WAR ONLY ON CERTAIN DRUGS

Re: “Losing the drug war,” by Charles Guerriero, Saturday Letters.

Guerriero writes, “American drug policy toward marijuana yields
nearly one million arrests annually; nine of 10 are for personal
possession. We have nothing to show for all this madness, as
marijuana is easier to obtain than alcohol for minors and use has
only risen since the Controlled Substances Act of 1970.”

I am a social liberal and a fiscal conservative, and I do not believe
that the War On Certain Drugs has helped this country one bit. Study
after study proves that tobacco and alcohol kill millions and that
marijuana kills no one.

Paraphrasing the words of a columnist from years ago: “Alcohol makes
people violent. Marijuana just makes people hungry and boring.”
Alcohol is legal and should be. So should marijuana.

There is no reason whatsoever for our government to spend time,
resources, or manpower fighting against it. Republicans, wake up. You
drink beer or wine or whiskey.

You know you do. Those who smoke marijuana are doing the same thing.

Duh. Stop spending my money on the War On Certain Drugs.

Michael Casey, Garland

Pubdate: Fri, 14 Jan 2011

Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)

Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v11/n000/a002.html

PROHIBITION ENABLES DEADLY DRUG TRADE

A Dec. 30 Columbian story “Safe streets” declared “For this story
we’ve looked at just three serious crimes, the kind folks might worry
about. We added assaults, burglaries and drug crimes for each area.”

Excuse me? There weren’t enough rapes and murders so The Columbian
decided to fall back on the old standby “drugs”? What exactly is a
drug crime? Is DUI a drug crime? Is standing too close to the doorway
of a business while smoking tobacco a drug crime?

The words “drug” and “crime” would not be found in the same sentence
if this ludicrous prohibition would end. Turf wars, crack babies and
a large percentage of juveniles using illegal drugs would be a thing
of the past. These issues aren’t of drugs but the illicit trade
prohibition propagates and the threat of criminal prosecution that
limits an abuser’s resources for help. The near 30,000 people killed
in Mexico haven’t been about drugs, but money.

Drug abuse is a social-health issue … a crime? The only major drug
crimes that come to my mind are the Harrison Act, Marijuana Tax Act
and the Controlled Substance Act – crimes of a nation against its citizens.

Jim Kennedy

Vancouver

Pubdate: Tue, 4 Jan 2011

Source: Columbian, The (WA)

Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n000/a073.html

TEACHABLE DRUG MOMENTS’? PLEASE

Regarding the Dec. 16 letter “Teachable drug moments”:

Shelley Mowrey of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America wants us to
be shocked at the video of Miley Cyrus smoking salvia divinorum.

Mowrey calls it a “teachable moment,” which we parents should use to
“initiate a conversation” with our children about “drugs and alcohol.”

Mowrey wants us to believe that her organization is privy to the
“single most effective way to raise healthy, drug-free children,” and,
at the same time, tells us that the average age for first drug use in
Arizona is 13, which is pretty much the same as it was 40 years ago
when this insane “war on drugs” started.

“Healthy, drug-free children”? “Teachable moments”?

Forty years.

Three generations.

A trillion dollars spent, millions imprisoned, Mexico literally
bleeding to death at our doorstep.

Tell me, what can we learn from watching a talented, successful,
charming young woman acting silly on YouTube that we don’t already
know?

Rita Stricker

Chino Valley

Pubdate: Tue, 28 Dec 2010

Source: Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ)

Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n000/a072.html

THE RIGHT TO SELF-MEDICATION

Re “Medical marijuana user free after plea deal” (News article, Dec. 14):

It seems to me that the right to self-medicate should be a fundamental
right. Adult citizens of a so-called free country should not have to
seek permission from their government to use a natural herb that
hasn’t killed anyone in the 5,000-year history of its use.

For those who oppose the use of marijuana, medical or otherwise, I
have some simple advice: Don’t buy it, don’t grow it and don’t use it.
Period.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Ariz.

Pubdate: Fri, 24 Dec 2010

Source: Anniston Star (AL)

Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n1033/a01.html

TIME TO END THE WAR ON DRUGS

Kudos to William Dixon for speaking the truth about our absurd war on
drugs. A fact-based public discussion is exactly what is needed.

When questioned about the utter ineffectiveness of their efforts, drug
war bureaucrats crow about the latest seizures and arrest figures as
evidence of success.

In fact, the only legitimate measure of success for drug policy is
whether it saves more lives than it destroys. In that regard,
prohibition is an unmitigated disaster. The overwhelming scientific
consensus is that black market violence, adulterated drugs, and the
spread of HIV are all exacerbated by prohibitionist policies.

Yet when confronted with hard evidence, our politicians choose to
disregard scientific fact and mutter vaguely about “the message this
sends to our children”.

It’s time for drug policies based on scientific evidence, not
political dogma.

Anders Froehlich,

San Rafael, CA

Pubdate: Sat, 18 Dec 2010

Source: Gainesville Sun, The (FL)

Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n1038/a07.html

DRUG ADDLED

Re “Knocking down the kingpins,” Editorial, Dec. 5

Killing the heads of drug cartels has an effect similar to cutting
off the top of a weed. It will grow back stronger than ever.

The only way to get rid of any weed is to kill the root – and the
root of our problem is prohibition.

Law enforcement didn’t get rid of the alcohol cartels in 1933;
re-legalizing alcohol did.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Ariz.

Pubdate: Wed, 8 Dec 2010

Source: Los Angeles Times

Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n1005/a04.html

DISHEARTENING DEBATE ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA

I spent Tuesday morning at the Capitol listening to the debate on the
medical marijuana bill. It saddened me to find that so many of the
representatives are so woefully behind times in their knowledge
concerning medical studies of cannabis.

One gentleman, who proclaimed himself a pharmacist, brought up
arguments that have been refuted for years, including claiming that
marijuana is an addictive drug. This gentleman, who didn’t mention
his own personal struggles with both prescription drugs and alcohol,
was happy to pontificate on a subject he knows nothing about. He
even brought up the canard about cannabis being a gateway drug.

These representatives have staff members to do research for them on
topics they may not be familiar with. I wonder how many of them
requested anyone to do a simple Internet search to find out the
current information available on the subject. My guess is that they
never asked because they didn’t want to know. I suspect the only
source they used is the DEA, which is forbidden by law from saying
anything positive about marijuana.

Another gentleman’s main worry was, “What message are we sending to
our children?” I will answer that question for him. When legislators
turn their back on their own constituents, denying them a substance
available to ease pain and suffering by using arguments they know —
or should know to be false — our children lose all respect for them
and decide to find out for themselves about drugs labeled dangerous,
which leads to some dangerous experimentation.

It is unfortunate that so many sick and dying people are deprived of
one of the best medications known because of myths, willful ignorance
and deliberate lies.

Dennis M. Garland

Chatham

Pubdate: Fri, 3 Dec 2010

Source: State Journal-Register (IL)