WHAT WEED WROUGHT

Remember the big push in Connecticut last spring to legalize medical
marijuana as the first step toward decriminalizing pot possession and
use? Remember how supporters claimed, as they always do, that
marijuana is a harmless drug, as if a substance that affects the mind
and changes perceptions and emotions can be regarded as benign?

Well, new data from Australian Institute for Criminology's Drug Use
Monitoring program finds "cannabis continues to be the most commonly
detected drug" among criminals. Nationwide, 55 percent of men and 53
percent of women tested positive for pot after their arrest in 2006.
Forty-seven percent admitted to illicit drug use before committing at
least one of the offenses for which they were charged, and 46 percent
were found to be drug dependent, with marijuana in most cases serving
as their gateway to addiction.

The institute followed up by reporting that 73 percent of detainees in
Darwin tested positive to cannabis in July and August, up from 46
percent in January 2006. Said Jo Baxter, executive officer of Drug
Free Australia, "Research now shows just how complex and dangerous
this drug is."

The link between marijuana and anti-social behavior is not new. The
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says teens who smoke pot
just once a week are nine times more likely than nonusers to
experiment with harder drugs or alcohol, six times more likely to run
away from home, five times more likely to steal and four times more
likely to engage in violence. They also are more prone to social
withdrawal, anxiety and depression, and thoughts of suicide.

Among the most interesting statistics in the Australian report: The
main source of income for 62 percent of pot-smoking detainees was the
national government, meaning welfare fosters crime and illicit drug
use. Something for Connecticut's compassionate leaders to consider the
next time medical marijuana is debated at the Capitol.