Re: "President's pot comments prompt call for policy," Dec. 17

In the aftermath of the Connecticut school shooting, I find it both ironic and infuriating that a president of the United States would discuss legalization of marijuana, the drug that has been so damaging to America's children.

President Obama said he has "bigger fish to fry" than recreational pot users, but marijuana is far more dangerous than most people realize. It is currently 244 percent more potent than it was in the 1970s, and more than 15 other nations link it to schizophrenia.

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Mary O'Grady's May 10 column "The U.S. Role in a Mexico Assassination" would have us believe that the drug war isn't taken as seriously in the U.S. as in Mexico or that drug dealing at colleges isn't so disturbing to us. A major tragedy is that marijuana's harmful effects have been known since Sen. James Eastland (D., Miss.) held six days of hearings in 1974 to determine marijuana's health effects. Summed up: "Marijuana is harmful to all major body systems including the brain, heart, lungs and reproductive system." The difficulty remains getting the word out to the public. The U.K.'s "The Independent" recently headlined article "Cannabis: An apology" stating: "In 1997, this newspaper launched a campaign to decriminalize the drug. If only we had known then what we can reveal today." Having spoken to thousands of Mexican and American parents, many of whom have lost their children to drugs, I can attest to the fact that sorrow and grief are beyond measure in both countries. Anti-drug networks, mostly volunteer, remain passion-driven.

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Regarding the Nov. 26 editorial "Penalties for Crack":

First, the composition of the U.S. Sentencing Commission does not reflect the makeup of the communities most affected by lowering crack cocaine penalties. By far, crack is most prevalent in African American communities. Yet there is not a single African American on the commission.

And no parents of any race were at this month's hearing to testify about the struggle to keep crack dealers away from their children or to keep their children from becoming dealers themselves. I have personally surveyed more than 500 African American family members, ministers, law enforcement personnel, teachers and others in the Washington area. When asked about lowering crack cocaine penalties, their response generally is: Don't they know those dealers would be right back on our streets?

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To the editor:

Bravo to the staff at Foster's Daily Democrat for standing up against the drug legalization movement that is surging across America.

Members of these groups that I've spoken to openly admit to their own drug use -- from marijuana to heroin. One of their colleagues spoke to 100 or so students at Coppin State University and when asked, "Why are you trying to tell us drugs should be legalized? It is our black communities that are most damaged by drug use. Have you ever used drugs?"

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If readers log on to http://www.ourwall.net, which was started by a North Carolina resident who lost a loved one to drugs, they will see why parents, grandparents, and the community should support random non-punitive student drug testing.

The key word is "non-punitive." Parents get a phone call if the child tests positive, empowering them to seek help before the police or a coroner knocks at the door.

During the Reagan administration, I was privileged to serve as president of the anti-drug parents' organization that Nancy Reagan chaired. In early 1980, two of our parent members appeared on the "Today" show and "Good Morning America." They told of their children's drug use and how difficult it had been to figure out what was ailing their children.

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To the editor:

The Eagle-Tribune's Jan. 12 editorial recommending a careful review of the marijuana bill gives good advice.

In fact, I would go further and recommend that this bill be shredded!

The suggestion that smoking a noxious weed that has been declared dangerous to mental health by 13 major mental health agencies, causes accidents, school dropouts and myriad other problems, is linked to increased risk schizophrenia by four nations, makes one wonder what the bill sponsors were smoking! What most voters don't know is that there is a well-organized, well-financed movement of drug legalizers who are pushing these types of bills across the country. The oldest of these groups is the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). In 1979, NORML founder Keith Stroup promised to get marijuana legalized through medicalization. In 1993, one of their colleagues told attendees at a NORML conference, "In approximately 10 to 12 years, when the marijuana-using population encompasses a large chunk of the total adult population and becomes politically influential, the removal of criminal penalties for possession of marijuana will become a reality."

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SILVER SPRING, Md. -- I REMEMBER when illegal-drug horror stories, such as those that follow, were unheard of, or reported only in scandal-sheet papers at the checkout counter. Today, they're on the front page of our hometown newspapers.

I think much of the blame belongs to uninformed or paid-off legislators, who have allowed public opinion to be twisted into forgetting what really happens when we let our guard down and don't teach disdain for illicit-drug use.

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Regarding the article "Soros joining Ledecky group" (Sports, Thursday), and the letter "Smoked marijuana is not medicine" (Thursday), it is rare that a single day's newspaper can bring both joy and anger at the same heights.

First, Dr. Robert L. DuPont's eloquent letter laid out clearly why "Smoked marijuana is not medicine." Then, in the Sports section, which I seldom read, the headline "Soros joining Ledecky group" jumped out at me like a cobra attacking its prey.

How can Jonathan Ledecky not know of George Soros' nearly 10-year quest to legalize marijuana, which Dr. DuPont and I agree is our nation's most dangerous drug? Why would he want our baseball team associated with someone who promotes that cause? It was October 1995 when I first confronted Mr. Soros at a Georgetown University forum. I had just learned of a multimillion-dollar "gift" from Mr. Soros to a group that boldly proclaimed their goal of marijuana legalization.

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The U.S. Supreme Court case Ashcroft vs. Raich is an important one in the effort to help America's young people understand that smoked marijuana is not medicine ("The Plaintiff," by Carol Mithers, Nov. 14). Although the drug legalizers have successfully convinced a vast number of Americans that marijuana is good, parents and grandparents who have watched their children fall prey to this myth will tell you otherwise. There are currently 182,000 young people in treatment for marijuana-related problems.

The drive to legalize marijuana is not in our best interest. Children are America's most precious natural resource. We should not allow that resource to go up in a puff of smoke.

