END THE DRUG WAR

The war on drugs is doing society more harm than the illegal
substances themselves, says a U.S. pharmacology researcher.

"This policy of drug prohibition is literally causing more harm to our
society than the prohibited drugs could ever cause," said Alan
Robison, former head of the Faculty of Pharmacology at the University
of Texas and executive director of the Drug Policy Forum in that state.

Robison, speaking at a special meeting of the Southern Alberta Council
on Public Affairs Friday, advocated for decriminalization of marijuana.

"We've got to replace this policy, all over the world really, with an
effective regulatory policy."

Robison, a former Lethbridge resident, suggested communities be
allowed to regulate marijuana, much the same as nicotine and alcohol.

Decriminalizing the substance, he suggested, would take control away
from the drug dealers and give it to the government.

He questioned why a drug which studies show is less harmful than
tobacco or alcohol remains outlawed.

In the 1960s, Robison was involved in an unsuccessful study to
determine the lethal dose of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

"It was the first and only drug I ever studied in my entire career
that we could not calculate a (lethal dose) for," he said. "No matter
how much of this stuff we injected into a mouse, we couldn't kill it."

Robison's quest for decriminalization began in 1972, when he took the
position at the University of Texas. There he discovered that
marijuana possession in any amount was a felony, punishable by a
prison term ranging from two years to life.

"I found out people were literally being sent away for the rest of
their lives for fooling around with this crap," he said. "Bright kids
wanting to be doctors were prevented from doing so because they fooled
around with this stuff."

In 1995, when he retired, he helped found Texas' Drug Policy
Forum.

Robison spoke strongly in favour of marijuana for medicinal use, and
praised a recent Canadian senate report which supported
legalization.

"Marijuana is probably the safest therapeutic agent known to
man."

However, he noted that, as with most drugs, there are some negative
effects to over-consumption of marijuana. Those include loss of
short-term memory, slowed reaction time and the possibility of lung
damage due to smoking it.