BAD DOPE ON MARIJUANA

The newly released 1998 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse might not be
entirely reliable - how honestly do people respond when asked about illegal
activities?

But if it shows anything, it is that one of the main methods used by drug
warriors to discourage discussion of medical marijuana is utterly without
substance.

Here's what the drug warriors were saying about medical marijuana: "Almost
everyone who spoke or wrote to the 10M study team about the potential harms
of the medical use of marijuana felt that it would send the wrong message to
children and teen-agers," noted the Institute of Medicine report on medical
marijuana, issued in March. "They stated that information about the harms of
marijuana is undermined by claims that marijuana might have medical value."

Staunch drug warriors still make similar claims.

Well, Californians have been in the throes of a nationwide debate about the
medicinal use of marijuana since 1996.

And since 1996 patients in California have been allowed to grow and use
marijuana with a doctor's recommendation.

So has all this discussion, as drug warriors predicted, led more teenagers
to try it?

Not exactly. The national household survey found that nationwide, in 1998,
"past month" marijuana use dropped since 1997, down to levels prevalent in
1995. This drop was especially marked among young people.

As to California, there were no statistically significant differences in
reported marijuana usage rates among 12-to 17-year-olds between California
and the rest of the nation. Indeed, "past month" usage rates were actually
slightly lower in California than nationwide.

At the very least this survey shows that intensive discussion of medical
marijuana and drug policy reform has not led to increased marijuana usage by
young people. So let the discussion continue.