Pubdate: Sat, 27 Jun 2015
Source: Providence Journal, The (RI)
Copyright: 2015 The Providence Journal Company
Contact:  http://www.providencejournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/352
Author: David L. Nathan
Note: David L. Nathan, M.D., is a clinical psychiatrist, writer and 
educator. He is a clinical associate professor at the Rutgers Robert 
Wood Johnson Medical School and a distinguished fellow of the 
American Psychiatric Association.

DON'T FALL FOR WARNINGS ABOUT POT

It's no secret. Most Americans now favor making marijuana legal. The 
national numbers are similar to those in Rhode Island, where a recent 
poll showed that 57 percent of Rhode Island residents support 
legalization. Prohibitionists are rapidly losing the debate because 
the facts are against them. Nonetheless, they continue to repeat 
three arguments that have been thoroughly debunked by objective 
scientific research.

  First, opponents of legalization claim that marijuana is a 
"gateway" to hard drugs like cocaine and heroin. Numerous studies 
over the past 70 years - including one commissioned by the White 
House - have discredited this hypothesis. Yet prohibitionists 
continue to claim that marijuana use leads to later use of heroin and 
other dangerous drugs. Roughly half of all American adults have tried 
marijuana. If marijuana is a "gateway drug" as opponents claim, why 
do we find that only 2 percent of Americans have ever tried heroin?

  Second, prohibitionists commonly argue that making marijuana legal 
will lead to carnage on the highways. That has not been the case in 
Colorado, where the number of traffic fatalities in 2014 was on par 
with those of previous years. Furthermore, several studies have shown 
that marijuana causes far less driving impairment than alcohol intoxication.

Research released in February from the National Highway Traffic 
Safety Administration found that a blood alcohol concentration of 
0.05 or above increases the odds of a fatal car accident sevenfold. 
The same study found that after adjusting for age, gender, race, and 
alcohol use, drivers who used marijuana were no more likely to be in 
a fatal car accident than drivers who had not used any drugs or 
alcohol prior to driving.

  Third - and most importantly - opponents of legalization have 
insisted that marijuana use will skyrocket among teens when it is 
made legal for adults, but few of them acknowledge that marijuana is 
already widely available and used by adolescents under prohibition. 
Since the 1970s, the University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future 
Study has consistently found that 80 to 90 percent of high school 
seniors report that marijuana is "fairly easy" or "very easy" to obtain.

  While remaining legal for adults, alcohol and cigarette use among 
teens has steadily declined to historic lows in recent decades. But 
teen use of marijuana has risen despite its prohibition. In fact, 
marijuana prohibition could be increasing teen use. Alcohol and 
tobacco retailers check IDs and refuse to sell to minors, but 
unscrupulous street corner drug dealers will sell marijuana - along 
with hard drugs - to minors.

  Although prohibitionists claim that making marijuana legal for 
adults "sends the wrong message to kids," teen marijuana use in 
Colorado has remained level since legalization. The fact that 
prohibitionists' dire prediction did not materialize may explain why 
polls show more Colorado voters now support legal marijuana than did in 2012.

My wife - who grew up in Pawtucket - and I don't want our children to 
think that the legalization of cannabis for adults implies that it's 
safe for them. But by making it illegal for everyone, our society is 
most definitely sending the message that there is no difference 
between use by adults and children, and kids know that's not true. By 
creating a legal distinction between use by adults and minors, and by 
investing cannabis tax revenues into sensible education of children 
and teens, we can make clear that what is a permissible activity for 
adults is neither safe nor legal for minors.

  Those concerned about the public health impact of marijuana use - 
and I count myself among them - are more credible and do a greater 
public service when they abandon talking points that run counter to 
available evidence and common sense. The hyperbolic claims that we 
have become accustomed to hearing from prohibitionists only serve to 
further alienate an already skeptical public.

Instead of doubling down and defending a failed policy with virtually 
no scientific basis, it is time to acknowledge that marijuana 
prohibition has failed, and that smart regulation is the solution.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom