DARE WE FINALLY HOPE FOR AN END TO REEFER MADNESS?

A report from the International Drug Control Board, an organization that
oversees the implementation of United Nations drug treaties, recommends
indepth, impartial scientific studies of the possible medical benefits of
cannabis.

An unbiased examination of the facts -- what a concept? Here's an idea both
sides of the marijuana debate can embrace if they believe what they're
saying and condemn if they don't. It will be interesting to see which
factions embrace the idea, expecting the facts to justify their position.

It would also be interesting to learn the truth about what is arguably one
of our state's biggest cash crops.

We have been told marijuana is physically adictive. We have been told it is
psychologically addictive. We have been told it's both. We have been told
it's neither.

We have been told marijuana is hallucinogenic. We have been told it's more
of a gentle buzz, like beer without the calories. We have been told it's
more like a wicked case of mononucleosis.

We have been told that marijuana can be distilled down to hashish, which
turns people into organized and vicious killers, hence the term "assassin."
We have been told that a group of people sitting around smoking hash
couldn't organize a trip to the bathroom, much less an assassination, and
wouldn't have the energy to be vicious.

We've been told marijuana is good for what ails you. We've been told there
are medical benefits in a few limited circumstances. We've been told the
medical argument is merely a ploy to get the drug legalized.

Obviously, everything we've been told can't be true. It would help vastly if
the public had a way of telling fact from fiction without having to try the
stuff.

Some people try marijuana and go on to become productive citizens, even
president of the United States. Some people try marijuana and go on to other
drugs. Is there any conne4ction?

And what of the fabled marijuana munchies -- a side effect? A myth? The
result of lowered inhibitions in a nation that spends its entire adult life
dieting?

We had hoped the president who didn't inhale would inject a note of sanity
into the emotion-charged marijuana debate, but sanity has not been a
hallmark of this administration. Subjecting marijuana to the same type of
testing that other drugs undergo makes a great deal of sense and would allow
the states to make a rational decision about when, if ever, it should be
used.