TRUE REEFER MADNESS

Two recent "studies" on the effects of marijuana use have been
spreading like an aggressive disease. This happens every year or so
and always seems to be the same two studies.

The first study proposes that smoking just one joint of marijuana
could raise one's risk of developing schizophrenia later in life by an
astronomical 40 percent. However, schizophrenia rates throughout the
world are about 1 percent with little fluctuation. If the
schizophrenia claim were actually true, we would have seen a huge jump
in the number of people diagnosed with schizophrenia.

The second study claims a link between marijuana and lung cancer and
states that one joint is as bad as five cigarettes. However, Dr.
Donald Tashkin, who for years has worked in cahoots with the Drug
Enforcement Agency trying to prove this theory, recently released a
study that shows smoking marijuana does not cause lung cancer and may
even have some preventative effects.

This kind of fear mongering about marijuana use is the true reefer
madness.

Loretta Nall

Alexander City