SCARE STORIES ON MARIJUANA ARE FICTION

WITHOUT wishing to impugn the integrity or credentials of Dr. Kenneth
Sunamoto, I must express my astonishment at the distortions and
exaggerations in his April 21 View Point, "3Marijuana is not a safe drug."

His casual references to "recent research" and "new scientific evidence"
lead me to suspect that his primary sources are government anti-marijuana
propaganda manuals, not peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Some of his claims clearly indicate that he has not consulted the
prestigious Institute of Medicine report of 1999, which was commissioned
and studiously ignored by the nation's drug czar, Gen. Barry McCaffrey.
What follows are some specific examples:

Dr. Sunamoto's questioning of marijuana as a safe medicine is addressed
directly by the IOM Report, which states, "Except for the harms associated
with smoking, the adverse effects of marijuana use are within the range of
effects tolerated for other medications."

Dr. Sunamoto claims "Marijuana is a `gateway drug.'" The IOM Report: "It
does not appear to be a gateway drug; care must be taken not to attribute
cause to association."

Dr. Sunamoto says the "resulting physical dependence developed from chronic
marijuana use will cause a much more severe abstinence syndrome when
marijuana use ceases. Abstinence from marijuana may duplicate the classic
cold turkey, syndrome of getting off heroin." The IOM Report:"A
distinctive marijuana and THC withdrawal syndrome has been identified, but
it is mild and subtle compared to the profound physical syndrome of alcohol
or heroin withdrawal."

Dr. Sunamoto puts forth that "new scientific studies" have identified that
marijuana activates the same dopamine receptor sites as heroin, alcohol and
cocaine. This is hardly news. Anything pleasurable stimulates dopamine,
including food and sex, so one should not infer that marijuana is the
pharmacological equivalent of other drugs like cocaine or heroin, just
because it stimulates dopamine activity.

Of all the far-fetched claims made by Dr. Sunamoto, however, his comments
about inherited genetic changes take the prize. In spite of millions of
dollars of taxpayer-funded and government-sponsored research on possible
negative effects of marijuana consumption, plus thousands of years of
medical use throughout the world, no credible evidence has been found
regarding genetic changes.

Dr. Sunamoto's reference to marijuana being inhaled by laboratory mice is
highly questionable. Except for the infamous, discredited Rhesus monkey
study, in which the animals were essentially suffocated by marijuana smoke,
lab animals are injected with controlled amounts of THC and/or other
cannabinoids to study their effects.

I'd like to suggest that Dr. Sunamoto submit his claims to the authors of a
1997 book titled "Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts: A Review of the
Scientific Evidence." I am sure the authors, Dr. John Morgan and Professor
Lynn Zimmer, would be happy to add his claims to their collection of myths.

Furthermore, I suggest that Dr. Sunamoto read the book, which may help
guide him through the voluminous scientific literature on marijuana research.