EASE UP ON MARIJUANA, TIGHTEN UP ON METH

A District Attorney Suggests Shifting Priorities to Fight the More
Dangerous Drug

In the War on Drugs, as in most wars, there's a little truth on each
side of the battle.

Oregonians will vote Nov. 2 on what's being called "Medical Marijuana
2." It's the Measure 33 sequel, if you will, to an existing law that,
sort of, allows the use of marijuana if someone can get a doctor to
write a note saying the drug would help the patient's condition.
Contrary to popular belief, the law did not legalize marijuana -- and
the law is now being abused by recreational dopers.

At the same time the Bush administration furiously denies marijuana
has any medical value whatsoever. Amid this chatter there's been a
deafening silence from the administration -- until last week, that is
- -- when it comes to a drug that's destroying families, lives and
communities: methamphetamine.

We need to reprioritize our fight against dangerous drugs and raise
the bar on methamphetamine while reducing the legal stigma of
marijuana, recognizing it has limited medical use.

The Oregonian's devastating expose of the federal government's
failures to limit the spread of methamphetamine ("Unnecessary
Epidemic," Oct. 3-7) shows how we failed to slow what is clearly the
most dangerous drug on the street.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski has proposed a bold, if controversial, rule change
making it harder to access the base component of meth,
pseudoephedrine, by putting cold medications behind the counter. And
President Bush's drug czar endorsed the idea during a visit to Oregon
last week.

It's a program that's worked in Oklahoma, and Kulongoski gets credit
for doing something concrete and right now.

It's time we start thinking outside the box on drug control. There's
something in my proposal -- let doctors prescribe marijuana but lock
up meth -- to make both sides in the drug war hopping mad. Oregon has
been sensible

In an effort to meet the president's goal of reducing illegal drug
consumption by 10 percent during his first term, the administration
has gone for volume. Since marijuana is used by a far greater number
of people than the so-called "hard drugs" (methamphetamine, heroin and
cocaine), it's much easier to reduce overall statistical drug use by
achieving even a small decrease in marijuana users.

But opponents of the Drug War are even better funded, albeit
privately, than the government. Billionaire financier George Soros,
through a vast interconnecting network of foundations, has undertaken
a systematic campaign to eliminate drug laws or, failing that, prevent
their enforcement.

Not content with the amount the law currently specifies, the
pro-marijuana lobby wants to increase the amount to 6 pounds a year
for patients. This isn't the marijuana most baby boomers smoked in
high school or college at $10 a "lid." Through generations of genetic
breeding, today's marijuana is often 10 times as potent, determined by
measuring the amount of THC, tetrahydrocannabinol, in a plant.

In the '70s most marijuana contained about a 2 percent THC content.
Now it can test at more than 25 percent.

Oregon has maintained a sensible approach toward marijuana use since
1973, when it became the first state to remove criminal penalties for
possessing less than an ounce. Possession became a violation similar
to a speeding ticket, punishable by a fine. Many states followed suit.
A more rational approach

Equating marijuana with methamphetamine is folly. By lumping all drugs
into the same category we risk losing our credibility with young
people. Teens will likely experiment with marijuana and, when they
don't become dope fiends out of "Reefer Madness," assume there's no
harm in "chasing the dragon" every once in a while by smoking heroin.

In 1970 the federal government adopted the Controlled Substances Act,
which put all potentially addictive drugs in a range of schedules.
Schedule 1 drugs with no legitimate medical use and very high risk of
abuse include LSD -- and marijuana.

Schedule 2 drugs with some medical use but also with a high risk of
abuse include OxyContin, and, currently, methamphetamine. Other
schedules list drugs like Vicodin, Valium and, at the bottom, cough
syrup, with its small amounts of codeine.

Licensed doctors can prescribe drugs in categories 2 through 5, with
much stricter regulations attached to schedule 2 drugs, such as
cocaine, which is a valuable anesthetic in certain kinds of surgeries.
Methamphetamine gets the same listing only because it can help treat
narcolepsy, a relatively rare disorder.

It's time we rescheduled marijuana from Schedule 1 to Schedule 2,
acknowledging the limited but very real medical value of the drug.
Methamphetamine -- also known as "crank" -- should be bumped up to
Schedule 1, no legitimate use. Other drugs like amphetamine and
Ritalin can be used to treat narcolepsy. Methamphetamine is easy to
manufacture, lasts up to 12 hours and can provoke psychotic episodes.

By requiring a written prescription, rather than a doctor's note
suggesting that marijuana might be useful, the number of real
marijuana patients would plummet. Doctors would be much more careful
about who they gave a marijuana prescription to.

Those two controlled substances changes wouldn't win the War on Drugs,
but they'd signal a more rational approach, recognizing the real risks
posed by marijuana and methamphetamine. Most criminal justice
professionals would agree that 75 percent of all the serious crimes
they handle involve substance abuse.

That doesn't mean drugs are the only cause. But just as alcoholism is
devastating physically, emotionally and financially, so is illegal
drug abuse. What's wrong with including a little common sense in this
debate?