anyone who harbors a terroristwe have tried law and order now we need the military. http://www.minorml.org [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by RasAric on May 03, 2004 at 18:20:40 PT CNBC DENNIS MILLER INTERVIEW W/ ERIC SCHLOSSER 9:13 Eastern [ Post Comment ] Post Comment