Pubdate: Tue, 17 Jan 2012
Source: Washington Times (DC)
Copyright: 2012 The Washington Times, LLC.
Contact:  http://www.washingtontimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/492
Author: Robert L. Dupont

MARIJUANA STUDY FLAWED

The headlines streaming from the recent Journal of the American 
Medical Association study on marijuana use and pulmonary function all 
suggest that marijuana is safe ("Marijuana doesn't harm lung 
function," Web, Jan. 10). Omitted from the calculation is the large 
number of marijuana users who believed that they would always be 
occasional users but progressed to heavy use.

If the researchers included chronic, heavy marijuana users as part of 
the cost of occasional marijuana use, the risks of occasional 
marijuana use would have been more complete and served as compelling 
evidence for not using marijuana. Consider the estimated 9 percent of 
marijuana users who become addicted. That number goes up to 17 
percent for users who start at young ages.

This study is comparable to a study on drivers who occasionally speed 
and who, over the past 20 years, have had no crashes and no arrests. 
The conclusion of such findings would have been that the study found 
no evidence that speeding leads to arrest or crashes. This doesn't 
make any sense.

Let us not forget the large body of evidence of serious negative 
effects of marijuana use, including those related to cognitive and 
physical impairment, psychosis and motor vehicle crashes.

ROBERT L. DUPONT

President, Institute for Behavior and Health Inc.

Founding director, National Institute on Drug Abuse

Rockville
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom