Pubdate: Sat, 08 Feb 2014 Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA) Copyright: 2014 Hearst Communications Inc. Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1 Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388 Author: Michael J. Haworth Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n137/a01.html MARIJUANA - NOT SO DEADLY Debra J. Saunders echoes common-sense thinking ("Heroin, marijuana - one kills, one doesn't," Feb. 6) as she quotes Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., who has compiled statistics regarding the lethality of alcohol, tobacco and marijuana. That there's no comparison comes as no surprise to anyone who came of age in the '60s or beyond, and that includes President Obama, who is now willing to make public the private opinion he's held for years, that marijuana is no more dangerous than alcohol. The fact that marijuana continues to be lumped together with Schedule 1 hard drugs is patently absurd. White House deputy director of drug control policy, Michael Botticelli, said families "believe ... legalizing marijuana sends the worst message to our youth." I believe lying to our youth sends a more dangerous message. (And isn't it sad that the thousands of heroin overdoses occurring annually haven't led toward the current dialogue that one Philip Seymour Hoffman's death has?) With executive powers, which he has vowed to use, his only option to circumvent the GOP-led House, President Obama needs to remove marijuana from the Schedule 1 classification so that recreational-use legislation can proceed without federal oversight. Michael J. Haworth, Vallejo - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom