cannabisnews.com: Pot Propaganda





Pot Propaganda
Posted by CN Staff on June 04, 2008 at 11:03:26 PT
By Kevin A. Sabet
Source: Press Enterprise
California -- With all of the talk about medical marijuana dispensaries in California, it is hard to separate truth and science from ideology and dogma.In recent years, marijuana activists in the state have donned white coats and exclaimed a newfound concern for the seriously ill, while legislators and judges have been left to wrestle with the consequences of a poorly written referendum, Prop. 215. Known as the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, it allowed patients with a valid doctor's recommendation to possess and cultivate marijuana for personal medical use.
Unfortunately, Prop. 215 has nothing to do with the sick and dying, as a simple reading of its text reveals. It says marijuana can be legally recommended for "any illness for which marijuana provides relief."  Rampant Fraud This has led to a multimillion-dollar, state-sanctioned drug-distribution industry, resulting in a substantial increase in medical fraud (the drug has been recommended for everything from hangnails to fatigue to reduced sex drive), "medical marijuana" use by minors and increased local crime.Medical marijuana dispensaries mask as havens for the sick, when in reality they serve as city-condoned centers for drug use.That is why scores of California localities, such as San Pablo, San Rafael, Concord, Dublin, Fremont, Livermore, Newark and Pleasanton, and to the south, San Diego, San Marcos, Anaheim, Oxnard, Rancho Cucamonga, Norco, Hemet, Fontana, Murrieta, Temecula, Colton and Chino (among others) have come out with a ban on such dispensaries.They should be commended.A 2007 expose by "60 Minutes" revealed just how easy it is to obtain marijuana - "sick" or not. So it is also not surprising that the Food and Drug Administration, the American Medical Association and the renowned Mayo Clinic have come out against smoked marijuana as a so-called medicine.A landmark study almost 10 years ago, conducted by the Institute of Medicine, said, "Smoked marijuana should generally not be recommended for ... medical use." Smoked marijuana (smoked anything) has never passed basic medical standards of safety and efficacy.Legalizing smoked marijuana under the guise of medicine is irresponsible and contradictory to basic scientific standards for therapeutic drugs.Of course some people who use the drug may find relief from their illnesses, but smoking a drug as volatile and unstable as marijuana is like chewing on willow bark to partake in the benefits of aspirin.Marinol, derived from the plant's most active ingredient, THC, already exists. Though it's not often prescribed, doctors have the right to do so if they feel it would best serve their patient (though non-cannabis-based drugs are almost always chosen as a first resort).   Serious Loopholes  Other isolated components in marijuana -- delivered in aerosol sprays or patches -- are currently being studied, and research in this area is important.Cannabis-based drugs could indeed open new pathways to fight obesity, nausea, multiple sclerosis and other illnesses, but just as someone should not inject heroin to gain the therapeutic effects of morphine, these drugs need to be used in the proper context and setting.Even if smoking marijuana might make someone "feel better," that is not enough to call it a medicine. If that was the case, then tobacco cigarettes or vodka shots could be called medicine because they are often attributed to making one "feel better."Furthermore, it is contrary to common sense and established law to have the electorate, influenced by big spending from pro-marijuana interest groups, decide what medicine is.Serious loopholes exist in Prop. 215 that permit the abuse of current drug laws and allow drug dealers to avoid arrest and prosecution. These are key reasons why a large, growing number of city and county governments have moved toward banning medical marijuana identification cards and dispensaries.Other California communities should follow suit. Science needs to be the basis of both our legal and illegal drug policies, not political ploys designed to legalize smoked marijuana for any reason.Kevin A. Sabet is an adviser to the Inland Valley Drug Free Community Coalition and formerly served as a senior drug-policy official in the Clinton and Bush administrations. He lives in Anaheim. Note: Science, not politics, should drive California's drug policy.Source: Press Enterprise (PA)Author: Kevin A. SabetPublished: June 3, 2008Copyright: 2008 Press EnterpriseContact: sachetti enterpe.comWebsite: http://www.pe-online.com/CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #10 posted by dongenero on June 05, 2008 at 13:25:29 PT
