PROHIBITION FAILS

The letter by Sandra S. Bennett, "Stiff sanctions curb use" on Dec 21
was so sad.

Supporters of Prohibition II engage in fraudulent sloganeering while
the federal government conducts a systematic dismantling of our
Constitution under the guise of "being tough on drugs."

Some verifiable facts about today's Prohibition (focusing only on
cannabis) for Bennett:

* In 1988, the Drug Enforcement Agency's own administrative law judge
said, "marijuana has been accepted as capable of relieving the
distress of great numbers of very ill people, and doing so with
safety under medical supervision. It would be unreasonable, arbitrary
and capricious for the DEA to continue to stand between those
sufferers and the benefits of this substance in light of the evidence
of this record."

* A 1974 study at the Medical College of Virginia, requested by the
U.S. government, found that marijuana's psychoactive component, THC,
"slowed the growth of lung cancers, breast cancers and a
virus-induced leukemia in laboratory mice, and prolonged their lives
by as much as 36 percent." The study was buried by the federal government.

* More people have died from wrong-address drug raids than have ever
suffered a lethal overdose of cannabis.

Prohibition fails under scrutiny and in practice.

Allan Erickson

Eugene, Ore.