DPFT Asks:
Should Cannabis Prohibition Be Ended?

by Jerry Epstein, DPFT President

Perhaps the most critical area of drug policy is the question of the treatment of cannabis (marijuana) under the law.  A series of government and independent expert commissions over the past 50 years have repeatedly pointed out the need to decriminalize marijuana.  Now there have been strong calls for legalization of adult sale and use from a spectrum of highly respected sources.  Examples:

Most U.S. proponents of legalization feel details should be left to the individual states, probably banning advertising and public use.  DPFT feels the arguments for legalization are very powerful and require open discussion.

Statements below represent the preponderance of scientific opinion.  Readers who would like detailed sources or further information are invited to contact DPFT.  We will be glad to discuss these findings with any citizen group.

Marijuana is:

* Much less dangerous than heroin, alcohol, and cocaine.  It is not a "gateway" that causes the use of any other drug, but making marijuana illegal does establish a "gateway."  [Institute Of Medicine report to ONDCP, March, 1999]

* The primary focus of the drug war, draining half of its resources and tying up about a third of the criminal justice system.  An 80% increase in marijuana arrests since 1993 has led to 700,000 annual arrests, about 88% for possession, more than the number of arrests for murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault combined.

* The primary source of temptation to involve otherwise law abiding citizens in illegal activity.  [This seems to flow partly from a conviction on their part that they are not doing anything wrong and that the government has been irrational and dictatorial.]  Marijuana can be grown cheaply and sold for more than the price of pure gold.  U.S. production has soared some 400% in 20 years, making it one of the leading cash crops in many states.  Illegal marijuana is more available to most teens than legal alcohol.  Under current conditions, we say that about 50% of our young adults are criminals, eroding the criminal justice system and respect for the law.

* The key to the credibility of all drug education which, in turn, is a major key to all drug policy.  Widespread perceptions that the disparity between the treatment of alcohol and marijuana is hypocritical, and that laws banning the medical use of marijuana and the industrial growth of non-psychoactive hemp border on the fanatical, have undermined the ability of authority figures to effectively educate on all other drug related matters.  This is aggravated by myths which make false or grossly exaggerated claims about the hazards associated with marijuana use.

* Used at about the same rate in different areas despite wide differences in its legal status and in the severity of punishment.

* Used so widely that the laws can only be selectively enforced.  A large number of prominent officials have admitted to marijuana use when younger and have suffered no penalty for substantially the same offenses that have resulted in prison sentences that have destroyed the lives of many other citizens.  As income decreases and skin color becomes darker, the chance of severe punishment increases dramatically.

Research and Data
Items about Marijuana

* Over 70 million Americans have smoked marijuana at some time in their lives.  Of these, 18 million have smoked marijuana within the last year, and ten million are regular marijuana smokers. - NORML, 1997

* The French National Health and Medical Research Institute, INSERM, consulted with experts from other countries and rated drugs by their danger in 1998 at government request.  They established 3 groups:

  1. "most dangerous" - heroin, alcohol, and cocaine
  2. "next most dangerous" - tobacco, amphetamines, et.al.
  3. "least dangerous" - cannabis [marijuana], since it has "low toxicity, little addictive power and poses only a minor threat to social behavior," et.al. [annual drug related deaths in the U.S. are about 400,000 for tobacco, 100,000 for alcohol, 10,000 for all illegal drugs, and zero for marijuana]

* Oregon decriminalized marijuana in 1973 and other states followed.  The only U.S. federal study ever to compare marijuana use patterns, among decriminalized states and those that have not, found, "Decriminalization has had virtually no effect on either marijuana use or on related attitudes about marijuana use among young people." - "Marijuana Decriminalization:  The Impact on Youth 1975-1980," Monitoring the Future, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 1981.

* " ... indulgence in cannabis drugs, unlike alcohol, rarely bring the habitué into a state of extreme intoxication where he loses entire control over himself. As a rule, those who indulge habitually can carry on their ordinary vocations for long periods and do not become a burden to society or even a nuisance." - U.N. Bulletin on Narcotics, 1957

* "Alcohol is the only psychoactive drug that in many individuals tends to increase aggressive behavior temporarily while it is taking effect.  Marijuana and opiates temporarily inhibit violent behavior.  In the case of alcohol, ... hazards tend to be related to use, while for illegal psychoactive drugs they tend to be related to distribution and purchase." - The Panel on the Understanding and Control of Violent Behavior, 1994, established for the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

* For over 20 years, 85% of our young have told us that illegal drugs are "Easy to get."  Today the figure has grown to 90% and most say marijuana is easier to get than alcohol. - National Survey Results on Drug Use from the Monitoring the Future Study, 1975-1995, Johnston, et al. (HHS, National Institute on Drug Abuse); USGPO, 1996.

* Retired head of Scotland Yard's Anti-Drugs Squad, Edward Ellison, 3-10-98:  "'Legalised cannabis' does not mean 'encourage cannabis'.  It means the reverse.  I want to see the lowest level of drug abuse, with the least detrimental effect on everyone else.  Legalised cannabis would mean that parents and teachers could discuss it with young people openly, not confrontationally.  It means those thinking of using it will get education, not propaganda, and they will be less likely to take it as a gesture of adolescent rebellion."

* "By any of the major criteria of harm - mortality, morbidity, toxicity, addictiveness and relationship with crime - cannabis [marijuana] is less harmful than any of the other major illicit drugs, or than alcohol or tobacco. ...  The present law produces more harm than it prevents," - Police Foundation [UK], March, 2000


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Latest Revision 13-Apr-01