well, they got one thing right........
the title!Pot Propaganda
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #9 posted by museman on June 04, 2008 at 19:12:58 PT
#%*(*&)
"...the Food and Drug Administration, the American Medical Association and the renowned Mayo Clinic..."Sputter,...gag,...mmmph,...nnnnnnnnnh,...ARRRGGGH!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #8 posted by John Tyler on June 04, 2008 at 18:26:36 PT
twisted logic
Kevin prohibitionists logic get twisted here…"Even if smoking marijuana might make someone "feel better," that is not enough to call it a medicine. If that was the case, then tobacco cigarettes or vodka shots could be called medicine because they are often attributed to making one "feel better"." So, is he inferring that tobacco and alcohol should be illegal also? Should aspirin be illegal too? It makes you feel better if you have a headache or a fever. What about Viagra? That is a recreational sex drug designed to make you “feel better”. No, to the prohibitionist twisted logic only things are “bad” that they say are “bad”. Reason and logic have no bearing on their conclusions.  
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #7 posted by goneposthole on June 04, 2008 at 16:15:23 PT
smoked marijuana
Kevin Sabet will rail against 'smoked marijuana' until the day he finds it beneficial for when he needs it the most.That day might come sooner than he thinks. In the mean time, he'll use propaganda to support his agenda.I hate the present market in cannabis distribution.It's as corrupt as anything else.Too bad, because it could have been all different.Don't expect the US gov to exist in its present form for much longer.The ineluctable conclusion: oil is the problem. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by kaptinemo on June 04, 2008 at 15:06:27 PT:
Ah, Mr. Sabet, again
Yes, the same Mr. Sabet who wrote a rather interesting piece in the Washington Post a few years ago, making noises as if he had just discovered the failings of drug prohibition: http://tinyurl.com/646b27 Take a look and see if that isn't what he is trying so very, very hard to say ...without actually saying it. The strain caused by the mental effort necessary at overcoming years of cognitive dissonance to reach the same conclusion - a conclusion that drug law reformers have been stating for decades - must have been incredible for him, poor, poor Kevin.This is the same Mr. Sabet who was being short-stroked in Congressional testimonies (see http://www.drugsense.org/fdch.htm ) a few years back as some kind of generational answer to drug law reformers, everywhere; the same committees in which drug law reformers were likened to pederasts and murderers. This is the same Mr. Sabet who was a salaried propagandist for the ONDCP, paid with our taxpayer dollars by ONDCP to lie to the American people about cannabis...which is where that cognitive dissonance came from, I suppose, unless it happened much earlier in his life. If Mr. Sabet were to tell me the sky was blue, water was wet and knives are sharp, I'd be inclined to check out the facts myself before taking his word on anything. Credibility, thy name is not Kevin Sabet.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by observer on June 04, 2008 at 13:12:50 PT
loud n clear...
[2]
In recent years, marijuana activists in the state have donned white coats and exclaimed a newfound concern for the seriously ill, while legislators and judges have been left to wrestle with the consequences of a poorly written referendum, Prop. 215 . 
(Sentence 2) re: "marijuana activists" - Because they hold differing opinions on drug policy, say prohibitionists, "legalizers" should be silenced or jailed. (Dissent Attacked (propaganda theme 8) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme8.htm#8 ) 
 
