RELATIVE SAFETY OF DRUG AN INCORRECT AND IRRESPONSIBLE ARGUMENT

The proponents of Amendment 44 base their assertion that possession
of marijuana should be legalized on the premise that it is a safe
alternative to alcohol. That message is both incorrect and
irresponsible and I hope the voters of Colorado will reject it.

Our American society is plagued by moral relativism, and the campaign
in support of Amendment 44 is a classic example of it. They suggest
that society should condone the harm brought on by marijuana
intoxication because, in their view, it is surpassed by the harm
brought about by alcohol intoxication. That is an irresponsible
message, particularly for our children.

When small amounts of marijuana were legalized for adults in Alaska
between 1978 and 1990, the National Household Survey of Drug Use in
America showed that by the late '80s 52 percent of Alaskan teenagers
used marijuana. That was almost three times the rate of marijuana use
by teenagers in the rest of the nation. That was part of the reason
that marijuana was recriminalized in Alaska in 1990. In the
Netherlands, the "coffee shop" legalization of marijuana resulted in
use of marijuana by Dutch teenagers nearly tripling in just eight years.

Marijuana is not the benign drug that proponents of Amendment 44
portray it to be. In 1981, the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content in
marijuana was 1.83 percent, which rose to 5.62 percent in 2003. (THC
is the hallucinatory chemical that is the principal and most active
ingredient in marijuana.) The THC content of high-grade marijuana
rose from 6.58 percent in 1981 to 14.1 percent in 2003.

Corresponding to the increased potency of the THC content in
marijuana was a sixfold increase in emergency room admissions because
of marijuana use during the decade of the '90s, even though the
number of marijuana users remained relatively the same. Between 1992
and 2002, there was a 162 percent increase in treatment admissions
for marijuana use as the primary substance of abuse. Today, 62
percent of teens in drug treatment are there for marijuana use.

The proponents of Amendment 44 contend that the law is not a
deterrent to illicit drug use. In fact, the National Household Survey
indicates that many of our citizens, including our children, are
deterred from drug use because it is against the law. Sixty percent
of teenagers who do not use drugs indicate that the primary reason
they do not do so is because it is illegal. The adverse impact on
their health is the second most frequently cited reason.

The proponents of Amendment 44 have also recklessly created a
significant legal issue. Under current law the transfer of less than
an ounce of marijuana from someone over the age of 18 to someone over
the age of 15 is deemed possession of marijuana and not distribution.
So in legalizing possession of less than an ounce of marijuana for
people over 21, the proponents are unwittingly advocating
legalization of the transfer of less than an ounce of marijuana from
someone over 21 to anyone over 15. Their retort is that such activity
could still be prosecuted under the felony offense of "contributing
to the delinquency of a minor." But I assure you that a creative
defense attorney will make the argument that the voters, if they pass
Amendment 44, specifically directed that such activity be legalized.

Despite the claims of critics to the contrary, the battle against
drug abuse in the United States can claim significant success. In
1979, the National Household Survey indicated that 14.1 percent of
Americans had used an illicit drug in the last 30 days. This year
that number will likely be between 6 percent and 7 percent. A 50
percent reduction in illicit drug use in America is not something
that you read about on editorial pages very often. We have also
reduced teenage use of marijuana by 20 percent in the last four years.

This is simply not the time to raise a white flag and give up the
battle against drug abuse in Colorado. We need to send a very clear
message to our children, and that message is that the only safe
alternative to intoxication is sobriety.