Pubdate: Wed, 05 Oct 2005 Source: Arizona Daily Wildcat (AZ Edu) Copyright: 2005 Arizona Daily Wildcat Contact: http://wildcat.arizona.edu/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/725 Author: Blake Rebling Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1571/a03.html CANNABIS SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN TO BE A 'GATEWAY DRUG' This letter is in response to Scott Patterson's column "The legalization of marijuana is long overdue." He states that since there is no reason to keep the drug illegal it should be legalized; however, I disagree. There are most definitely reasons to keep it illegal. First, he argues that it is ridiculous to call marijuana a gateway drug, yet a scientific study of twins showed "individuals who used cannabis by age 17 years had odds of other drug use, alcohol dependence, and drug abuse/dependence that were 2.1 to 5.2 times higher than those of their co-twin, who did not use cannabis before age 17 years." Second, the writer argues that because tobacco and alcohol are legal, then marijuana should be as well, but it is hard to argue that those two substances do not have negative effects. True, alcohol is a longstanding element of western society and when used responsibly is not very dangerous, but when one becomes a full-blown alcoholic or tobacco addict, it is very detrimental to both their physical and sometimes mental health. Regardless of whether marijuana is more or less dangerous then tobacco and alcohol, cannabis is a drug, and while the adverse effects of marijuana use are within the range tolerated for other medications, one only takes such medication if the great positive effects on one's health outweigh these negative effects. You do not take these drugs if you do not need them. Besides potential medical purposes, marijuana isn't needed and should not be legalized. As far as the potential economic benefits of a new (legalized) marijuana industry, they are minimal and not worth the "adverse effects," as the writer calls them. Blake Rebling political science and economics sophomore - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake