cannabisnews.com: Potent Argument: The Latest Marijuana Scare 





Potent Argument: The Latest Marijuana Scare 
Posted by CN Staff on August 13, 2004 at 08:21:18 PT
By Jacob Sullum
Source: Reason Magazine 
The Office of National Drug Control Policy is so happy with a recent Reuters story about marijuana that it has a prominent link to the article on its Web site. It's not hard to see why. "Pot is no longer the gentle weed of the 1960s and may pose a greater threat than cocaine or even heroin," writes Reuters health and science correspondent Maggie Fox. That's her talking, not the ONDCP. More precisely, it's Fox dutifully parroting what the ONDCP has told her in its latest attempt to scare people about marijuana.
Because so many Americans have decided, based on direct experience or by observing pot smokers they know, that marijuana is no big deal, the government's anti-pot propaganda has taken on a decidedly defensive tone. "Marijuana today is a much more serious problem than the vast majority of Americans understand," ONDCP Director John Walters tells Fox. Or, as he put it during a visit to Seattle last month, "This is not the substance you joked about in the '60s. We have a greater reason for concern." Such assertions are based on the premise that marijuana is much stronger than it used to be. In a 1995 interview with the Dallas Morning News, Clinton drug czar Lee Brown claimed "marijuana is 40 times more potent today than was the case 10, 15, 20 years ago." Lately the ONDCP has been warning that "today's marijuana is twice as strong" as the pot of the mid-1980s. Either the marijuana people smoked in the 1960s and '70s was not psychoactive at all, and its perceived effects were a mass delusion, or someone is exaggerating. Otherwise, we'd have to believe that the level of THC (marijuana's main active ingredient) in today's pot exceeds 100 percent. In fact, the ONDCP says the current average is something like 7 percent, up from 3.5 percent in 1985, based on analyses of marijuana seized by federal agents. But seizures are not necessarily a representative sample, and if the focus of anti-pot efforts has shifted in the last two decades, the 1985 data may not be comparable to more recent measurements. Still, marijuana probably is somewhat more potent, on average, than it used to be, because growers have gotten better at producing high-quality cannabis. Contrary to what the government says, however, there's little reason to believe stronger pot is worse for you. If anything, it's healthier, since people smoke less of it to achieve the effect they want. To her credit, Reuters' Fox allows someone from the Marijuana Policy Project to make that point toward the end of her article. But she provides no rebuttal for the government's insinuation that stronger pot has caused a dramatic increase since 1992 in the number of teenagers "in treatment for marijuana dependence and abuse." The government's own data show that most teenagers treated for "marijuana dependence and abuse" are referred by the criminal justice system. Since the annual number of marijuana arrests in the U.S. has more than doubled since 1992, it's not surprising that treatment admissions have gone up as well. Even those that do not stem from arrests can be the result of pressure from misguided school officials or panicked parents. Getting caught with pot does not mean you're an addict. As Mitch Earleywine, author of Understanding Marijuana, and Bruce Mirken of the Marijuana Policy Project noted recently in the Hartford Advocate, most marijuana "abusers" entering treatment have used the drug three or fewer times during the previous month. Marijuana's legal status clearly has an impact on decisions about who should receive "treatment." Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why, as Fox reports, "children and teenagers are three times more likely to be in treatment for marijuana dependence than for alcohol." Not only is alcohol more widely used, but survey data indicate that addiction is more common among drinkers than it is among pot smokers. In case the prospect of addiction is not enough to scare the public, Fox adds that stronger pot "could make children and teenagers anxious, unmotivated or perhaps even psychotic" (although she concedes "the research so far is inconclusive"). The story closes by saying that John Walters, who is doing his best to whip up a pot panic despite declining use by teenagers, "does not want to overreact." "We shouldn't be victims of reefer madness," Walters says. At last, he and I agree about something. Jacob Sullum is a senior editor at Reason and the author of Saying Yes: In Defense of Drug Use (Tarcher/Putnam).Copyright 2004 by Creators Syndicate Inc.Source: Reason Magazine (US)Author: Jacob Sullum Published: August 13, 2004Copyright: 2004 The Reason FoundationContact: letters reason.comWebsite: http://www.reason.com/ Related Articles & Web Site:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/The 'Potent Pot' Mythhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19259.shtmlBush Targets Marijuana Smokers http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19229.shtmlU.S. Drug Czar Warns of Potent Pot Herehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19209.shtmlAs Pot Gets Stronger, US Officials Change Policyhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19203.shtml 
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Comment #8 posted by breeze on August 13, 2004 at 21:25:38 PT
Money does NOT equal intellect- off topic
These people are paid for what they say, it would be different if they had to PAY someone to listen to them. Which is frequently what anyone who is for cannabis decrim has to endure when dealing with officials.Global_Warming, I enjoyed your post. It was very poetic and inspriational.My favorite Bob Marley song is of course, "jammin'"- Hey, I am a thirty something white dude who listens mostly to heavy metal. favorite band is TooL- the lyrics as well as the music is VERY inspirational during altered states of awareness.Enough Auto-bio.Please continue at your discretion.
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Comment #7 posted by unkat27 on August 13, 2004 at 19:35:20 PT
More BS: Scaring em Straight
"Pot is no longer the gentle weed it was during the 60s..."Oh, so now they're admitting it WAS gentle? Geez, I guess that's why they started beating people up and throwing them in prison for using it, because it was 'gentle'.This is yet another rehash on an old story that gets published by the mainstream almost every year, just before school begins. It serves the parents and politicians, both who want the kids to spend more time working and less time doing whatever they want. "Now William, remember what your mother and father have told you. Keep your mind on your work and studies, and off of girls and drugs. Stay away from the kids that try to get you to skip classes and do other things, they want you to fail and they can't be trusted. Don't let them turn you into a pothead, that stuff will kill you. Don't forget what your loving parents did for you, all the sacrifices we have made, because we care what happens to you and we want you to succeed in life. Now, here's the keys to the car. Don't forget to call at least once a week from college. And don't forget to brush your teeth and wear clean underwear, and be nice to your teachers...."College? Christ, I thought he was going to junior fuckin' high school!
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Comment #6 posted by afterburner on August 13, 2004 at 19:10:03 PT
Lively Up, Yourself, and Don't Say No
This potent pot scare is just a control drama to dominate the dominos. Shields up!"Yeah, man. It's time to let de people get good herbs and smoke. Government's a joke. "
- Bob Marley - Mellow Mood http://www.bobmarley.com/songs/songs.cgi?mellowA Mellow Mood in the land of love in the eye of the storm, the blind will see, soon come. Jah forces are gathered, the herb must survive. Survival of the fittest. Compassion for the ill, the weak, the dying. A feast for the living, a toast to the dead, Every mouth must be fed. 
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Comment #5 posted by Virgil on August 13, 2004 at 18:27:57 PT
Cannablis
Hempseed for birds, humans, et. al., is legal. People can have Enhanced soup now. That is the thing about CP- it does not control any substance. It only makes things expensive and creates the black market experience.
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Comment #4 posted by global_warming on August 13, 2004 at 16:30:08 PT
Whine and Squeals
It seems that the pressure is mounting, and the little piggie's are squealing..all this news about the devils pot, pretty soon they will be saying "boo" and some people will run for cover, for the boogie man is coming.This war on people that use drugs or illegal substances, is really starting to wear on my nerves, besides the costs that are projected, this prohibitionists mind-set, can never be sated, for the problem is not in the substance, but rather in the mind of the of the prohibitionist, since they seem to believe that every citizen must act and obey their rules in this world.This world is for all living life forms, and if you have a problem with sharing, maybe, you should look in the mirror, maybe you need to talk to your mother or father, because the problem is not in the world, but rather the problem is in the way you see the world.America, is this worlds last best hope, and as citizens of this great nation, we..the people, must remain alert and vigilant, to protect the goals of the founding fathers, who gave so much to form this union.Understanding, that even the founding fathers were struggling to advance their cause in this dark world, to lift up some, while so many yet were held back, but, the struggle against darkness and greedy power driven peoples and groups, was marked by the birth of the American Constitution. Let us, the people, not be remiss, in recognizing our responsibilities and obligations, to this great effort and document, for the tides of darkness gather and the forces of evil thunder, and like little children who are frightened by the night skies lighting up in a storm, be assured, that brothers and sisters, long before you drank your first breath, gathered and formed this union, in spite of the "boogy man" and all that surrounds this need to run.History has marked our progress, and with each step forward, that has been covered with human blood, have comfort, each step that we take, we will hear the songs and cry's of brethren long forgotten, like ghost's that cannot speak, their mark, has left an impression that light's our footsteps, on this rocky path, that will lead us to redemption and freedom.End this war on drugs, end this persecution, end this mindless attack on human beings that seek to self medicate, from the fruits of this natural world.gw
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Comment #3 posted by mayan on August 13, 2004 at 15:57:32 PT
Holy Sh*t
I just found this tidbit regarding our British friends. Forgive me if it's already been posted...http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3557266.stmArrests For All Offences Proposed: - Police in England and Wales could be given powers to arrest people for minor offences such as graffiti or litter. 
Police can currently arrest people only for crimes with sentences of at least five years, meaning breach of the peace is often used as a "catch all" offence. A Home Office consultation paper also proposes to allow drug tests of people when arrested, and to make it easier to search suspects and their property. Home Office minister Hazel Blears says the aim is to modernise police powers. - [snipped]How serious are they about this cripe? 
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Comment #2 posted by cannabliss on August 13, 2004 at 13:04:50 PT
Deja Vu
It's funny to watch the old arguments revived. Back in the 'slinger's day, cannabis was heroin. Gradually, it was downgraded to "pot will get you overlooked for that promotion." Now, it's back to being as bad as heroin....Are they admitting that 60's cannabis was "gentle"?You will not have your enhanced soup until the birds can have their bird seed.
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Comment #1 posted by Virgil on August 13, 2004 at 08:43:13 PT
I want hash oil myself
Hash oil would instantanouly transform soup to enhanced soup. Hash oil would be to appetizers as appetizers are to food. It takes real tyranny to remove hemp plants from our country and every other country on earth we could talk into it too. The drug war and the War for Prohibition and its losing cause has attacked the most nutritious of all seeds. This focusing the world to attack liquid appetizers to prevent the new era of enhanced appetizers is just as insane. I really despise this demonizing that delays the next generation of appetizers. Now who in there right mind would think that Enhanced Soup should get you arrested? There should be hash oil for everyone. 
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