MARIJUANA NOT A 'GATEWAY DRUG'

To the editor:

A recent article about drugs in the workplace highlighted one of the
common misconceptions accepted as fact in the war on some drugs: that
marijuana is a "gateway drug" that leads to harder drugs.

This is false, contrary to what the Indiana Multi-Agency Group
Enforcement (I.M.A.G.E.) drug task force, which supplied the
information cited in the article, would have the public believe. The
National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine released a report
in 1999 that has this to say about marijuana as a gateway drug: "There
is no evidence that marijuana serves as a stepping stone on the basis
of its particular physiological effect S Instead, the legal status of
marijuana makes it a gateway drug."

In fact, it is marijuana prohibition that forces marijuana users to
come into contact with hard drugs. By making marijuana illegal, its
users must buy from people who also offer cocaine, heroin, and other
more dangerous and addictive drugs. If marijuana was regulated,
responsible adults who choose to use would not be exposed to a
marketplace where more dangerous substances are sold.

According to the 2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, put out
by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 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.

I.M.A.G.E. would be well-served to study the research before it
further spreads false claims about the supposed dangers of marijuana.

Krissy Oechslin,

Assistant director of communications,

Marijuana Policy Report,

Washington, D.C.