HOW TO CONTROL 'WICKED WEED': LEGALIZE AND REGULATE IT

Regarding "A More Wicked Weed" (April 23): The Iowa crime-lab
officials who stated that marijuana today is 10 times more potent
than it was 30 years ago are mistaken.

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy made this
claim in 2002, but retreated sharply in 2005, when it stated in a
newspaper advertisement that today's marijuana is, on average, only
twice as strong as that of decades past.

Claims of vastly increased potency are based on research from the
1970s using a small number of poorly stored samples in which THC had
degraded before testing.

More important, there is no scientific evidence demonstrating greater
risks of addiction or health problems from higher-THC marijuana.

The Marijuana Policy Project strongly opposes children smoking
marijuana, but we don't think that exaggerating the dangers will help
young people or their parents. The best way to keep our kids away
from marijuana is to tax and regulate it like alcohol and tobacco.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, more teens today smoke
marijuana than cigarettes, which proves that the most effective way
to keep a substance away from children is to put it behind the
counter and require valid identification for purchases.

Factually inaccurate articles like this destroy any chance we have at
a reasonable and informed debate about our nation's marijuana policies.

- -- Rebecca Greenberg

Marijuana Policy Project, Washington, D.C.