cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Less Evil Drug Than US Protected Booze





Marijuana Less Evil Drug Than US Protected Booze
Posted by FoM on February 09, 2001 at 15:04:28 PT
By Jerry Epstein
Source: Columbian
One of the major reasons the drug war has been such a spectacular failure is the strange and selective nature of modern prohibition that grants a government-protected monopoly to a drug like alcohol and prohibits marijuana based on popularity and mythology rather than science. In 1968, the French National Health and Medical Research Institute and experts from other countries rated drugs by their danger. They established three groups. The "most dangerous" group included only alcohol, heroin and cocaine.
Marijuana was in the "least dangerous" category. Last year, our government paid one million dollars for a report from 24 leading experts. This report from the Institute of Medicine said that marijuana is not a gateway but that making marijuana illegal does push users toward the use of more dangerous drugs, the exact opposite of our intention. The United Nations Bulletin on Narcotics in 1957 stated that "indulgence in (marijuana), unlike alcohol, rarely brings the habit into a state of extreme intoxication where he loses entire control over himself. As a rule, those who indulge habitually can carry on their ordinary vocations for long periods and do not become a burden to society or even a nuisance." For centuries in other cultures marijuana was eaten, drunk or smoked as a daily staple. Many American troops stationed in Panama after 1916 bean to use marijuana instead of alcohol. A special military panel examined the situation for 15 years and concluded there was no significant problem. The Dutch essentially have had legal marijuana for 24 years, and it has had little more effect on their society than the introduction of a new brand of beer. The fact that Dutch adults and children use much less marijuana than we do is an indication that non-coercive social norms are far more powerful than prohibition, which replaces personal responsibility with government paternalism. The war on marijuana has made the Salem witch trials look small and scientific by comparison. The witch trials were over in less than a year and took 19 lives, while the war on marijuana is in its 63rd year and has ruined the lives and families of millions. This one drug ties up a third of the criminal justice system. The 80 percent increase in marijuana arrests since 1993 has produced more annual arrests than for murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault all put together. Our hypocrisy relative to our own alcohol use and the use of false or exaggerated propaganda about marijuana has undermined the credibility of all drug education and grossly diminished respect for the law. False Criminals: Incredibly, this one misguided law has placed the label "criminal" on over half our young adults. If we subtract the 30 percent of teens who rarely even use alcohol, then almost four out of every five high school seniors have already used marijuana--just as our nations political leaders did. 1995 and again in 1998, The Lancet, one of the world's leading medical journals, editorialized in favor or legalized marijuana. "Based on the medical evidence available," it said, "moderate indulgence in cannabis has little ill-effect on health...Sooner or later politicians will have to stop running scared and address the evidence: Cannabis per se is not a hazard to society, but driving in further underground may well be." Marijuana accounts for some 80 percent of all illegal drug use, and its prohibition has created dramatic public misperceptions about the size and nature of our drug problem as a whole. I assume that legalization would be much like that for alcohol but would include a ban on public use and advertising. The moment we clarify the problem and end this enormous drain on our money, energy and credibility is the moment we begin to deal with all the other aspect of drug policy far more effectively. Note: Jerry Epstein is a co-founder and President of the drug policy forum of Texas. Source: Columbian, The (WA)Author: Jerry EpsteinPublished: February 8, 2001Copyright: 2001 The Columbian Publishing Co.Contact: editors columbian.comAddress: 701 W 8th St, Vancouver, WA 98666Website: http://www.columbian.com/Forum: http://www.webforums.com/forums/trace/host/msa70.htmlDrug Policy Forum of Texashttp://www.dpft.org/CannabisNews - Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #5 posted by Jesse on March 03, 2001 at 10:58:55 PT:
hooray
I have never been so happy to stumble upon a website everybody here is saying all the things im thinking Ive also had the misfortune of losing friends to drunk drivers and to prison and all because they had a small amount of pot in their possesion and not only that the goverment should realize that smoking mariguana is a lot safer than drinking alcohol they cannot even come up with a good reason as to why mariguana should be illegal
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Comment #4 posted by jAHn on February 10, 2001 at 12:59:25 PT
"Cannabis Culture"
I just finished reading a book called "Cannabis Culture -A Journey Through Disputed Territory." by Patrick Matthews. This book has more information about this subject- Wine/Alcohol v. Cannabis. Patrick Matthews is a Known and Prolific writer upon the subject of Wine Tasting/Connoiseurdom. Don't let this fool you though, he's not a monopolistic writer- He gives lots of examples about the failing drug war from a UK point of view, points out similarities of the two Cultures: Wine/Cannabis. He appends the book with a nice bibliography of Pro-Cannabis Literature. CannabisNews even did a write-up about him! Put his name in the search dialog box, see what you come up with. Lots of Fun in This Reading.
first page
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Comment #3 posted by Stripey on February 10, 2001 at 01:44:52 PT
Bhudda. . .
I like a beer or two also, but I've also had some long talks with a Mr. Jose Cuervo, so I'm no stranger to the morning after... But I don't drink much anymore. . .Why? Two big reasons:1. The morning after. Hangover = Bad. Highover (as we like to call it. . . ) = a "fluffy" day where I find myself extremely complacent and pleasant to be around, if I do act a tad strange and have some (very) minor memory lapses in the morning. =)2. I'm not 21. You know how hard it is to get any substantial amount of booze when you're 19? Not extremely difficult, but tough. You know how easy it is to get weed? Of course you do. So you see why I Bong more than I "beer bong." =)
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Comment #2 posted by Dave in Florida on February 09, 2001 at 16:27:50 PT
Chickens
Many American troops stationed in Panama after 1916 bean to use marijuana instead of alcohol. A special military panel examined the situation for 15 years and concluded there was no significant problem.1995 and again in 1998, The Lancet, one of the world's leading medical journals, editorialized in favor or legalized marijuana. "Based on the medical evidence available," it said, "moderate indulgence in cannabis has little ill-effect on health...Sooner or later politicians will have to stop running scared and address the evidence: Cannabis per se is not a hazard to society, but driving in further underground may well be."I think that the antis are just afraid. They have always ignored the findings of reports that they have commissioned because they don't get the answers they want to hear. They just put their collective heads in the sand and refuse to listen to the unbiased reports. They constantly say we need more research and then the report is released they denounce it because it does not match their "feelings". Deep down I think that most of them probaly know that cannabis is not a big deal, but refuse to admit that they have been wrong for so many years. If you read the research, you have to a complete idiot not to see that what we are doing now is far worse than cannabis could ever be.
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/studies/majortoc1.htm
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Comment #1 posted by Quantum Buddha on February 09, 2001 at 15:47:26 PT
Booze vs Weed
Having bartended for 14 years is proof enough for me. Stoners are generally way more laid back, non-violent, intelligent, and fun to be around than drunk people. And we all know about the difference in the "morning after" symptoms; most stoners rarely miss days of work due to recreational overindulgence where most heavy drinkers do. Even if the poor hung-over bastard makes it to work he won't be worth a damn for job performance. Plus, when you are high, you know it, and act accordingly by driving more carefully, etc whereas people drinking alcohol don't usually realize what level of intoxication they've reached and end up killing people with the combination of car and lousy perception/reflexes. Don't get me wrong, I like my beer, but I'd take a couple good hits over a six pack any day.
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