Hemp: It's about Money and Dope, not Tee-Shirts and Rope

I READ WITH GREAT CONCERN an article published regarding the legalization
of marijuana. The focus of the story was not just the usual regurgitated
rhetoric on this subject, but also the fact that this lowly cause was being
championed by a prominent New Hampshire law firm. As a professional police
officer, DARE instructor and parent, I take issue with not only the message
of this piece but the messengers as well.

What a sad irony that people terminally ill from the effects of smoking
tobacco are duped into believing that smoking something else will help
them. Marijuana has the same adverse effects on the lungs, heart and
vascular system as tobacco does and more. The use of marijuana as a
treatment is not widely accepted by the medical profession for the same
reasons lots of drugs aren't: it's dangerous.

The hemp market or "wonder crop" argument is just a good old fashioned
"bait and switch." The supporters of NORML and its New Hampshire
counterparts would have you believe that there are a whole host of products
you haven't been able to live without that can be made from hemp.
Historical references are often made by these groups that even our own
Founding Father George Washington grew hemp in an attempt to legitimize the
practice. It's true he had acres of hemp, but he also had slaves tending
those crops. Some ideas, whether practiced or lawful in the past, are
downright wrong for modern society. What you don't hear in this argument is
that hemp looks identical to its mind-altering cousin Cannabis Sativa.

If hemp was legalized there would be no way for law enforcement authorities
to visually distinguish the difference between the two crops. These fringe
groups are counting on "baiting" the voters with promises of newer more
wonderful products and "switching" it with fields of illegal drugs. They
advocate hemp and marijuana in the same breath. If hemp is legalized do you
really think their efforts will be spent on growing a crop that can make
low quality fiber, or a crop that sells for $300 an ounce? Do the math.
It's about money and dope, not tee-shirts and rope!

The third plank on this political platform of stupidity is of course the
"social freedoms, social use" argument. "Marijuana is so harmless, really
no more dangerous than alcohol and since we are all responsible adults why
can't we choose what to do with our minds and bodies?"

This is where the law firm of Twomey and Sisti chirp in, claiming to be the
guardians of our social freedoms. They even buttress their argument by
saying, "Making marijuana legal would cut significantly into our income . .
." presumably to fool us into thinking it's a worthy, credible endeavor.
Are they kidding?

The alcohol vs. marijuana story is a no brainer as well. So are many
analogies to the Prohibition problems and the war on drugs. The social ills
felt during Prohibition had more to do with the a post World War I economy
and the fact that Canada, our next door neighbor, had legal production of
alcohol, than a systemic problem with enforcing alcohol laws. The same
situations does not and could not exist today. I would however, point out
that today, serious crime, which any analyst will tell you is closely tied
to the drug trade, is at its lowest point in 20 years. The streets are
actually safer and it's not because we are all wearing hemp sandals. Safe
streets and safe communities should really be what this issue is all about.

We as a society see tens of thousands of people killed each year on our
highways due to alcohol-related crashes. Do we really want to add to this
national tragedy by making one more substance legal and available? With its
increased availability, like it or not, children will be involved.
Marijuana is a recognized gateway drug. Kids don't start with crack and
heroin: they start with tobacco, alcohol and marijuana. I have seen
firsthand the real price tag that comes along with marijuana use. On
Thanksgiving day 1987 at about 4 o'clock in the morning, I had to respond
to a serious traffic crash in my home town. A young man was driving late at
night and struck a tree. He was ejected from the car, crushed and laid
there in the street, dying. There was little that I could do to help while
waiting for the rescue personnel to arrive. All I could do was comfort him
while his obviously fatal injuries took his life.

There was no reason for him to have crashed that night: the roads were
clear and straight. The sight of that young man, laying helplessly in the
road that morning has affected me ever since. My Thanksgivings, as well as
his and his families, are changed forever. A toxicology report later showed
he was high on THC, the intoxicating chemical found in marijuana.

Paul Twomey and Phil Greazzo are wrong when they say marijuana has never
killed anyone, dead wrong. I know it does and I know it will again if it's
legalized. Let's seek the truth on this debate. Marijuana is dangerous and
legalizing it would be wrong. Sgt. Christopher Perley of North Conway is
president of the New Hampshire DARE Officers Association.