Pubdate: Sun, 24 Apr 2016 Source: Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ) Copyright: 2016 Lance Lawson Contact: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/sendaletter.html Website: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/24 Author: Lance Lawson THE REEFER MADNESS CROWD REALLY NEEDS TO TAKE A BREATH AND TRY AND FIND SOME PERSPECTIVE. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, no one has ever ... EVER ... died from a pot overdose. In 2014, meanwhile, 25,760 Americans died from prescription drug overdoses. Alcohol is killing people at a rate not seen in 35 years, with 30,700 dying from alcohol. And that doesn't include those killed in alcohol-related accidents or drunk driving. If it did, that total would be two and a half times higher. Now the anti-pot propagandists are pointing to increased ER visits by pot users in places like Colorado as proof of a scourge. But doctors involved have attributed that to people feeling they can visit an ER without risk of prosecution. The history of anti-marijuana activity is replete with falsehoods, distortion and scandalous propaganda. It must be so, because the argument can never be won using reality and reason. Lance Lawson, Scottsdale - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D