Pubdate: Thu, 18 Nov 2010 Source: Independent Collegian (U of Toledo, OH Edu) Copyright: 2010 Independent Collegian Contact: http://www.independentcollegian.com/forum/submit_a_letter_to_the_editor Website: http://www.independentcollegian.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4078 Author: Pam McCray Note: Pam McCray is an IC columnist and a sophomore majoring in political science. WAR ON DRUGS RAGES If there's one leftover problem from the 70's that's still making headlines in today's newspapers, it's the so-called War on Drugs. The misinformation and unwarranted fear of dangerous and not-so-dangerous drugs still permeate television, magazines, blogs and other forms of media. This is not to say that there isn't hard, scientific evidence that crack cocaine and heroin can create an addiction or kill the user on the first use. But there are quite a few missing angles in this War on Drugs, and if you happen to read the Dayton Daily News, then you may have stumbled upon evidence of this. Recently, use of a kind of synthetic marijuana called K-2 has risen in several states, prompting lawmakers to take notice and propose a ban on possessing or selling this substance. K-2, for those unfamiliar with it, is sold as incense in small corner grocery stores. When smoked, the effects are similar to those of smoking marijuana. According to a health official mentioned in the Dayton Daily News, there are additional dangerous side effects such as elevated heart rate and nausea. What my study of the War on Drugs has taught me is to pay close attention to which substances are given a penalty for possession and or distribution, why the person using and or possessing them is being penalized and how the substance is dangerous. It also is important to consider the political and economic circumstances that influence the legal status of a substance. Prescription drug companies, which legally produce and distribute drugs that often have several harmful side effects, make huge, legitimized profits and channel much of that money into campaign contributions to influence the politicians that regulate their industry. Seriously, have you listened closely to all the prescription drug ads with narrators racing through the list of side effects so fast you can hardly understand, or read the fine print in a magazine ad? I dare you to read a handful of ads without being boggled by the list of side-effects of one drug. Legal drugs prescribed by a doctor should be much scarier than the notorious natural plant products dried, ground, and smoked in a joint or pipe. Either there are some odd standards being upheld at the Food and Drug Administration and Drug Enforcement Agency or someone is looking the other way. Just for starters, there are plenty of burgeoning medical studies showing that patients with life-threatening illnesses and depression fare much better when treated with medical marijuana than with conventional drugs.There is plenty of further work to be done to study the effects of marijuana, but it is a slow process because the government's Schedule I classification of marijuana inhibits researchers in studying its medical uses. I'd like to ask this question of one of these state representatives pushing for a ban on K-2, though it could be directed at any public official who is dealing with drug policy: How and why are you treating marijuana and similar substances differently than drugs one receives from a licensed physician? - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake