PROHIBITION WON'T WORK AGAINST POT

Skip Miller's sermon on the dangers of marijuana ("Marijuana too
damaging to be legalized," Jan. 31) is a compendium of distortions
and discredited drug war assertions.

The idea that legalization would increase substance abuse flies in
the face of the evidence. We were warned that legalizing medical
marijuana would dramatically increase teenage use, but an
authoritative UCLA study showed that teenage use has actually decreased.

Miller's claim that cannabis is a "gateway drug" has been thoroughly
undone by a number of scientific reports, including a 12-year study
from the University of Pittsburgh.

And there is no medical evidence that cannabis causes cancer. In a
large study presented to the American Thoracic Society in 2006, even
heavy users of smoked marijuana were found to have no increased risk
of lung cancer.

There are a couple of good bills before the Legislature that would
decriminalize marijuana. They cite a report we commissioned in 2007
that found that Hawaii would realize millions in savings by
decriminalizing pot; if we were to tax and regulate it, there would
be substantial revenue.

Mr. Miller should consider the approach we took to cut tobacco use -
education. Maybe he should begin by studying the evidence himself.

Pamela G. Lichty, Mph President, Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii