Pubdate: 11 Feb 1999
Source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin (HI)
Copyright: 1999 Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Contact:  http://www.starbulletin.com/
Author: John McClain

MARIJUANA NEVER KILLED ANYONE, UNLIKE OTHER DRUGS

Sandra Lacar's Jan. 30 View Point, "Medical use of marijuana must not be
allowed," is confusing. If marijuana isn't a medicine, why are patients
being supplied marijuana by the federal government, and why is the active
ingredient in marijuana (THC) used as medicine in pills (as she herself
points out)?

Lacar implies that marijuana is cancerous. There is no evidence of lung
cancer deaths from marijuana. Yet prescription drugs kill 100,000 people a
year, compared to zero deaths from marijuana.

She suggests this legislation will increase abuse rates, but gives no
evidence. In fact, usage rates have dropped in California after passage of
medical marijuana laws.

Rhetoric confuses the issue. The facts speak for themselves.

John McClain (Via the Internet)
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