MARIJUANA MYTHS

The editorial "Dope alarm" (May 12) ended with a caution against the
"notion that marijuana is relatively harmless." That's ridiculous. Pot is
still "relatively harmless" compared to many legal substances and actions.
These activities cause more injuries than those related to marijuana:
gardening, carpentry, bicycling, skating, skiing, snowboarding, climbing
monkey bars, playing basketball, football, soccer, baseball or petting a
dog (which can lead to a painful bite). Aspirin and acetaminophen kill
hundreds every year. The decongestant psuedoephedrine and the cough
suppressant dextromethorophan can induce hallucinations and death when
taken in large doses. In 3,000 years of recorded use, no one has ever died
from a marijuana overdose, allergic reaction or toxic drug interaction.

The most real and severe risk associated with marijuana is incarceration in
one of America's violent prisons - 700,000 arrests a year, 80 percent for
possession alone.

The harms of jail might be ameliorated by decriminalization - marijuana
distribution would remain illegal, but police and prosecutors would turn a
blind eye toward possession or petty sales. However, the principal concern
of the editorial - increased potency - can be resolved only after pot
prohibition is repealed so that the government could control the purity,
potency, availability and cost of marijuana.

- - Glenn Backes, Sacramento

Director, Drug Policy Alliance