Pubdate: Sun, 10 Apr 2005
Source: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (AK)
Copyright: 2005 Fairbanks Publishing Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.news-miner.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/764
Author: Kelly Drew
Note: Kelly L. Drew, Ph.D. is associate professor of chemistry and
biochemistry at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

GOVERNOR, LEGISLATORS MISREPRESENTING EFFECTS OF MARIJUANA

As a longtime Alaskan, a scientist and the mother of a teenage
daughter, I am worried about how Gov. Frank Murkowski and Alaska
legislators are approaching the marijuana issue. By ignoring the
scientific data, they may be about to make our problems a whole lot
worse.

Alaska's courts have said that our constitution's right to privacy
includes the right of adults to possess small amounts of marijuana in
their home.

The governor and his allies have tried to evade this privacy
protection by drafting their bill to include a series of "findings"
claiming that marijuana is so dangerous that it must be banned.

This is a field I know something about: My scientific specialty is
neuropharmacology, the study of how drugs affect the brain. And the
statements about marijuana contained in this legislation simply are
not true. They contradict a mass of scientific data, including reviews
by at least half a dozen government commissions that spent literally
years reviewing thousands of pages of documents and interviewing
hundreds of experts.

For example, the legislation claims, "There is evidence that
(marijuana) has addictive properties similar to heroin and other
similar illegal controlled substances."

In fact, both human and animal data show that marijuana is markedly
less addictive than alcohol and tobacco, much less cocaine and heroin.
About a quarter of the individuals who try heroin become addicted
("dependent" in scientific terms). For alcohol, the figure is about 15
percent. But of those who try marijuana, less than 10 percent become
addicted. Unlike these other drugs, even heavy marijuana users
commonly stop their use without significant symptoms of withdrawal.

The governor's bill goes on at length about dangers supposedly due to
increased potency of modern marijuana. The claimed increase seems to
be greatly exaggerated. Even more important, it's not at all clear
that higher potency--that is, higher levels of THC, the component that
produces the "high"--adds any danger at all.

People (and animals) typically take less of a drug if the drug is more
concentrated, and this appears to be as true of marijuana as it is for
other drugs. This means that more potent marijuana will likely cause
people to smoke less, decreasing risk of respiratory problems
associated with smoking.

And research is showing that THC has some beneficial properties. It
activates what are known as cannabinoid receptors throughout the body,
and studies suggest that such activation may prevent brain damage
caused by Alzheimer's disease. It may also have therapeutic potential
in other illnesses, such as Parkinson's disease and strokes.

In some places, the authors of this legislation have stood reality on
its head in order to imply harm from marijuana that the drug simply
does not cause. For example, one of the bill's findings notes with
alarm, "A high percentage of adults arrested in this state for
domestic violence test positive for marijuana at the time of arrest."

That's supposed to make you think that marijuana causes violence. But
because detectable traces of marijuana can be picked up by tests hours
or even days after the effects have worn off, the fact that arrestees
"test positive" means nothing. The scientific data on this point are
remarkably clear and consistent: Marijuana intoxication doesn't cause
aggression and violence, it reduces them. Alcohol, on the other hand,
unmistakably can induce aggression.

As a mother, I want to protect my 14-year-old daughter. I want her to
know the difference between the risks associated with marijuana and
far more addictive and life-threatening drugs like cocaine, heroin and
methamphetamine. Accurate information--as opposed to the unscientific
nonsense in this bill--could save her life.

There are lots of dangers out there, and protecting a teen from them
is never easy. We don't need the governor and the Legislature to make
that job even harder.
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MAP posted-by: Derek