MARIJUANA EFFECTS

Regarding the article "Harmless Marijuana? Don't Bet Your Life on It,"
[Viewpoints, May 3]: A 1999 study by the National Academy of Sciences'
Institute on Medicine, "Marijuana as Medicine, Assessing the Science Base,"
concluded that marijuana was about as addictive as caffeine, and withdrawal
symptoms, if any, were mild and short-lived. Short-term memory effects are
temporary and memory returns to normal upon cessation, even after long-term
use.

Despite more than six decades of harsh enforcement and incarceration, our
nation's youth still lead the world in experimenting with marijuana, while
other countries that tolerate responsible adult use of marijuana enjoy a
teenage-use rate half that of the United States.

Measurements of emergency-room visits are inaccurate simply because they
determine only whether a person has used marijuana within the last month
and do not establish that marijuana use is the cause for the visit.
Marijuana smoke has never been linked to cancer and, in fact, several
studies indicate that marijuana possesses strong anti-cancer properties.
Marijuana enjoyed a major role in modern medicine until the racially
motivated reefer madness of the 1930s struck and the plant was banned.

Just as was the case with alcohol, the crime and violence that surround
drugs are the direct result of prohibition; a general lack of respect for
the law develops when government tries to enforce laws against vices that
are not crimes.

Jim White, Oregon, Ohio