Joyce Nalepka

President

Drug-Free Kids: America's Challenge

Silver Spring, Md.

[end]

The Jan. 22 editorial, "A solid Union," documents President Bush's State of the Union response to the pleas of families and educators nationwide to help us rid our schools of illicit drugs. His pledge to fund school districts that want to employ drug testing but can't afford to go it alone speaks loudly to his understanding of this issue and his support of families and young people.

Not everyone is as supportive of Mr. Bush's proposal, however. Some small, well-funded groups of drug legalizers who are challenging political figures nationwide to be lenient on drug users, such as the Drug Policy Alliance, think the president is too tough on drugs.

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Regarding yesterday's article, "DEA set to battle pot advocates over hemp use in food" [Nation], let me say that it's not just the Drug Enforcement Administration that's set to do battle. There are millions of grass-roots parents and grandparents and service organization members linked in a movement to educate America about these issues and stop the movement to legalize pot and other drugs.

Pushing hemp and the medical marijuana hoax are intertwined. Americans need to know hemp is just another name for marijuana. It's all part of the same plant.

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Yesterday's Op-Ed column, "Canada, Maryland going to pot," is right on target. A good gauge of the facts of the column is how angry the legalizers get and what their comments on their pro-drug Internet sites decry.

They resorted to name-calling and wrote vile and insulting comments about writer Robert Weiner and this column. (They posted the column on the pro-drug site -- www.cannabisnews.com -- and their comments follow the column.) This is a real education site for parents and grandparents to learn what young people are being told, especially about marijuana.

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Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) spokesman Bruce Mirken's letter responding to White House drug czar John P. Walters' good efforts to oppose medical marijuana deserves much clarification ("Marijuana morality," Wednesday).

First, Mr. Mirken tries to claim that science is on his side by citing a few organizations and publications that he says have expressed support for "medical excuse marijuana." He, of course, neglects to tell readers that the most prestigious medical organizations in this country o including the American Medical Association, American Cancer Society, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the American Glaucoma Association and the National Eye Institute, plus the United Nations o are all adamantly opposed to smoking pot as medicine.

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Sunday's Forum column "Marijuana policy reform crossroads" (Commentary) should have been headlined "Marijuana policy reform dead end." Rob Kampia (chairman of the Marijuana Policy Project), Peter Lewis (the millionaire founder of Progressive Auto Insurance who bankrolled the Nevada legalization effort) and their band of drug legalizers met the ultimate obstacle in Nevada: public education.

After parents, grandparents and law enforcement members networked to help the public understand the dangers of marijuana use and began carrying around 3-ounce containers of parsley to show what 3 ounces of marijuana would look like (3 ounces of parsley fills a 1-gallon Ziploc bag), the legalizers' initiative took a dive.

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The 10 top reasons why the Supreme Court should vote to support student drug testing:

Adam, 18, deceased.

Mark, 24, deceased.

Garrett, 22, deceased.

David, 26, deceased.

Billy, 17, deceased.

Cooper, 22, deceased.

Ian, 21, deceased.

Angela, 18, deceased.

Michael, 22, deceased.

Stephanie, 19, deceased.

The parents of these young people believe their children might still be living had their school systems supported their parental message of "no drugs" by drug testing the students.

Seven of the 10 died of heroin overdoses, two died from cocaine, and one died in a drug-related accident. All of their parents believe the children started drug use by smoking marijuana.

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The recent verbal attack on Rep. Mark Souder by the so-called Students for Sensible Drug Policy who traveled from Indiana, Illinois and Washington, D.C., to Fort Wayne was as senseless as is illegal drug use.

As a 24-year veteran in the effort to educate parents, students, teachers and voters about the damage done by marijuana and other drugs, I have encountered pro-drug legalization organizations all across America. Legalization groups operate under names like the Drug Policy Foundation, Drug Policy Alliance, Lindesmith Center, Marijuana Policy Project and The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). Two former congressmen, one Republican and one Democrat, after an investigation called NORML the militant organizational arm of the drug culture supported by the drug culture magazines, the drug paraphernalia industry and, to a certain extent, even the traffickers.

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Bobby Charles' Sept. 8 article "Defending DARE . . . and apple pie" is right on target.

Your readers also need to know that the pattern of destruction used by proponents of drug legalization is well-documented even in the courts. Effective anti-drug programs are not helpful to drug legalizers' goals. Their misinformation campaigns frequently make headlines and, we believe, they have done immeasurable harm to America's efforts to prevent drug use - especially among teens.

Attempts to destroy Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or DARE, have been particularly vicious, leading DARE to file a $10 million lawsuit against writer Stephen Glass, the author of some anti-DARE articles published in the New Republic (March 3, 1997) and Rolling Stone (March 5, 1998).

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A June 30 article by Sylvia A. Smith, "Souder battles medical-marijuana laws," deserves a spotlight. Congressman Souder has chosen to go into very tough territory in an effort to stop the march toward drug legalization and more harm to America's youth. I'd like to offer parents and grandparents the rest of the story.

For over 20 years, I have battled the drug legalizers in several arenas. However, closing drug paraphernalia shops was easy for us compared to the battle against their misinformation campaign that Congressman Souder will have to wage.

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The bill that Maryland Del. Ulysses Currie discussed [Close to Home, March 12] was defeated in the state legislature by a group of parents, grandparents and law enforcement personnel. Still, misinformation in his piece should be cleared up.

First, a National Institutes of Health publication says, "Patients with HIV and other diseases of the immune system should avoid marijuana." Second, state legislatures, city councils and Congress should not vote on the use of anything for medicine. Approval of medicines is the responsibility of the Food and Drug Administration.

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