Pubdate: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 Source: Athens News, The (OH) Copyright: 2001, Athens News Contact: http://www.athensnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1603 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n1903/a12.html?1900 Authors: Ray Carlson, Myron Von Hollingsworth, Robert Sharpe, Bill Sams Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hea.htm (Higher Education Act) WAR ON DRUGS IS A SHAMEFUL CHAPTER IN HISTORY OF AMERICA The "sneakiness and secrecy" of anti-marijuana policy at Ohio University to which Larry Hayman, president of the OU chapter of the ACLU refers (The NEWS, Nov. 12), is nothing new in this nation when we speak of the "War Against Drugs." The Marijuana Tax Act of 1936 was slipped through the back door of Congress, supported by the fabrications and lies of William Randolph Hearst, the religious fanaticism and racial bigotry of Harry J. Anslinger, and then the perjury of Congressman Vinson, who was later rewarded by being appointed chief justice. That this shameful chapter in American History has not yet come to a close should be a source of great concern for Americans. As long as government can legislate our private behavior, no one except the legislators and judges will enjoy privacy or freedom of choice. Ray Carlson, Redwood City, Calif. - - DRUG WAR JUST ANOTHER EXCUSE TO DIMINISH CIVIL LIBERTIES OF AMERICANS This is in response to the article about Ohio University's plan to toughen marijuana possession penalties (The NEWS, Nov. 12). Cannabis has no lethal dose and its pharmacological effects have never caused a single death in over 5,000 years of recorded history. The (unseen) driving force against medical (or unrestricted adult) legalization of cannabis is the fact that cannabis can't be patented. This precludes the need for big business to be involved, and that fact makes cannabis commercially unattractive to the pharmaceutical, tobacco and alcohol industries (lobbies). It seems that if it can't be profitized successfully, the government can't justify legalization even for the sick and dying. Furthermore, the war on cannabis drives the war on drugs. Without cannabis prohibition, the drug war would be reduced to a pillow fight. This is the politics and the economics of cannabis prohibition. Maybe the corrupt politicians and media are required to adhere to the party line of cannabis prohibition because law enforcement, customs, the prison and military-industrial complex, the drug-testing industry, the "drug treatment" industry, the INS, the CIA, the FBI, the DEA, the politicians themselves et al can't live without the budget justification, not to mention the invisible profits, bribery, corruption and forfeiture benefits that prohibition affords them. The drug war also promotes, justifies and perpetuates racist enforcement policies and is diminishing many freedoms and liberties that are supposed to be inalienable according to the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Myron Von Hollingsworth, Fort Worth, Texas - - STUDENT GROUP DESERVES PRAISE FOR EFFORTS TO FIGHT STRICTER POT PENALTIES Ohio University's Students for Sensible Drug Policy is to be commended for raising awareness of the drug war's collateral damage. Draconian marijuana penalties do more harm than good. That being said, there is a big difference between condoning marijuana use and protecting children from drugs. Decriminalization acknowledges the social reality of marijuana use and frees users from the stigma of life-shattering criminal records. What's really needed is a regulated market with enforceable age controls. Right now kids have an easier time buying pot than beer. Like any drug, marijuana can be harmful if abused. Still, the hypocrisy of the drug war is glaring. Alcohol poisoning kills thousands annually. Tobacco is one of the most addictive drugs available and perhaps the deadliest overall. Marijuana, on the other hand, is not physically addictive and has never been shown to cause an overdose death. If health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana would be legal. The first marijuana laws were a racist reaction to Mexican immigration during the early 1900's, passed in large part due to newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst's sensationalist yellow journalism. White Americans did not even begin to smoke marijuana until a soon-to-be entrenched government bureaucracy began funding "reefer madness" propaganda. These days marijuana is confused with '60s counterculture. This intergenerational culture war does far more harm than marijuana. Illegal marijuana provides the black market contacts that introduce consumers to hard drugs like meth. This "gateway" is the direct result of a fundamentally flawed policy. Taxing and regulating marijuana is a cost-effective alternative to the $50 billion drug war. Robert Sharpe, program officer, The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation http://www.drugpolicy.org, Washington, D.C. - - USING A BIGGER STICK TO ENFORCE POT RULES AT OU DOESN'T MAKE SENSE Increase the penalties for pot at Ohio University? Why? Please tell me what this is to accomplish. If we look at the various vices that people enjoy, we know without a doubt that smoking cigarettes kills thousands every year. Yet other than excluding it from some places, we take no notice of the doorways filled with people puffing away. That includes the doorways to OU administration buildings, by the way. Then there is the alcohol issue. Again there is no question that every year thousands die from alcohol-related diseases, not to mention the numerous deaths of drinkers and their victims from drunk driving. How many university functions serve alcohol? Now what damage does pot cause? Cancer? Nope. Liver problems? Nope. Driving under the influence deaths? Maybe, but cell phones probably rate higher. So what damage does it do? Well, there are hundreds of thousands in prison for possession. Certainly, their lives have been ruined. Also, there is another group who can't get student loans. Certainly, it didn't help them make a better life for themselves. And now we can look forward to the university expelling students for possession. Isn't it wonderful when an institution dedicated to education rejects those who need it the most? Now what is the common factor in the above damage caused by pot? It is that the rules of our society are the cause of the damage rather than the usage itself? The logic, of course, is to keep using a bigger stick to enforce a moral issue, with which many disagree, so that at some point you will eventually succeed no matter how many lives you ruin in the process. The ultimate conclusion of this logic can be seen in the recent videos of the Taliban morality police whipping people at random to enforce their version of morality. Is this an unfair comparison? Certainly, it is unfair in degree, but in the logic of the approach, perhaps not. Bill Sams, Elmwood Place, Athens - --- MAP posted-by: Jackl