WAR ON DRUGS BECOMES 'WASTE OF TIME'

Don't Fall for Assertions

USA TODAY is correct in questioning America's failed war on marijuana. But
it is a mistake to blindly accept federal government assertions that
"today's more potent marijuana carries substantial health and social risks."

More objective inquiries have come to precisely the opposite conclusion.

Independent reviews by the Australian government and the European Union
have found that potency increases have been wildly exaggerated and pose
little or no danger.

A review of the literature by Oxford University pharmacologist Leslie
Iversen, in the February issue of Current Opinion in Pharmacology,
concluded that "by comparison with other drugs used for 'recreational'
purposes, cannabis (marijuana) could be rated to be a relatively safe drug."

As for drug czar John Walters' claims of success: U.S. marijuana arrests
have doubled since 1991. In that period, the number of teens trying
marijuana for the first time increased approximately 50%, while the number
of 12th-graders using marijuana daily tripled, according to the
government's own figures. If this is success, what does failure look like?

Bruce Mirken

Director of Communications

Marijuana Policy Project

Washington