Pubdate: Wed, 27 Feb 2002
Source: Munster Times (IN)
Copyright: 2002 The Munster Times
Contact:  http://www.thetimesonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/832
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n224/a08.html

REEFER MADNESS PROPAGANDA SPURRED WHITES' USE OF DRUG

Pat Rocchio's thoughtful Feb. 10 column asked why alcohol is legal but 
marijuana is not. Hint: it has nothing to do with health outcomes.

Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, 
nor does it share the addictive properties of nicotine.

Like any drug, marijuana can be harmful if abused, but jail sentences and 
criminal records are hardly appropriate health interventions. Prior to the 
passage of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, few Americans had heard of 
marijuana, despite widespread cultivation of its non-intoxicating cousin, 
industrial hemp. The first marijuana laws were a racist reaction to Mexican 
migration. Sensationalist headlines claimed minorities committed violent 
acts while under the drug's influence.

Ironically, whites did not even begin smoking pot until a soon-to-be 
entrenched government bureaucracy began funding reefer madness propaganda.

The intergenerational culture war otherwise known as the war on some drugs 
is causing tremendous societal harm, while failing miserably at preventing 
drug use. What's really needed is a regulated market with enforceable age 
controls.

Robert Sharpe Program officer,
Drug Policy Alliance,
Washington, D.C. 
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MAP posted-by: Alex