EXPERT TESTIMONY

In Higher Ground (Nov. 2), former Detroit Police Chief Ike McKinnon
says, "I can't think of anybody who has died from marijuana." I also
can't think of a case where somebody died from an overdose of LSD.
The problem with marijuana, and LSD for that matter, is its effect on
thinking and behavior. And it's this behavioral toxicity, such as
impaired ability to pay attention while driving, that's the real
problem with marijuana. The only reason marijuana is used in the
first place is because it has a primary effect on the brain, the
central nervous system. After all, people don't use marijuana because
they like to have bloodshot eyes. The central nervous system effects
include impaired attention, impaired depth perception, amotivation
and more. Knowing these effects, I certainly do not want my doctor,
dentist, police officer, child-care worker or professor to use marijuana.

And frankly, to suggest that almost all the "problems and violence"
associated with drug use result from the laws is indicative of
pharmacological ignorance. Stimulants, such as cocaine and
methamphetamine mimic the body's activation of the sympathetic
nervous system. It's this system that's responsible for the body's
fight-or-flight response. In fact, they are correctly termed
"sympathomimetics." These drugs cause the user to feel that they are
in danger. But the user is responding to the drug, and not the
environment. And people who feel threatened, feel paranoid, are
dangerous and often violent. PCP ("angel dust") has similar effects.

Like Ike McKinnon, I also am a retired police officer. I also know
and respect Dr. Michael Whitty. (In the interest of full disclosure,
Mike Whitty was one of my U of D professors many years ago.) But when
it comes to drug legalization, including that of marijuana,
professors McKinnon and Whitty are wrong.

- -Thomas E. Page, M.A., drug recognition expert emeritus, retired, Los
Angeles Police Department, Detroit.