WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE SAYS ABOUT LEGALIZING MARIJUANA

Here are excerpts from a statement released by Gil Kerlikowske,
director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy,
in response to petitions that marijuana be legalized and regulated
similarly to alcohol.

When the president took office, he directed all of his policymakers
to develop policies based on science and research, not ideology or
politics. So our concern about marijuana is based on what the science
tells us about the drug's effects.

According to scientists at the National Institutes of Health the
world's largest source of drug abuse research marijuana use is
associated with addiction, respiratory disease and cognitive
impairment. We know from an array of treatment admission information
and federal data that marijuana use is a significant source for
voluntary drug treatment admissions and visits to emergency rooms.
Studies also reveal that marijuana potency has almost tripled over
the past 20 years, raising serious concerns about what this means for
public health especially among young people who use the drug,
because research shows their brains continue to develop well into
their 20s. Simply put, it is not a benign drug.

Like many, we are interested in the potential marijuana may have in
providing relief to individuals diagnosed with certain serious
illnesses. That is why we ardently support ongoing research into
determining what components of the marijuana plant can be used as
medicine. To date, however, neither the FDA nor the Institute of
Medicine have found smoked marijuana to meet the modern standard for
safe or effective medicine for any condition.

As a former police chief, I recognize we are not going to arrest our
way out of the problem. We also recognize that legalizing marijuana
would not provide the answer to any of the health, social, youth
education, criminal justice, and community quality-of-life challenges
associated with drug use.

That is why the president's National Drug Control Strategy is
balanced and comprehensive, emphasizing prevention and treatment
while at the same time supporting innovative law enforcement efforts
that protect public safety and disrupt the supply of drugs entering
our communities.

Preventing drug use is the most cost-effective way to reduce drug use
and its consequences ... . We're also focused on expanding access to
drug treatment for addicts. Treatment works. In fact, millions of
Americans are in successful recovery for drug and alcoholism today.