Pubdate: Sun, 05 Dec 2010
Source: Reporter, The (Vacaville, CA)
Copyright: 2010 The Reporter
Contact:  http://www.thereporter.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/472
Author: Walter F. Wouk
Note: The author is director of The Thomas Paine Project 
(http://wintersoldier.org), a not-for-profit organization that 
supports the legalization of marijuana. -- Editor
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n982/a03.html

NOTHING HAS CHANGED

In a recent column ("Should parents drug test their teens?" Nov. 28), 
Lauren Forcella casually states that "pot is 10-25 times stronger 
today" than it was in "the '60s, '70s and '80s." By doing so, she 
joins the legions of lazy reporters and columnists who routinely 
repeat the potency falsehood that has become the cornerstone of the 
government's claims about the dangers of marijuana.

In a recent study, the University of Mississippi's Potency Monitoring 
Project determined that the average THC in domestically grown 
marijuana -- which comprises the bulk of the U.S. market -- is less 
than 5 percent, a figure that's remained unchanged for decades.

Ms. Forcella has a master's degree in interdisciplinary consciousness 
studies, so she should be aware how necessary it is to protect 
science against erosion from political agendas, such as the 
government's war on marijuana. Given her advanced education, she has 
no legitimate excuse for repeating unsubstantiated claims as fact.

Walter F. Wouk

Summit, N.Y.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom