POT COLUMN IS SPREADING MYTHS

Officer Tom Hanshaw appears to be spreading myths about marijuana rather
than
dispelling them. "Myths, Truths about Drug Use," in the March 18 issue of
the Amesbury News. He writes Myth No. 6: "Weed isn't that harmful. The
Truth:
Marijuana has been linked to mental illness.

Linked is a weasel-word designed to cover the fact that marijuana has
never been proven to cause mental illness, and that there was no
increase mental illness in time periods when marijuana use soared,
such as the 1960s and 1970s.

While there are plenty of good reasons kids should not smoke
marijuana, we don't help our kids by telling them exaggerated and
false scare stores. In a recent article in the journal Current Opinion
in Pharmacology, Oxford University neurologist Leslie Iversen wrote,
"By comparison with other drugs used mainly for recreational purposes,
cannabis (marijuana) could be considered a relatively safe drug.

Bruce Mirken

Director of Communications

Marijuana Policy Project

Washington, D.C.