Pubdate: Wed, 31 Dec 2008
Source: Courier News (Bridgewater, NJ)
Copyright: 2008 Courier News
Contact:  http://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2163
Author: Dan J. DeFazio
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n1145/a10.html

DON'T BUY HYPE ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA

You say there are "only benefits" to medical marijuana?  Not in San 
Francisco, where this farce has already been  enacted, leading to a 
sharp increase in crime.

Here's how the scam works: well-meaning voters approve  the use of 
pot for "terminally ill" people. Pot dealers  get a "medical pot" 
card for their "glaucoma" and use  it to buy pot. Dealers turn around 
and sell the pot to  teenagers. Dealers use the proceeds to acquire 
harder drugs like heroin and crack. Teenagers become the 
next  generation of drug addicts. The areas where the pot  shops are 
located become crime-ridden slums.

The above scenario is why dozens of towns in California  have passed 
ordinances to outlaw medical pot in their  towns. But don't take my 
word for it. The ease with  which anyone can get their hands on 
"medical" pot has  been profiled on 60 Minutes, the O'Reilly Factor 
and  even in the left-leaning New Republic.

Marijuana is decriminalized in Amsterdam. Authorities  there are 
currently cracking down on pot shops. Why?  They're all run by 
organized crime. The same thing will  occur in New Jersey, where I 
suspect the majority of  the prescriptions will be written by Dr. Tony Soprano.

Reputable medical organizations such as the American  Medical 
Association know that marijuana is a  potentially dangerous drug with 
no proven medical  benefits. The active ingredient in the drug, THC, 
can  be synthesized into pill form, eliminating the need to  smoke pot.

"Nothing but benefits" to legal pot? That's just smoke  and mirrors.

DAN J. DeFAZIO

Bound Brook
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom