Pubdate: Sun, 01 Oct 2000 Source: Summit Free Press (CO) Copyright: 2000 Summit Free Press, Inc. Contact: PO Box 8386, Breckenridge, CO 80424 Feedback: http://www.summitfreepress.com/contact_us_page.htm Website: http://www.summitfreepress.com/ Author: Mike Plylar There's little doubt that marijuana has many proven medicinal properties, the most popular, but often ignored, is its' ability to treat depression. The anti-drug bureaucracy (hypocrisy) describes one of the "most troubling" effects of marijuana is its' euphoric "high". Euphoria is defined by Webster's as "a strong feeling of happiness, confidence, or well-being". The same dictionary defines depression as a feeling of "sadness and gloom". By their own admission, aren't these anti-drug "professionals" acknowledging that marijuana has a beneficial medicinal use and since it makes a depressed person feel euphoric, wouldn't that by definition be an effective treatment for depression? The war against marijuana has absolutely nothing to do with the harm this plant causes to society and has everything to do with the purveyors of the "drug war" and their promotion of this abomination in American history. The anti-drug warriors' addiction to pork is legendary and without the illegality of marijuana, their public funding would shrink dramatically. The fact is, without marijuana, there would be no drug war. If pot were removed from the mix, the private and publicly traded companies who compose the drug testing industry would vanish faster than they were created. Why? Because drug testing is more often than not, marijuana testing. End marijuana prohibition and those who have vested their futures in this black hole of U.S. drug policy, stand to lose incredible amounts of money. Under President Clinton this drug war pariah has ballooned and promises to be the hot growth sector of the new millennium. Don't ever believe that U.S. drug policy is really about illegal drugs, it's about money and lots of it. We've allowed Washington to create a policy, the War On Drugs, that clearly enriches the drug warriors personally, both politically and monetarily. These government officials and public and private anti-drug industrialists won't push away from this feast of pork, until the citizens demand an end, and who knows, they will probably continue in spite of the outcry, after all, the drug war tycoons are addicted to money and their pangs of withdrawal from this gravy train, will be excruciating. Mike Plylar, Kremmling - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager