Pubdate: Fri, 03 Jan 2003 Source: Paintsville Herald, The (KY) Copyright: 2003 The Paintsville Herald Contact: http://www.paintsvilleherald.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2723 Author: Robert Sharpe, Kim Hanna Note: Headline created by Newshawk ONDCP MARIJUANA DISINFORMATION Dear Editor, The Paintsville Herald did its readers a disservice by repeating White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) misinformation on marijuana. The ONDCP is deliberately misrepresenting government data in an effort to justify the war on some drugs. To hear it from the ONDCP more Americans are in treatment for marijuana than alcohol and all illegal drugs combined. Record numbers of Americans arrested for marijuana possession have been forced into treatment by the criminal justice system. The resulting distortion of treatment statistics is then used to make the claim that marijuana is "addictive." Zero tolerance drug laws do not distinguish between occasional use and chronic abuse. The coercion of Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis into taxpayer-funded treatment centers says a lot about U.S. government priorities, but absolutely nothing about the relative harms of marijuana. For an objective take on marijuana, look to Canada. After months of research, the Canadian Senate recently concluded that marijuana is relatively benign, marijuana prohibition contributes to organized crime, and law enforcement efforts have little impact on patterns of use. In the words of Senator Pierre Claude Nolin "Scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates that cannabis is substantially less harmful than alcohol and should be treated not as a criminal issue but as a social and public health issue." The following U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reports verify my claims regarding government coercion: http://www.samhsa.gov/oas/2k2/YouthMJtx/YouthMJtx.pdf Treatment Episodes Data http://wwwdasis.samhsa.gov/teds98/tbl_4_4.htm *Note the criminal justice referral column. For more information on the Canadian Senate report please visit: http://www.parl.gc.ca/37/1/parlbus/commbus/senate/com-e/ille-e/press-e/04sep02-e.htm The ONDCP's misleading anti-marijuana campaign can be verified at: http://www.theantidrug.com Sincerely, Robert Sharpe, M.P.A. Program Officer Drug Policy Alliance http://www.drugpolicy.org Arlington, VA 22207 - ----------------------------------------------- Dear Editor, Drug Czar Walters is not paying attention to the US economy or Kentucky. Mr. Walters just called for increased marijuana prosecutions, while Kentucky just had to release 567 convicts (many for marijuana) it couldn't afford to imprison anymore. The US drug czar should know this. Who will pay for these new marijuana cases? The Fed's may deficit spend till they're blue in the face and not worry about money but our states cannot. They have to pay the bills when due. Money spent on marijuana convictions, reduces money spent on schools and child development programs. The states cannot afford any increased marijuana prosecutions. There were over 700,000 marijuana arrests last year, without any effect on the US marijuana market. What's the point? We spend billions of dollars on the drug war and we should see some results; not just a prison gulag of two million low level drug offenders. These drug dealers have already been replaced on the street. Radical prohibition laws are the least effective method of drug control possible; just look at the availability of drugs in the US right now. Is the drug war working yet? The laws only punish people that get caught with drugs but have zero control over contraband drug sales. The last drug czar General McCaffrey said "we can't incarcerate our way out of the drug problem." Evidently Drug Czar Walters wasn't listening. Sincerely, Kim Hanna Worcester, MA - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart