Pubdate: Wed, 05 May 2004 Source: Oakland Tribune, The (CA) Copyright: 2004 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers Contact: http://www.oaklandtribune.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/314 Author: Josh Richman, Staff Writer Note: Text of the proposed "Oakland Cannabis Regulation & Revenue Ordinance" is posted at http://www.canorml.org/laws/oaklandinitiative.htm Cited: Marijuana Policy Project http://www.mpp.org Referenced: the study http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n671/a09.html Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Oakland Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) S.F., AMSTERDAM SIMILAR IN POT USE As Oakland considers whether to vote on decriminalizing marijuana, a new study comparing patterns of use has found little difference between Amsterdam where it's decriminalized and San Francisco, where recreational use remains a crime. In fact, the study in the American Journal of Public Health's May issue found more use of "hard drugs" such as powder or crack cocaine, opiates, amphetamines or Ecstasy among San Francisco's marijuana users than among Amsterdam's. "Dutch decriminalization does not appear to be associated with greater use of other illicit drugs," wrote researchers Craig Reinarman, chairman of the University of California, Santa Cruz's Sociology Department, and Peter D. A. Cohen and Hendrien L. Kaal of the Centre for Drug Research at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. "Indeed, to judge from the lifetime prevalence of other illicit drug use, the reverse may be the case." A group called the Oakland Civil Liberties Alliance has proposed a ballot measure directing the city to move toward regulating, licensing and taxing marijuana sales as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the city would lobby for changes in state law to allow this, and would make private adult marijuana offenses the police's lowest priority, although public dealing and consumption would remain illegal. Backers now are trying to gather at least 19,948 signatures from the city's registered voters by mid-June to put the measure on November's ballot. Campaign spokeswoman Clare Lewis said they expect to meet the deadline with no problems. "People believe that the federal government's war on drugs isn't working, and what we were told has turned out to be inaccurate," she said. Lewis cited the long-held idea that marijuana must be criminalized because it's a "gateway drug" to other, more dangerous substances - an idea undermined by the Santa Cruz-Dutch study. That study's researchers interviewed hundreds of randomly chosen marijuana users - people who've used it at least 25 times - in Amsterdam and San Francisco, noting details such as their age when they started using it, frequency and quantity of use, duration of intoxication, use of other drugs and other factors. "There's a lot of evidence that supports the view that criminalization doesn't really decrease use and decriminalization doesn't really increase use," Reinarman said Tuesday. "It can't be considered definitive proof that the same thing would be found under all conditions in all societies and communities ... but it does add support to the idea that decriminalization isn't going to be a dam that breaks and all hell breaks loose." Bruce Mirken, communications director for the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project, said the study refutes the federal government's claims that marijuana is a "gateway drug" and that prohibition curbs use. "A system of responsible regulation can break the link between marijuana and far more dangerous substances," he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake