According to one former NFL star, the Oakland Raiders weren't alone in their defeat in Superbowl XXXVII. "One of the losers in that game was the truth," wrote Mark Stepnoski, a two-time Superbowl-er, criticizing the anti-marijuana commercials aired during last month's big game at $2.2 million apiece (remember, those are taxpayer dollars helping out ABC). In Stepnoski's public letter, the now NORML Texas chapter president championed NORML's new "Marijuana Truth" campaign. "I played in two Super Bowls and I hate seeing this great American sporting event turned into a venue for government propaganda. Thankfully, NORML is doing something about it," he went on to say. [continues 53 words]
As marijuana arrests steadily increase, recent studies have refuted two concerns (or is myth the proper term?) that are central motivations for American drug policy: 1) Marijuana is a gateway drug and 2) Medical marijuana would be abused by adolescents. A Project RAND study of data from the US National Household Survey on Drug Abuse shows that few marijuana users ever graduate to harder drugs. The Canadian Senate and US National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine have also issued reports criticizing this theory that guides so much of our nation's drug policy. NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) Foundation Executive Allen St. Pierre commented, "Statistically, for every 104 Americans who have tried marijuana, there is only one regular user of cocaine and less than one user of heroin. For the overwhelming majority of marijuana smokers, pot is clearly a 'terminus' rather than a gateway." [continues 111 words]
Until recently, a doctor could find his prescription license revoked for the simple act of recommending marijuana to sick patients. Last month, however, a three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously found the Justice Department's policy to be unconstitutional as a violation of free speech. In response to California's 1996 voter-approved measure to allow the prescribed use of marijuana, the Clinton administration pioneered (and the Bush administration continues) a policy that would cause doctors to lose their prescription licenses, to be excluded from Medicare and Medicaid programs, and, in some cases, to even face criminal charges if they dared to speak to their patients frankly about the use of medical marijuana. "An integral component of the practice of medicine is the communication between doctor and patient. Physicians must be able to speak frankly and openly to patients," Chief Circuit Judge Mary Schroeder said. [end]
Last year, police arrested an estimated 723,627 persons for marijuana violations. This figure has more than doubled from 1992's total of 342,314. In 2001, 88.6 percent of marijuana arrestees were charged with possession only, and the rest, filed under "sale/manufacture," include all cultivation offenses, even if only for personal or medical use. From the fact that marijuana arrests make up nearly half of all drugs arrests in the US, it is clear that the crackdown on the stuff that can actually kill you is nowhere near as harsh as it is for this relatively minor stimulant. "These numbers belie the myth that police do not target and arrest minor marijuana offenders," said Keith Stroup, Executive Director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws ( NORML ). "In fact, the war on drugs is largely a war on pot smokers. This effort is a tremendous waste of criminal justice resources that should be dedicated toward combating serious and violent crime, including the war on terrorism." [end]
