DRUG EDUCATION DOOMED UNLESS ROOTED IN FACT

Thank you for your Oct. 2 editorial, "Teens miss point on alcohol abuse" in
which you say parents talking to teen-agers about drugs "should include
alcohol, a legal, potent drug . . ." in the discussion.

Combine alcohol and illegal hard drugs, and alcohol accounts for about 80
percent of all addictions.

In many ways, alcohol addiction is worse than a heroin or cocaine addiction,
particularly as it relates to mental and physical impairment, fetal damage
and violent behavior. Legal drugs account for more than 97 percent of
drug-related deaths.

What follows is not to say marijuana is suitable for children to use; it is
not.

The editorial's headline, however, might be better phrased as, "Adults miss
point on marijuana."

Holland has had "legalized" marijuana for more than 20 years. The results
have been studied, and it is clear that it has had about the same impact as
introducing a new brand of beer, with the major exception that it appears to
have played a substantial role in stopping new hard-drug addiction in
Holland where the rate is about one-eighth of ours.

The leading medical journal, The Lancet, said bluntly in November 1995: "The
smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health."

Marijuana is markedly less dangerous than alcohol. And there is no evidence
that marijuana causes addiction to any other drug; such a "gateway" is a
widely believed myth.

Until this nation comes to rational terms with marijuana, most drug
education is doomed because it will be rooted in myth and hypocrisy. The
most important aspect of drug education is our credibility. The war on drugs
is a war on science and a nation shouting "Galileo was wrong!" will not make
it so.

Jerry Epstein, president, Drug Policy Forum of Texas, Houston


Checked-by: Rolf Ernst