MORE JUNK SCIENCE BOLSTERS WAR ON DRUGS

The U.S. Department of Justice report on youth marijuana use should be
viewed with skepticism. (Marijuana is the drug of choice for young
arrestees, Saturday June 30) According to the report, there is an
"epidemic" of marijuana use among youth offenders.

That many arrestees should test positive for pot is no surprise. If
subjected to mandatory drug tests a sizeable percentage of the general
population would test positive. Marijuana is, after all, the most popular
illicit drug.

The National Institute of Justice report is unethical in that the
politicized conclusions deliberately confuse correlation with causation.
The report is the latest taxpayer-funded "reefer madness" junk science
intended to bolster support for the war on some drugs. Like organized
crime, the drug war gravy train is financially dependent on a never-ending
war without victory.

The two deadliest recreational drugs are both legal. Alcohol is the drug
most often associated with violence. Tobacco is perhaps the most addictive
drug and easily the deadliest.

Marijuana is not physically addictive and has never been shown to cause an
overdose death. As far as drug "epidemics" are concerned, alcohol remains
the most popular recreational drug. Alcohol kills 6.5 times more young
people than all illicit drugs combined. It's not health outcomes that
determine America's draconian drug laws, but rather cultural norms.

The $50 billion per year drug war is an expensive and quixotic quest for
cultural purity. Taxing and regulating marijuana is a cost-effective
alternative. Right now, kids have an easier time buying pot than beer.

Once again a report that points out the myth of marijuana being a "gateway
drug".

The European nations (EU) that unseated the U.S. from the International
Narcotics Control Board view marijuana as harmless. Those nations have had
marijuana decriminalized or legalized for years.

11 EU Member States report hard drug use by adults, 1 to 4% use of
Amphetamines, 0.5 to 4% use of Ecstasy, 0.5 to 3% use of Cocaine, and
under 1% use of Heroin. (European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug
Addiction, "2000 Annual Report on the State of the Drugs Problem in the
European Union").

Crime and drug use by youth is one-forth that of the U.S.

Larry Seguin Lisbon, New York