PRESCRIPTION DRUGS POSE MORE DANGERS THAN MARIJUANA

Dan Carpenter raises two important issues in his thoughtful March 5
column ("Drugged out on power"). Drug tests and prescription drug
abuse are, unfortunately, interconnected. Marijuana is the only drug
that stays in the human body long enough to make urinalysis a viable
deterrent. School drug tests may compel marijuana smokers to switch
to harder drugs to avoid detection. This is one of the reasons the
American Academy of Pediatrics opposes student drug testing.

While culture warriors in the Bush administration obsess over
non-lethal marijuana, prescription drug overdose deaths are
skyrocketing. According to the most recent U.S. Centers for Disease
Control figures available, the number of unintentional prescription
drug overdose deaths in the U.S. increased from 12,186 in 1999 to
20,950 in 2004.

Prescription drug overdose is now second only to motor-vehicle
crashes as a cause of death from unintentional injury in the United
States. The phrase "if it saves one life" has been used to justify
all manner of drug war intrusions. Eliminating federally funded drug
tests has the potential to save thousands of lives. The last thing
our pill-popping society needs is more incentives to use prescription
pharmaceuticals.

Robert Sharpe, MPA Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington