Pubdate: Fri, 06 Jun 2008
Source: Asbury Park Press (NJ)
Copyright: 2008 Asbury Park Press
Contact:  http://www.app.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/26
Author: Edward H. Decker
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n557/a04.html

POT FOES CONTINUE DISTORTING FACTS

It was interesting to see the Press make reference to  the movie
"Reefer Madness" in its June 2 editorial  supporting a state bill that
would allow the use of  marijuana for medical purposes. The movie,
like the  misinformation Partnership for a Drug-Free America  feeds
the public, is full of lies. The religious group  that financed
"Reefer Madness" simply made stuff up.

These groups say smoking pot is bad for you. It  probably is. But
nobody says you have to smoke it. You  can eat it.

They say it's a gateway drug. In 2006, the government  arrested
829,625 people for marijuana offenses. This  number has been rising
every year since the drug war  started in 1914. Common sense should
tell you that by  now, there should be a lot more hard-core heroin 
addicts than there are if you believed the lies.

When our government started the drug war, 5 percent of  the population
was addicted to hard-core drugs; 94  years later, it's still 5
percent. The only thing  that's changed is 1 in 100 Americans now are
in prison.  More people are in jail in America than in China, which 
has four times the population.

What's the harm if medical marijuana is legalized? I've  never heard
of anyone's child overdosing on marijuana,  but thousands die of acute
alcohol poisoning. Police  are arresting more than 800,000 people for
this drug  each year. At least 10 times that number are probably 
using it. If all those scary things about the dangers  of marijuana
were going to happen, they would have  happened by now.

The drug war is a failure. Our government has gone from  going after
dealers to going after users because users  don't have the money to
fight back. The government  takes people's homes and sells their
property at  auction for its own benefit. It makes money off this 
war. Our prisons are filled with more nonviolent drug  users than
violent dealers.

Talk shows tell us federal prosecutors are letting  illegal-immigrant
drug smugglers go if they have less  than 500 pounds of marijuana,
while we have local  prosecutors sending Americans to jail for an ounce.

The do-good groups, the federal government and law  enforcement should
be ashamed of the lies they tell and  the things they do.

Edward H. Decker

Manchester
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