CONSERVATIVE VOICE RAISED IN DRUG WAR

"There has, of course, been a barrage of government-sponsored anti-
marijuana propaganda over the last two decades, but the essential
facts are clear: Marijuana is widely used, and for the vast majority
of its users is nearly harmless. ... It makes little sense to send
people to jail for using a drug that, in terms of its harmfulness,
should be categorized somewhere between alcohol and tobacco on one
hand and caffeine on the other."

Who would you guess wrote the preceding paragraph?

Was it:

1. the head of the national organization for the reform of marijuana
laws;

2. a drug-addled college student;

3. the editor of one of the most influential and politically
conservative magazines in America?

The answer is No. 3.

The opinion is part of a provocative essay by Rich Lowry in the Aug.
20 edition of the National Review.

Lowry reports that approximately 700,000 of Americans are arrested
each year for marijuana - 80 percent of the arrests for possession. He
adds that "federal law makes possessing a single joint punishable by
up to a year in prison."

The answer, Lowry argues, isn't loosening the laws. The answer is
legalizing marijuana.

He cites a study by the national Institute of Medicine that 32 percent
of Americans over the age of 12 have tried marijuana.

Unrelated to Lowry's article, a Gallup Poll released last week by USA
Today showed more support for legalizing marijuana than at any time in
more than 30 years. Nearly 35 percent of Americans believe marijuana
should be legalized, the poll reported, compared with 12 percent in
1969.

While that is not a majority, it should raise serious concerns among
lawmakers. It is difficult to enforce laws that more than a third of
the population opposes.

Let's be clear: No one is talking about legalizing marijuana for
children and teen-agers. Pot abuse - along with cigarettes, alcohol
and illegal drugs - is a serious problem among young people.

The question is whether marijuana should be legalized for
adults.

Lowry argues that anti-marijuana forces have stopped relying on
medical evidence and other research because the evidence doesn't
support their cause. Instead, they embrace what Lowry calls "the
Brezhnev doctrine" - after the former leader of the Soviet Union who
used dogma to sustain a despised political system.

"Drug warriors, of course, will have none of it," Lowry concludes.
"They support a drug-war Brezhnev doctrine under which no drug-war
excess can ever be turned back - once a harsh law is on the books for
marijuana possession, there it must remain lest the wrong 'signal' be
sent."

We are a long way from seeing marijuana decriminalized - even for
medical use - in many states, Indiana included.

But debate about the nation's marijuana laws continues to grow - not
just among liberals and Libertarians, but among respected
conservatives such as the editor of the National Review. Our elected
leaders should keep their ears open. A drug policy cannot succeed
unless it is backed by public support, moral integrity and scientific
proof.