 
[6]
Rampant Fraud  This has led to a multimillion-dollar, state-sanctioned drug-distribution industry, resulting in a substantial increase in medical fraud (the drug has been recommended for everything from hangnails to fatigue to reduced sex drive), "medical marijuana" use by minors and increased local crime . 
(Sentence 6) re: "crime" - Drugs, scream prohibitionists, cause all bad things in life: crime, violence, insanity, etc. If not for prohibition (i.e., jailing drug users), then criminality, violence and psychotic behavior would explode upon the land, the prohibitionist assures us. (Madness,Crime,Violence,Illness (propaganda theme 2) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme2.htm#2 ) re: "minors" - "Chemicals have long been inextricably linked in prohibitionist literature with the ... corruption of young people." [W.White,1979] (Children Corrupted (propaganda theme 5) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme5.htm#5 ) 
 
 
[7]
Medical marijuana dispensaries mask as havens for the sick, when in reality they serve as city-condoned centers for drug use . 
(Sentence 7) re: "drug use" - Prohibitionist propagandists repeatedly assert that "use is abuse." Details about "using" as opposed to "abusing" drugs are ignored. (Use is Abuse (propaganda theme 4) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme4.htm#alluseisabuse ) 
 
 
[11]
So it is also not surprising that the Food and Drug Administration, the American Medical Association and the renowned Mayo Clinic have come out against smoked marijuana as a so-called medicine . 
(Sentence 11) re: "American" - Because of prohibition (prohibitionists assure us), society is protected: the community is safe, and the nation is saved. (Survival of Society (propaganda theme 3) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme3.htm#3 ) 
 
 
[22]
Furthermore, it is contrary to common sense and established law to have the electorate, influenced by big spending from pro-marijuana interest groups, decide what medicine is . 
(Sentence 22) re: "pro-marijuana" - People who step forward in disagreement with prohibition are attacked and sometimes jailed. (Dissent Attacked (propaganda theme 8) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme8.htm#8 ) 
 
 
[23]
Serious loopholes exist in Prop. 215 that permit the abuse of current drug laws and allow drug dealers to avoid arrest and prosecution . 
(Sentence 23) re: "drug dealers", "dealers" - The rhetoric of prohibition tries to link drugs with marginalized people. (Hated Groups (propaganda theme 1) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme1.htm#1 ) 
 
 
[25]
Other California communities should follow suit . 
(Sentence 25) re: "communities" - The health of the "community" (read: government) is assured, prohibitionists explain, because drug users are punished. Jailing drug users is thus painted as upholding society. (Survival of Society (propaganda theme 3) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme3.htm#3 ) 
 
 
[28]
Sabet is an adviser to the Inland Valley Drug Free Community Coalition and formerly served as a senior drug-policy official in the Clinton and Bush administrations . 
(Sentence 28) re: "Drug Free Community", "Community" - Prohibitionists assert that the survival of the community, society, the nation, the world, etc. are at stake. Only continued and increased punishments for drug users can be contemplated, because, say prohibitionists, society will otherwise fall apart. (Survival of Society (propaganda theme 3) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme3.htm#3 ) re: "Drug Free" - Onward prohibitionist drug warriors, fighting the epidemic and scourge in the battles of the war against drugs! (Drugs declared evil by politicians, that is.) (Total Prohibition or Access (propaganda theme 7) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme7.htm#7 ) 
 
 asserted: $drugwar_propaganda at 100% ($propaganda_theme1 $propaganda_theme2 $propaganda_theme3 $propaganda_theme5 $propaganda_theme7 $propaganda_theme8 $propaganda_theme4)Rich, but formulaic. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by observer on June 04, 2008 at 12:52:06 PT
reefer madness ...
Kevin A. Sabet is an adviser to the Inland Valley Drug Free Community Coalition and formerly served as a senior drug-policy official in the Clinton and Bush administrations.Speaking of Reefer Madness, here are some mp3 clips from the movie.combined:
http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/propaganda/rm_clips.mp3separately, more -
http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/rm_clips.htm 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by runruff on June 04, 2008 at 11:37:19 PT:
disingenuous, lies, reefer madness propaganda!
It was big bucks that created pot prohibition. It is the big bucks that buy laws in congress so guys like this can point to them as the ultimate authority.And besides it is obvious to me that this guy and others like him forget one thing; they have no business telling me what to do with my body!!!!!!!Let alone telling doctor which medicine is most appropriate for their patients!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by FoM on June 04, 2008 at 11:14:59 PT
Graehstone 
It's good to see you. I agree. It can be put in food and not smoked but they don't want that either.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by Graehstone on June 04, 2008 at 11:09:55 PT
He sure does harp on ...
... the "Smoked" part huh?
*sigh* and yet another Prohibitionist grasping at straws.
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment