Pubdate: Thu, 02 Aug 2007 Source: Los Angeles City Beat (CA) Copyright: 2007 Southland Publishing Contact: http://www.lacitybeat.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2972 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n908/a09.html Author: Kirk Muse SMOKE SIGNALS I'm writing about Bruce Mirken's thoughtful letter ["Stay on the Grass," July 26]. It was recently reported by the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime that 12.6 percent of all Americans between the ages of 15 and 64 used pot at least once in 2005. In the Netherlands where marijuana is quasi-legal for adults, only 6.1 percent of all Dutch between the same ages used marijuana at least once in the year 2005. Most drug war cheerleaders proclaim that if marijuana were re-legalized, pot use would skyrocket. I believe that the Netherlands example shows that this probably would not happen. But suppose that pot use did increase. Suppose pot use by adults doubled. Would this necessarily be bad? I submit that it would not. As pot use increases, alcohol use declines. Most frequent marijuana users don't drink alcohol. But those who do drink alcohol, drink substantially less than non-marijuana users. I believe that most doctors would agree that heavy marijuana use is a lot less harmful than heavy alcohol use. Heavy alcohol use can and does kill. No amount of marijuana use has ever killed anyone. Kirk Muse Mesa, Arizona - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake