WAR ON DRUGS MAY LOOSEN UP ON MARIJUANA - TO WHAT EFFECT?

BILL: You know what must be the one fire-proof job in these tough
times? Getting on the side of law and order in the War on Drugs. That
work never seems to end -- and aren't we wasting a lot of money
trying to change human nature?

DR. DAVE: Bill, is this one of your rants about legalizing marijuana?
Well, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is with you. He wants to
redeploy federal agents out of states where medicinal marijuana is
legal. OK, Bill -- let's see what effect that has on the kids in
California and the 12 other "doctor feelgood" states.

BILL: Even back in the days when I was drinking, Dave, I wouldn't
walk across the street for a toke. Pot never did anything for me. So
I'm not defending my own tastes. The question is does, does keeping
marijuana illegal stop kids from buying it? My feeling is it endows
dope with the kind of rebellious, neo-James Dean glamour that
teenagers can't resist. What do the billions we spend on drug
prohibition really buy? In the Wall Street Journal last month, the
presidents of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico wrote that in their
countries at least, "Prohibitionist policies based on eradication,
interdiction and criminalization simply haven't worked."

DR. DAVE: I am also fully aware that the countries you just named
have received billions in U.S. aid, and still failed in drug control.
But before we go on, let's get our terms straight. Are you talking
about decriminalizing pot, or legalizing it?

BILL: Rep. John Tierney recently reported to Congress that some
$15-to-$25 billion in annual profits from U.S. drug sales go to buy
guns for the Mexican drug cartels. What if we'd kept that money here,
to help people who can't pay their mortgages? In the face of
statistics like that, do we need to go into legal hair splitting?
Decriminalization or legalization, what's the diff?

DR.DAVE: Plenty, if you want to make effective national drug policy.
We've all heard a lot from the National Organization for Reform of
Marijuana Laws --

BILL: -- the NORML people, who want medical marijuana to be made legal.

DR.DAVE: What they never mention is mandating confidential
effectiveness audits -- to see who really gets the stuff and how much
it "helps their lives."

BILL: I thought the prescriptions were pretty much for people in dire
pain. Like late-stage cancer patients and those with deteriorating HIV/AIDS?

DR. DAVE: We here in Washington are a medical marijuana state. A
clinic I run does about 250 evaluations of health care disabled
workers every year. Mostly people with a combination of physical,
mental or chemical health problems.

BILL: How many are patients prescribed medical marijuana by their doctors?

DR.DAVE: About a dozen, and maybe another dozen who say they're using
it without bothering to get a prescription. What they tell me is that
with the high cost of health care, they can barely afford to buy
their pot, let alone pay for a doctor's visit.

BILL: You evaluate terminally ill patients? I'm missing something here.

DR. DAVE: Bill, that's my point. None of these patients are
terminally ill or even suffering substantial chronic pain! If they
were, they'd be on opiates like methadone. No sir! These happy tokers
are smoking for "problems in sleeping," for feeling anxious or depressed.

BILL: Are you saying let's not base the legalization of medical
marijuana on your opinion or mine? That before we can hold a
meaningful discussion, we have to scientifically evaluate the effects
on people already using it as prescribed by their doctors?

DR. DAVE: Now you've got the focus, Bill! You know, I was on board
with the AG when he said we needed some honest conversations about
race. I think it's time for him to get himself on down to a
California dispensary and have an honest talk with some non-terminal
pot smokers, before he redeploys his legal troops from the front
lines of legalization battles.

BILL: Working with you has made me change my mind about so many
aspects of addiction. Dave, how simple life used to be when I was
merely worried about my own drinking -- would there be enough ice,
would they run out of gin?

Dr. David Moore is a licensed psychologist and chemical dependency
professional who is a graduate school faculty member at Argosy
University's Seattle campus. Bill Manville is a novelist and writer
whose most recent work, 'Cool, Hip & Sober,' is available at online
bookstores. Formerly the host of the No. 1 radio show 'Addictions &
Answers,' he has been sober now for over 20 years.