IT'S TIME FOR AN HONEST APPROACH TO MARIJUANA LAWS

Jim McDonough, director of the state's Office of Drug Control, wrote an
Aug. 12 commentary ("There's nothing 'fun' about the impact of illegal drug
use") approving treatment as the primary means of dealing with drug
problems. Florida's chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws (NORML) commends this as a step in the right direction and
especially welcomes his call for absolute honesty in resolving the issue of
drug control.

Leaving aside the issue of "hard" drugs, for which there is no room for
principled disagreement, it is time that this state and nation enacted a
rational marijuana policy based on fact, reason and truth.

Marijuana has been used for ceremonial, medicinal and recreational purposes
for at least 6,000 years. In all that time, not one death has been attributed
directly to marijuana use; McDonough concedes as much. Given that fact,
what harm is done by smoking marijuana? Why was its use ever made criminal?

Testimony before the U.S. House and Senate regarding the use of this
recreational drug was often overtly racist. Past proponents of the new law
claimed that smoking "marihuana" caused "race mixing" and an affinity for
"negro jazz music." They also disguised the fact that "marihuana" was the
hemp plant that all were familiar with at that time, and even lied about
the position of the American Medical Association, whose representative had
testified against prohibition of this plant because of its potential medical
value.

Thirty years ago, President Richard Nixon was battling the "counterculture"
for control of the American psyche. Young adults were violating the laws
against marijuana smoking and reporting no ill effects. Nixon wanted to
end the debate once and for all and so commissioned a panel of medical and
legal experts to quantify the ill effects of this substance on society and
the individual. Contrary to the president's expectation, the Shafer
Commission Report called for the elimination of criminal penalties for
recreational use.

McDonough cites a 1999 study by the Institutes of Medicine that "clearly
states that smoked marijuana is not medicine and should not be." Well, if
his call for truth is an honest one, he should re-examine his assertion.
While the Institutes of Medicine study does state that smoked marijuana is
not the preferred alternative, it goes on to state that there is ample
evidence that the active ingredients in marijuana show medical efficacy.
Until viable alternatives are developed, the study concludes, individual
patients should be allowed to have access to the smokable form of the drug
in controlled trials.

McDonough also ignores the dozens of medical groups, including the American
Public Health Association and the New England Journal of Medicine, which
have called for the legalization of medical marijuana. Thousands of patients
have presented testimonial evidence of the beneficial effects of this drug
on AIDS wasting syndrome, glaucoma and recovery from chemotherapy, to name
a few. And although alternatives exist in some cases, they are without
exception more expensive and carry more, and more dangerous, side effects
than the use of smoked marijuana.

But the debate over the medical efficacy of marijuana is not the primary
issue. Rather, it is the freedom to engage in personal behavior that has no
proven ill effects on the users, their families, or society at large.
Marijuana simply produces a mild intoxication, not unlike that of alcohol,
one that has been indulged by millions of Americans. Marijuana use has never
been shown to be addictive in any medical study. McDonough's claim that
addiction centers are treating teen-agers for "marijuana addiction" simply
demonstrates more harm from lies and mythology surrounding this substance.
Frightened parents, catching their teen-ager with small amounts of marijuana,
over-react with unnecessary and often harmful "treatment."

Now, don't get me wrong. I do not believe that underaged teen-agers should
smoke marijuana. Nor do I believe that they should sign contracts, buy
cigarettes or alcohol, or drive. All of these activities are useful, with
various degrees of risk, when adults engage in them. But if we based our
laws for adults on what was safe for children, we would all be sitting at
home drinking milk and eating cookies all day.

Other nations have recently relaxed criminal penalties for this harmless
substance as well. America should follow the lead of Great Britain,
Portugal and the Netherlands (where marijuana use by teen-agers is 50
percent less than in America) and liberalize the personal use and
possession of marijuana. We could then use the limited resources of our
courts, police and treatment centers for the more serious problems that
plague society.

Allen Turnage of Tallahassee is chairman of Florida NORML. Contact him at
Idissent@hotmail.com.