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At a very gut level, most Americans
1) love scientific authorities (and
the idea that they - the listener - know something that others don't)
2)
are suspicious of the federal govt.
3) HATE being lied to
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WHO'S LYING TO YOU ???
by Jerry Epstein, Drug Policy Forum of Texas
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[1] Marijuana is a dangerous, addictive drug that poses significant
health threats to users. [ONDCP web site]
[2] "on the medical evidence available, moderate indulgence in cannabis
has little ill-effect on health ... it would be reasonable to judge cannabis
less of a threat to health than alcohol or tobacco" [The LANCET]
The world's top medical journal for over a century, The LANCET, wants
marijuana to be legalized. Its 1995, 1998 and 2001 analyses of marijuana
contradict US officials and their Chicken Little, Reefer Madness claims.
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WHO DO YOU BELIEVE ?
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Needless to say, there is no end to the opportunities to run an ad campaign
solely based on blatant inaccuracies about marijuana with a focus on Lancet
and IOM and APHA.
Step two is to show them their basic fear [Nation of Zombies] is groundless
[partly because - step 3 - the drug war has failed so abysmally]
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LAWS MAKE NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN THE AMOUNT OF DRUG ABUSE. WHETHER
DRUGS ARE LEGAL OR ILLEGAL, THE PEOPLE WHO MOST CARE ABOUT THEM AND ABUSE
THEM GET THEM ANYHOW.
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- "The licit or illicit status of substances has little impact on their
use."
[Special Committee on Non-Medical Use of Drugs, Canada's House of Commons
report, 2002]
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- "In summary, existing research seems to indicate that there is little
apparent relationship between severity of sanctions prescribed for drug use
and prevalence or frequency of use"
" perceived legal risk explains very little in the variance of individual
drug use."
[National Research Council [NRC] 2001, "Informing America's Policy on
Illegal Drugs: What We Don't Know Keeps Hurting Us." NRC was selected by
the White House to do this research.]
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- About 70% of young Americans have used an illegal drug by age 21.
*
Yet this huge number of illegal drug users account for few of US drug
problems. [Except for the disastrous side effects of modern prohibition.]
Legal drugs are as dangerous or more dangerous than the illegal drugs. Legal
drugs account for over 80% of serious addictions (not even counting tobacco)
and over 95% of drug related deaths (which does include tobacco).
The extraordinary size of this group means that it is pointless to worry
about "What would happen if all drugs were legal?" For all practical
purposes, the drug war has been so totally ineffective that it has already
happened.
* Perhaps a great deal more than 70%. Annual
government reports show
about 50% admit to use by age 18 and average first use occurs at age 17. The
self-reported 50% figure is probably much too low. One study showed a 25%
increase in those who reported marijuana use when subjects were told they
were attached to a "lie detector." Many more will first use an illegal drug
between ages 18 and 21. Still more will first use an illegal drug after age
21.
This 70% use figure takes on added significance when we realize that about
50% of Americans seldom use alcohol [regular Household Survey reports from
SAMHSA] and have little interest in intoxicating
drugs, using them sparingly and only for a few special occasions or just as
a social gesture to "fit in." Illegal use is so widespread that
about 30% of the illegal users are drawn
from a group that simply does not abuse drugs nor develop addictions;
we are far past the saturation point for use by those
most vulnerable to drug abuse.
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