re: Joseph Califano's 10/2/97 article "Evidence on marijuana is
reason not to soften law"

In his October 2nd article, Joseph Califano debunked his own
gateway nonsense when he admitted that most marijuana users do
not go on to use cocaine and heroin. If there's a biochemical
explanation for why a tiny minority of pot smokers do use cocaine
later, it must be a very weak influence, since it happens so rarely.

Common sense says that people who use potent cocaine or heroin
probably used the milder marijuana first. That's no more
surprising than that martini drinkers often tried beer first.

Note that Califano did not call alcohol a "hard drug" even though
it figures heavily in his statistics. Why? Califano and his
Columbia department are not academics but politicians, devoted to
Drug War propaganda rather than scientific advancement. They
gullibly embrace the illogical double-standard that treats
alcohol differently than the various criminalized drugs.

Consistent application of Califano's reasoning would require
re-instatement of alcohol Prohibition, a conclusion that a brave
researcher might announce but that a political operative would avoid.

Paul M. Bischke
St. Paul, MN