Editor: Letter writer Jackie Heninger piously says about marijuana prisoners, "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time." However, like all other drug crusaders Ms. Heninger neglects to supply any reasons why marijuana should be illegal in the first place. She provides no justification for the 20-year to life sentences given to marijuana growers and sellers. Heninger's health accusations are entirely false because marijuana use does not cause brain damage or injure the body in any way. Marijuana does not cause lung cancer because to date the Centers for Disease Control have yet to trace the first case of cancer of any kind to marijuana use. (See: "Large Study Finds No Link between Marijuana and Lung Cancer," www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=0002491F-755F-1473-B55F83414B7F0000, and "Study Finds No Cancer-Marijuana Connection," www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052501729_pf.html [continues 345 words]
Victor Cass' central argument for keeping marijuana illegal is patently false ("The enemy within," Sept. 9, 2010). Officer Cass claims that drug prohibition, particularly the marijuana ban, protects children. However, the fact is that Cass' pot war makes kids more vulnerable to marijuana use and use of other genuinely dangerous drugs. Officer Cass tries to ignore the utter failure of law enforcement to prevent marijuana use among high school students while claiming that a policy started on the basis of outrageous lies serves a valid moral purpose. The idea that America's drug war protects anyone is utterly absurd. [continues 284 words]
Re: "Marijuana not totally safe" by Michael Orlin, letters, May 12 Michael Orlin may be a "medical professional," but his opinions about marijuana and immunosuppression are seriously flawed and long out of date. It appears Orlin bases his immunosuppression theory on the work of disgraced cannabophobe Dr. Gabriel Nahas who tried to prove immunosuppression in vitro by using massive amounts of cannabis that were near lethal when applied to animals. No other researchers have ever been able to replicate Nahas's work, and Nahas was kicked out of Columbia University because of his fraudulent research on marijuana. [continues 369 words]
Just for the record, there is no scientific evidence that using marijuana impairs the ability to learn. Many straight-A students later admit to using marijuana without any reduction in their scholarship. The records of thousands of highly successful people, including presidents, who used marijuana puts the lie to "Reefer Madness" notions that marijuana injures the brain. The real danger is teaching students that lies can justify a brain-dead policy. Redford Givens California [end]
Re: Cannabis Crusader Calls On Whitehorse: The wackos in pot prohibition are the cretins who support a marijuana policy based on utter nonsense. ".persons using this narcotic smoke the dry leaves of the plant, which has the effect of driving them completely insane. The addict loses all sense of moral responsibility. "Addicts to this drug, while under its influence, are immune to pain. While in this condition they become raving maniacs and are liable to kill or indulge in any forms of violence to other persons, using the most savage methods of cruelty without, as said before, any sense of moral responsibility." [continues 88 words]
Before opining about "drugs," prosecutor Ricky R. Damerville should check into the history of drug prohibition. He would find that there was no such thing as "drug crime" before drugs were outlawed. No one was robbing, whoring or murdering because of drugs when addicts could buy all the morphine, heroin, cocaine and anything else they wanted cheaply and legally at the corner pharmacy. Addicts worked regular jobs, raised decent families and were indistinguishable from teetotalers. There were no drug gangs and no international cartels and no real problem with drug addiction. [continues 157 words]
Alan Lupo mentions the mayhem caused by Al Capone and his rival bootleggers, but neglects to tell us that the mobsters were put out of the illegal hooch business by simply repealing Prohibition after everything else failed ("Drug war as usual is a script for surrender," June 9). There hasn't been a shootout or a bombing over beer distribution since 1933. Once the cause for huge alcohol profits disappeared, so did the criminals. The only solution to our self-created drug problem is repeal and a regulated market for adult use. Eliminating the billions spent on a futile drug crusade will provide funds to treat addicts. Prohibition is a lunacy. Redford Givens, Webmaster DRCNet Online Library of Drug Policy, San Francisco [end]
A major concern about drug testing is the fact that 65 prescription and over the counter medications produce false positive results. If someone takes Advil, Nuprin, Motrin, Excedrin IB (Ibuprofen), Aleve (Naproxen) , has a Kidney infection, Diabetes or Liver Disease there could be a false positive for marijuana. Nyquil, Contact, Sudafed, Allerest, Tavist-D, Dimetapp, Phenegan-D, Robitussin Cold and Flu, Vicks Nyquil (Ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, propylephedrine, phenylephrine, or desoxyephedrine) create erroneous indications for amphetamines. Poppy Seeds, Tylenol with codeine, Cough suppressants with Dextromethorphan (DXM), and most prescription pain medications produce a false positive for Heroin use. [continues 209 words]
Editor: Before we get excited by Jordan Bateman's scare tactics about meth (The Times, April 2), we should remember that there would be no outlaw meth labs in homes if it were legal. Bateman's claims remind me of the fables, fictions and false witness used to demonize crack cocaine. The drug warriors claimed that crack was instantly addictive and had a profoundly negative and permanent effect on unborn children. Both of these assertions turned out to be lies. Drug warriors depicted crack as the drug that would finally destroy society. Terrible tales of "crack babies" were expounded daily by the drug fighting fanatics. Harsh mandatory sentencing laws were passed to save babies from permanent injury. [continues 53 words]
Dear Editor, Re: 'Free Narcotics won't work' letter March 19 People should take a look at the Swiss Heroin Maintenance Programme before denouncing the idea of ending drug prohibition. It is a huge mistake to think that outlaw drug dealers can remain in business against the competition of "free" or cheap legal drugs. Who would buy potentially lethally impure drugs from a character on the street when pure pharmaceutical heroin and cocaine are available at a low price. Proof that hard line drug prohibition causes drug deaths and drug crimes comes from the Swiss Heroin Maintenance Programme where addicts are supplied with cheap, pure heroin and cocaine. The Swiss have not had a single overdose death in the program and injection-transmitted diseases (HIV/AIDS, Hep C etc) are now a rarity in Switzerland. [continues 173 words]
Re: "Drug warriors tote up the score" (Newslines, by Robert Speer, CN&R, April 26): After 93 straight years of failure, it's time to stop pretending that drug prohibition accomplishes anything positive. Hypocritical drug-war thinking has made drug crimes and accidental drug overdoses commonplace where they never existed before. Drug prohibition cannot cure these problems because it causes them. Proof comes from the Swiss Heroin Maintenance Programme, where addicts are supplied with cheap, pure heroin and cocaine. The Swiss have not had a single overdose death in the program, and injection-transmitted diseases (HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, etc) are now a rarity in Switzerland. The criminal drug black market has vanished; addict crime has gone down more than 97 percent. Swiss policy has also resulted in an 82 percent decrease in heroin addiction since 1990. Anyone truly concerned about the victims of drugs will work to end an immoral drug crusade that murders more than 30,000 people every year and spawns a multitude of criminal activities. San Francisco [end]
The best thing Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts and Attorney General Wally Oppal can do to reduce "drug problems" is to get out of the prohibition business. No one was robbing, whoring and murdering to get drugs when addicts could buy all of the heroin, morphine, cocaine and anything else they wanted cheaply and legally at the corner pharmacy. The term "drug crime" is an invention of drug crusaders trying to cover the effects of their failed drug policy. Proof that hard-line, American-style drug prohibition causes drug deaths and drug crimes comes from the Swiss heroin maintenance program where addicts are supplied with cheap, pure heroin and cocaine. [continues 181 words]
The stereotypical reasons Zak Kusz offers in his Jan. 9 letter for keeping marijuana illegal are worn-out, reefer-madness lies. The notion that marijuana is a "gateway" drug has been refuted by every peer-reviewed scientific study since 1950. Science has rejected notions that marijuana leads to drug addiction. The prestigious Institute Of Medicine (IOM) 1997 study on medical marijuana demolished the gateway theory with this devastating statement: "Whereas the stepping-stone hypothesis presumes a predominantly physiological component to drug progression, the gateway theory is a social theory. The latter does not suggest that the pharmacological qualities of marijuana make it a risk factor for progression to other drug use. Instead it is the legal status of marijuana that makes it a gateway drug." [continues 71 words]
To the editor, After 92 straight years of failure, it is amazing that The Daily News Journal still thinks there is any virtue in a lunatic drug crusade. Rather than saving kids from dangerous drugs, drug prohibition exposes everyone to a dangerous criminal black market that functions in the shadows of Murfreesboro and every other city in Tennessee. History shows that no one was robbing, whoring and murdering to get drugs when addicts could buy all of the heroin, morphine, cocaine and anything else they wanted cheaply and legally at the corner pharmacy. A legal heroin habit cost less than tobacco addiction (25 cents per week) and "drug crime" was unknown. [continues 365 words]
It is unfathomable that the country is bonkers over 3,000 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq since 2003, while ignoring an insane drug crusade at home that directly murders more than 30,000 (overdoses) every year. If all deaths caused by prohibition are added up, there are more than 100,000 fatalities (HIV, hepatitis C, etc.) every year. Drug prohibition is responsible for these needless deaths because history clearly shows that unintentional opiate overdose deaths were extremely rare before drugs were outlawed. Most drug-related deaths before the Harrison Narcotic Act were suicides. Nowadays, Drug Czar John Walters tells us there are more than 30,000 accidental drug deaths every year. Since the fighting began in Iraq more than 300,000 American citizens have been murdered by a lunatic drug crusade. [continues 240 words]
To the Cigar, Noel Marandola is correct about drug prohibition - it is a cruel and worthless policy. [Editor's note: Marandola wrote the letter to the editor "SSDP rallies support for medical marijuana" in yesterday's issue.] America's drug crusaders perpetrate the illiterate attitudes responsible for a drug crusade that causes a hundred, nay a thousand times, the damage done by the drugs themselves. Demanding life destroying prison sentences for a crime where there are no victims is morally reprehensible. Especially when we learn that there was no such thing as "drug crime" before the drug warriors put their prohibition laws on the books. [continues 402 words]
If Cyril Tobin acquainted himself with a few facts, he would quickly learn some of the most successful people on the planet are marijuana users. Ted Turner, Steven King, Ray Charles, Norman Mailer, Stephen King, Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the House, Sir Paul McCartney, Carl Sagan, astronomer, Pierre Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, Louis Armstrong, Willy Nelson, Richard Branson, Johnny Depp, Prince Charles, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bill Maher, Jack London, former U.S. president William J. Clinton, Diego Rivera, Al Gore, Gary Hall, Olympic medal swimmer, Bill Gates, Rodney Dangerfield, Bing Crosby, William F. Buckley Jr., Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, co-founders Apple Computer, and George W. Bush, 43rd President. And many, many other very successful people admit to using marijuana. (see http://www.veryimportantpotheads.com/site/NOTES.htm#armstrong) It is amazing that these "potheads" could survive the marijuana "impairment" Tobin laments. Redford Givens Webmaster DRCNet Online Library of Drug Policy San Francisco [end]
Editor: Re: Hitler Was No Drug User Robert Eichmuller is flatly wrong to deny Hitler's use of stimulant drugs. From 1942 on, Adolf Hitler received daily injections of methamphetamine from his personal physician, Dr. Theodor Morell (as recorded in Morell's diary). Hitler's drug use has been documented many times and no serious historian questions it. However, drug use was not the cause of the deadly inhuman policies of the Third Reich. Hitler's anti-Jewish and world conquest ideologies were the product of diseased minds perverted by a lust for power. [continues 333 words]
Dear Editor, After 92 straight years of failure, it is amazing that the Topsail Voice still thinks there is some virtue in a lunatic drug crusade. Rather than making communities more "family friendly," the drug war exposes children to a dangerous criminal black market that functions in the shadows of Surf City Banning drug paraphernalia is merely a panicked extension of hypocritical drug war thinking that has made drug crimes and overdoses commonplace where they never existed before. No one was robbing, whoring and murdering to get drugs when addicts could buy all of the heroin, morphine, cocaine and anything else they wanted cheaply and legally at the corner pharmacy. A legal heroin habit cost less than tobacco addiction (25c per week) and "drug crime" was unknown. The term drug crime is an invention of prohibitionists trying to cover the effects of their failed drug policy. [continues 214 words]
Exactly how much more money should be invested in a long failed drug crusade? Billions of dollars have been wasted fighting drug use with no reduction in drug addiction, so how many more dollars should be put into this ruinous policy? Before drug prohibition began, no one was robbing, whoring and murdering over drugs. A legal heroin habit was cheaper than a tobacco addiction in 1912. Drug crimes (i.e. robberies, etc., to get drugs) were unheard of. Ditto for unintentional drug overdoses. Almost all of the infrequent opiate deaths before the drug crusade began were suicides. Accidental overdoses were rare. [continues 118 words]
