LIES AND EXAGGERATIONS DON'T DISCOURAGE YOUNG PEOPLE FROM TRYING MARIJUANA

Shea's Dishonest Rhetoric Is More Damaging To 'Moral Fiber' Than Pot

In his May 16 piece ("Drugs attack society's moral fiber"), Wevley
Shea distorts data from the Drug Abuse Warning Network. To convey the
impression that marijuana is responsible for hospital emergencies and
even deaths, Shea misrepresents what DAWN terms "drug mentions." When
a patient mentions marijuana during hospital questioning, it does not
mean that marijuana caused the hospital visit. For every drug-related
visit, hospital staff list up to five drugs the patient reports
having used recently. This includes illicit drugs, prescriptions,
and over-the-counter medications
www.samhsa.gov/oas/DAWN/DawnMidYr/00mid_year.pdf .

The 14,790 unexpected reactions and 9,072 overdoses Shea cites were
not due to marijuana; they could have been caused by any illicit drug.

Shea would have us believe that "Medical examiners in the study
confirmed 670 individuals lost their lives due to marijuana in 1999."
In reality, marijuana was mentioned in 670 "drug-abuse deaths," but
there is no possibility that marijuana caused them. No dose of
marijuana is fatal to humans.

Lies and exaggerations don't discourage young people from trying
marijuana. If he wishes to assign blame for erosion of the "moral
fiber of our society," Shea should consider the effects of his own
dishonest rhetoric.

- -- Timothy Hinterberger

Anchorage