OPED: Lynne Abraham’s Costly Reefer Madness

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Copyright: 2010 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc
Contact: inquirer.letters@phillynews.com
Author: Chris Goldstein
Note: Chris Goldstein is the communications director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Philadelphia Chapter. For more information, see www.phillynorml.org
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?261 (Cannabis – United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/NORML (NORML)

LYNNE ABRAHAM’S COSTLY REEFER MADNESS

The Ex-D.A.’S Drug Demagoguery Made for Bad Policy.

In recent testimony before a U.S. Senate subcommittee, former
Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham displayed dangerous
ignorance about America’s marijuana market, engaged in bombastic
Reefer Madness rhetoric, and made demeaning generalizations about
marijuana users.

The truth is that countless area residents choose cannabis for
medical therapy or as a form of recreation that’s safer than
drinking. They are otherwise law-abiding citizens who represent every
neighborhood, class, ethnicity, and walk of life.

Abraham also implied that local marijuana consumers are funding
cartels. But much of the pot consumed in the United States,
particularly in the Northeast, is grown within the country.

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n367.a06.html