Pubdate: Fri, 08 Aug 2014
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2014 The New York Times Company
Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/lettertoeditor.html
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n627/a09.html
Author: Samuel A. Ball

THE MARIJUANA SERIES: OTHER VIEWS

To the Editor:

Re "What Science Says About Marijuana" (editorial, July 31):

The measuring of marijuana's addictive potential and consequences 
against our two most highly profitable, deadly and legal drugs - 
tobacco and alcohol - as a justification for its legalization seems 
to me to reflect a terrible cynicism about public health, and it 
distracts attention from the research findings.

Is it really acceptable for one out of every 10 marijuana users 
(among adolescents, nearly one of every five) to have a diagnosable 
disorder? The majority (two-thirds) of adolescent substance abuse 
treatment admissions involve marijuana as the primary disorder.

Other scientific facts need emphasis separate from their comparison 
to alcohol and tobacco. Regular marijuana use is associated with 
cognitive, educational and respiratory problems. It increases risk 
for other substance and psychiatric diagnoses. Scientific 
disagreement remains about marijuana as a "gateway" drug; it is not a 
myth that has been disproved.

Marijuana addiction and withdrawal are considered physical because 
this potent drug causes significant changes in the brain. Finally, 
the belief that marijuana addiction and health problems will be 
managed better by legalization and government regulation has no basis 
in science or history.

Decisions about the safety of our country's youth should not be made 
exclusively in the court of public, political and media opinion. I 
hope the science of marijuana addiction will not be minimized or 
distorted in this polarizing debate.

SAMUEL A. BALL

New York, July 31, 2014

The writer is president and chief executive of CASAColumbia, which 
does research on addiction, and a professor of psychiatry at Yale 
Medical School.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom