Pubdate: Thu, 10 Jan 2013
Source: Columbian, The (WA)
Copyright: 2013 Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.columbian.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/92
Author: Gene Johnson, Associated Press

OPPONENTS OF LEGAL MARIJUANA REGROUP

Son of Ted Kennedy Inspired by Own Struggles With Drugs

SEATTLE -- Kevin Sabet, a former White House drug policy adviser and 
an outspoken opponent of legalizing marijuana, watched with dismay 
last fall as voters in Washington and Colorado did just that.

But the next day he got a call from former Democratic U.S. Rep. 
Patrick Kennedy, who has struggled with alcohol and drug addiction. 
The son of late Sen. Ted Kennedy was worried that the votes sent the 
wrong message about marijuana.

"The level of his concern impressed me," Sabet recalled. "He said, 
'We have to do something that is not falling into this false 
dichotomy of prohibition versus legalization."'

So began the regrouping of the anti-pot lobby, an effort which today 
launches a new organization, Project SAM, for "smart approaches to 
marijuana." Kennedy is the chairman, and other board members include 
Sabet and David Frum, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush.

"Our country is about to go down the wrong road, in the opposite 
direction of sound mental health policy," Kennedy said. "It's just 
shocking as a public health issue that we seem to be looking the 
other way as this legalization of marijuana becomes really glamorous."

The idea is to halt the legalization movement by arguing the U.S. can 
ease the ills of prohibition -- such as the racial disparities in 
arrest rates and the lifelong stigma that can come with a pot 
conviction -- without legalizing the drug. Kennedy called marijuana a 
dangerous drug that lowers IQ and triggers psychosis in those 
genetically predisposed toward it; critics charged him with 
distorting the scientific evidence by cherry-picking studies that 
relate only to a tiny fraction of pot users.

"It's almost 'Reefer Madness'-type stuff about marijuana he's 
saying," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the New 
York-based Drug Policy Alliance. "There's something remarkable about 
Patrick Kennedy deciding to go after users of a drug that is by 
almost all accounts less dangerous than the drugs he struggled with. 
Where Patrick Kennedy could have made a really important contribution 
is by saying that we need a responsible public health model for 
dealing with legal marijuana."

Nadelmann described Project SAM as a "strategic retreat" by the 
just-say-no crowd.

The organization hopes to raise money to oppose legalization messages 
around the country, shape the legalization laws taking effect in 
Washington and Colorado, promote alternatives to jail time for pot 
users and speed up scientific research on the effects of marijuana.

Sharon Levy, chairwoman of the American Academy of Pediatrics 
committee on substance abuse, said she joined the Project SAM board 
because "we're losing the public health battle" and policy is being 
made by legalization advocates who might be misinformed about 
marijuana's dangers.

Kennedy served 16 years as a congressman from Rhode Island, during 
which he made mental health treatment and insurance coverage a 
legislative priority. He revealed he had struggled with depression 
and alcoholism, as well as addiction to cocaine and prescription painkillers.

In 2006, Kennedy crashed his Ford Mustang into a security barrier on 
Capitol Hill. He agreed to a plea deal on a charge of driving under 
the influence of prescription drugs and received a year's probation.

Low-level marijuana offenders should pay a fine, not go to prison, 
Kennedy said, but it's a bad idea to make pot more accessible: More 
people will experiment, including young people whose still-developing 
brains seem to be most susceptible to addiction. He said he fears the 
creation of a huge marijuana industry that might target teens the way 
the tobacco industry did.

Voters in Washington and Colorado handily passed measures on last 
November's ballot to legalize the possession of up to an ounce of 
marijuana for adults over 21 under state law, and to create a system 
of state-licensed marijuana growers, processors and retail stores. 
The measures could bring the states tens or hundreds of millions of 
dollars per year in new tax revenue, analysts have said.

Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, and the Justice 
Department has not said whether it will sue to try to block the 
state-licensing schemes from taking effect.

Supporters of Washington's Initiative 502 raised more than $6 
million. The measure was sponsored or endorsed by former top federal 
law enforcement officers in the state, as well as some former public 
health officials and a University of Washington addiction specialist.

Alison Holcomb, the drug policy director of the state's American 
Civil Liberties Union chapter and I-502's campaign manager, said 
she's as concerned as anyone else about the public-health 
ramifications of legal marijuana, and that's why the initiative 
requires new surveys of drug use among teens and earmarks money for 
substance abuse prevention and treatment.

And, she said, Kennedy and Sabet offer no suggestions for dealing 
with the dangerous black market that supplies the nation's vigorous 
appetite for pot.

Frum said that given the social ills caused by alcohol and tobacco 
use, no one should be arguing for legal marijuana.

"There are not a lot of voices saying you should smoke more tobacco, 
it's a cure for what ails you," Frum said. "There aren't people 
saying we should raise the DUI limit from 0.08 to 0.12. People who 
use alcohol and tobacco understand they're doing something risky. 
That's not the message about marijuana, and that's an unfortunate situation.
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