MARIJUANA 'GATEWAY' TO MORE POWERFUL DRUGS

To the editor:

A letter written by Krissy Oechslin, assistant director of
communications of the Marijuana Policy Report published in the Jan. 27
News-Sun deserves a response.

The thrust of her message appears to criticize the Indiana
Multi-Agency Group Enforcement (I.M.A.G.E.) drug task force for
supplying information in an article covering a workplace seminar "that
marijuana is a gateway drug that leads to harder drugs."

As executive director of Drug-Free Noble County, a co-sponsor of the
seminar, "Meth - The Workplace Drug," mention was made by several
presenters, treatment, medical and law enforcement of their
experiences concerning the relationship between marijuana and harder
drugs and in particular, meth. I would like to offer three
considerations.

First, Ms. Oechslin cited a 1999 report by the National Academy of
Science's Institute of Medicine, "There is no evidence that marijuana
serves as a stepping stone on a basis of its particular physiological
effect ... Instead, the legal status of marijuana makes it a gateway
drug." There is a missing link, the psychological effect. The desire
for that "euphoric feeling" encourages the user for a stronger or more
powerful effect. Thus, marijuana becomes a "gateway" to more powerful
drugs.

Secondly, Ms. Oechslin's attempt to legitimize marijuana use so users
would not come in contact with hard drugs is a "smoke screen." She
stated, "If marijuana was regulated, responsible adults who choose to
use would not be exposed to a marketplace where more dangerous
substances are sold." To draw a comparison to this suggestion one
would only have to look at the sale and distribution of alcohol.
Alcohol is regulated and is to be sold only to responsible adults, but
that has not prevented alcohol from becoming the No. 1 drug problem
for America's youth.

My third consideration deals with Ms. Oechslin's conclusion drawing on
data from the 2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, that over
76 million Americans have smoked marijuana at least once in their
lives. Yet the same survey shows that only 1.2 million had used
cocaine in the past month, and one-tenth as many had used heroin. If
marijuana were a gateway drug, common sense dictates that the cocaine
and heroin numbers would be higher.

This is another example of faulty reasoning, but researchers say that
an impairment of marijuana use is the ability to reason. That report
actually showed that "76 million individuals aged 12 and older had
tried marijuana in their lifetime, more than 18 million had used in
the past year, and nearly 11 million in the past month, according to
NHSDA." What happened to the other 58 to 65 million young people? I
would suggest that effective prevention programs, such as Noble County
PRIDE, and quality treatment services contributed to those millions of
young people who might have used marijuana, but are currently not
doing so. Additionally, since this report covers youths ages 12 to 17;
we do not know how many will go on to harder drugs. A cause of concern
should be that "the 2000 NHSDA data indicate that on the average day
5,556 individuals try marijuana for the first time, of which 3,814 are
aged 12 to 17."

In closing I would offer the findings found in a comprehensive
assessment of the threat posed to our society by illicit drugs.

1. The large user population in the United States equates to steady
profits, and drug trafficking organizations, criminal groups, and
gangs involved in trafficking drugs such as cocaine or heroin are
trafficking marijuana as well to help finance their

drug operations. Another likely factor behind some traffickers'
involvement is the belief that the penalties associated with the
trafficking of marijuana are less than those for other illicit drugs.

2. The current user population is exposed to more potent marijuana
than in previous years, however, and strong or high
doses may result in rapidly fluctuating emotions, disorientation or
hallucinations, thereby exposing users to potential harm. Overall,
potency, as characterized by THC content, is still increasing.
According to data from the Potency Monitoring Project, the THC content
of commercial-grade marijuana increased from 1997 to 2000 for
commercial-grade (4.25 percent to 4.92 percent) and for sinsemilla
(11.62 percent to 13.20 percent).

3. Common perceptions among users and the general population are that
marijuana is not as harmful as other drugs and that use carries little
social stigma. The perception that marijuana is not as harmful or
disruptive as other illicit substances may influence investigative
priorities, too, particularly among agencies with limited resources or
those dealing with more socially disruptive criminal activity such as
gang violence.

4. In May 2001, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled there is no exception
under the Controlled Substances Act to permit the cultivation,
distribution or use of marijuana for claimed medical purposes. The
above information came from the National Drug Threat Assessment 2002
published in December 2001. "It integrates the most recently available
reporting from national-level law enforcement, intelligence, and
health and human service agencies including the Drug Enforcement
Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Coast Guard,
U.S. Customs Service, El Paso Intelligence Center, Financial Crimes
Enforcement Network, Crime and Narcotics Center, National Institute on
Drug Abuse, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration,
and National Institute of Justice. It incorporates data from current
national drug abuse indicators - Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring
Program, Drug Abuse Warning Network, Monitoring the Future Study,
National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, Parents' Resource Institute
on Drug Education Survey, and Treatment Episode Data Set - to
accurately and reliably depict the current domestic drug abuse situation."

Respectfully submitted,

Barry Humble

Executive director

Drug-Free Noble County