Pubdate: Mon, 30 Sep 2002 Source: Detroit News (MI) Copyright: 2002, The Detroit News Contact: http://detnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/126 Author: Robert Sharpe Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1719/a01.html Note: The Detroit News printed 5 letters under this headline. SHOULD ILLEGAL DRUGS BE DECRIMINALIZED? Scare Tactics Foster Drug Abuse To hear it from drug czar John Walters, marijuana is more dangerous because it's allegedly more potent. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Both weak and strong marijuana will yield the desired result; only the potent marijuana requires significantly less smoke inhalation, so it's actually less harmful. Misleading claims serve to scare baby boomer parents into supporting a punitive drug war, but they can cause teen-agers to question the credibility of anti-drug messages. Like any drug, marijuana can be harmful if abused, but that's not the point. Teen-agers who realize they've been lied to about marijuana often mistakenly assume that harder drugs like heroin are relatively harmless. This is a recipe for disaster. Anti-drug messages must be reality-based or they may backfire when teen-agers are inevitably exposed to drug use among their peers. Walters might want to consider that preventing drug abuse, legal or otherwise, is more important than drumming up political support for the war on drugs. Robert Sharpe, Program Officer, Drug Policy Alliance, Washington, D.C. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D