MARIJUANA HELPS AIDS, CANCER PATIENTS

If health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms,
marijuana would be legal. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been
shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive
properties of tobacco. Marijuana can be harmful if abused, but jail
cells are inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as
deterrents.

The first marijuana laws were enacted in response to Mexican
immigration during the early 1900s, despite opposition from the
American Medical Association. Dire warnings that marijuana inspires
homicidal rages have been counterproductive at best. White Americans
did not even begin to smoke pot until a soon-to-be entrenched federal
bureaucracy began funding reefer madness propaganda.

By raiding voter-approved medical marijuana providers in California,
the very same U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration that claims illicit
drug use finances terrorism is forcing cancer and AIDS patients into
the hands of street dealers. Apparently marijuana prohibition is more
important than protecting the country from terrorism.

Robert Sharpe

Policy Analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, D.C.