'DRUG CZAR' COOKS GOVERNMENT DATA

Brian Peterson's Nov. 28-Dec. 4 column on the lies of U.S. drug czar John
Walters was right on target. To hear it from John Walters, more Americans
are in treatment for marijuana than alcohol. The drug czar is deliberately
misrepresenting government data in an effort to justify the war on some drugs.

Record numbers of Americans arrested for marijuana possession have been
forced into treatment by the criminal justice system. The resulting
distortion of treatment statistics is then used to make the claim that
marijuana is "addictive."

Zero-tolerance drug laws do not distinguish between occasional use and
chronic abuse. The coercion of Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis
into taxpayer-funded treatment centres says a lot about U.S. government
priorities, but absolutely nothing about the relative harms of marijuana.

For an objective take on marijuana, look to the Canadian Senate. In the
words of Senator Pierre Claude Nolin, "Scientific evidence overwhelmingly
indicates that cannabis is substantially less harmful than alcohol and
should be treated not as a criminal issue but as a social and public health
issue."

The following U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration reports verify my claims regarding government coercion:
http://www.samhsa.gov/oas/2k2/YouthMJtx/YouthMJtx.pdf. For more
information on the Canadian Senate report visit:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/37/1/parlbus/commbus/senate/com-e/ille-e/press-e/04sep02-e.htm

Robert Sharpe, M.P.A.
Drug Policy Alliance
Washington, DC (drugpolicy.org)