Just Say No To Easy Answers

[boulder]

Marijuana isn't a gateway drug to heroin or cocaine. But neither is it a relatively harmless recreational drug, as many Americans believe. And telling youngsters to ``just say no'' to drugs without examining the facts behind marijuana use in the United States does no one any good.

 

These facts speak out loud and clear in a series of research reports published in the British journal Addiction. Policy makers in Washington should review them carefully before they decide where money should best be spent on the ``war on drugs.''

 

The ``gateway'' thesis that has long been a basic principle of drug policy in this country was disproved by a study by the private, nonprofit Rand Drug Policy Research Center in Santa Monica. Americans may use marijuana at an earlier age than harder drugs, but only because it becomes available at an earlier age, said the lead author, Andrew Morral. Teens who are predisposed to use drugs do so regardless of whether they smoked marijuana first.

 

But if it doesn't lead to those harder drugs, is it OK? Hardly, judging from another report by American researchers. Today's marijuana is three times as potent as the pot the baby boomers smoked in their college years, and many teenagers become dependent on it. It's now the most prevalent illegal drug used in the United States and many other countries. Heavy use is associated with difficulties in school and work, health problems and, of course, involvement with the police.

 

Most worrisome: Youngsters are trying marijuana at earlier and earlier ages, and those who start the youngest seem to end up with the most problems. But which came first, the drug use or the criminal behavior, depression and anxiety?

 

Regular youthful users of cannabis typically also smoke cigarettes and engage in binge drinking, and have experienced physical, sexual or emotional abuse. Clearly, there's more at work here than youthful rebellion. Much marijuana use may be an effort at self-medication by people whose lives are hard to bear.

 

The war on drugs is a popular political tool for officials seeking to drum up support from the hard-on-crime crowd. But the hard science suggests that much of the war has been a waste of time and money. Worse, it has filled prisons with drug offenders while ignoring the reasons so many Americans engage in substance abuse, legal or illegal.

 

With this many unanswered questions just involving marijuana, Americans should demand a more logical approach to drug use and abuse. Red ribbons on the playground fence look nice, but they haven't reversed the younger and younger ages at which children experiment with drugs. Perhaps an approach based on the successful efforts to reduce smoking and drunken driving might be best. We won't know until the politics is taken out and the science put in to the war on drugs.

 

Note: It's not a gateway drug, but potent Marijuana of today is hardly for teens; What's needed is more science.'

 

Source: Mercury News (CA)

Published: Wednesday, January 15, 2003

Copyright: Copyright 2003 Knight Ridder

Contact: letters@sjmercury.com

Website: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/

[pipeman]

The only reason it can be argued that mj is a gateway drug is because the majority of users have to procure their weed through criminals which puts them in situations where they are offered and tempted to try other drugs.

 

If mj being a gateway drug is supposedly the main problem then that is the most compelling argument to legalise it, which will in effect keep stoners away from the "gateway" to the criminal world and hard drugs.

Edited January 16, 2003 by pipeman