CHECK UP ON WHAT POLICE SAY

THE POTENCY of street heroin is of enormous concern for society because any
increase in heroin potency always leads to overdose deaths from addicts not
used to the higher potency.

The potency of marijuana is not a matter for great public concern, because
nobody can overdose on THC. It is completely impossible to die of a THC
overdose from smoking pot of any potency. The fear of high-potency
marijuana is being artificially manufactured by law enforcement, using the
justifiable fear of high-potency heroin.

We are being manipulated by law enforcement officials who are creating a
fear of a danger that does not exist. They profit financially from this
fear because the government gives them more money when people are more
afraid. And it's easy for them to do, because journalists these days tend
to print anything the police say and not check to see whether they are lying.

They do lie, they lie all the time, and I wish journalists would check up
on what police say more often.

Patricia Schwarz

(Our week-long pot series has been covering the issue from many perspectives.)