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1/3 of People Admitted to Marijuana Treatment Hadn't Been Smoking Marijuana!

Advocates for harsh marijuana laws can be counted on to infuse their rhetoric with incessant declarations that marijuana is highly addictive. Rarely, if ever, could one expose oneself to such discussion without being told something like this:
Decriminalizing marijuana – the drug which sends the most of America's youth into substance abuse treatment and recovery – is a dangerous first step towards complete drug legalization. In fact, marijuana sends the highest percentage of New Hampshire residents into drug treatment than any other illicit drug.
…

I strongly urge responsible leaders in New Hampshire to stop any effort to decriminalize or legalize the highly addictive drug marijuana."
These words belong to the Deputy Drug Czar and they are less than a week old, thus they represent what his office currently believes to be the strongest and most important argument for marijuana prohibition: that the drug is highly addictive.

As Paul Armentano at NORML points out, however, the government's own data on marijuana dependency shows that a plurality of people entering treatment for marijuana hadn't smoked it in a month or more. Isn't that just amazing? I mean, wow. 36% of people entering treatment for pot addiction had already kicked the habit on their own. Highly-addictive my ash.

But how could this be? The answer can be found on this page, which shows that 58% of people entering marijuana treatment were referred by the criminal justice system. They didn't ask for help, rather they were found in possession of marijuana, which led a judge to issue a diagnosis of "marijuana addiction" and order them to get help for that.

When more than half the sample consists of people who were forced into treatment, it should come as no surprise that so many of them haven't actually been smoking marijuana. Some may never have been marijuana users to begin with and just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. More commonly, I suspect, a large number of marijuana arrestees simply quit after getting busted, either voluntarily or because their lawyers recommended it, pretrial drug screenings, etc. Since marijuana isn't actually very addictive to begin with, this is easy to do.

And yet we continue to waste limited government resources investigating, arresting, adjudicating, and treating these people for an addiction they never actually had. In sum, the Drug Czar's best evidence of marijuana addiction comes from the fact that the government categorizes people as marijuana addicts if they're found sitting near a bag of marijuana. The instant we stop calculating it that way, the evidence ceases to exist and the drug warriors' favorite and best argument against marijuana reform is, well…cashed.
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A False and Embarrassing Press Release from the Deputy Drug Czar

For your amusement, I've posted the full text of a press release the Drug Czar's office sent out last week in opposition to a marijuana decriminalization bill in New Hampshire. I disagree with it, of course, but that is not why I've posted it. I share this because it is so filled with factual and grammatical errors that I'm told NH legislators have been forwarding it around and laughing at it. (sorry, no link)

Press Release
Wednesday, March 19, 2008

STATEMENT FROM DEPUTY "DRUG CZAR"
SCOTT M. BURNS ON MARIJUANA
DECRIMINALIZATION EFFORTS IN
NEW HAMPSHIRE

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Scott M. Burns, Deputy Director for the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), made the following statement regarding marijuana decriminalization legislation, which is currently being debated in New Hampshire.

"Decriminalizing the illegal and highly addictive drug – marijuana – sends the wrong message to New Hampshire's youth, students, parents, public health officials, and the law-enforcement community.

"The supporters of decriminalizing marijuana are fooling themselves if they believe the manufacturing, possession, and/or distribution of 1.25 ounces or – over 90 marijuana joints – is good public policy.

"Decriminalizing marijuana – the drug which sends the most of America's youth into substance abuse treatment and recovery – is a dangerous first step towards complete drug legalization. In fact, marijuana sends the highest percentage of New Hampshire residents into drug treatment than any other illicit drug.

"The last thing New Hampshire need is more drugs, drug users, and drug dealers on their streets and communities – further straining limited law enforcement manpower and resources.

I strongly urge responsible leaders in New Hampshire to stop any effort to decriminalize or legalize the highly addictive drug marijuana."

To learn more about the dangers of marijuana use, please visit:
http://www.ondcp.gov/drugfact/marijuana

Not a word of this is true, of course, but the highlight is the 3rd paragraph in which Burns reveals utter confusion about what the bill even says. The proposed law decriminalizes possession of up to 0.25 ounces of marijuana. It does not decriminalize up to 1.25 ounces and it applies only to possession, not manufacture or sales. Burns is either lying, or he is just dramatically and embarrassingly wrong.

Furthermore, 1.25 ounces isn't 90 joints anyway. An average joint is a gram, so 1.25 ounces is 35 joints, give or take. Since the bill in question decriminalizes only 0.25 ounces, however, we're really talking about just 7 joints. Nothing could be more typical of our friends at the Drug Czar's office than to claim that 7 joints = 90 joints.

Finally, we learn that marijuana must remain illegal because so many people in New Hampshire are in treatment for it. This isn't a lie necessarily, but it is pretty funny. How many of those people were forced into treatment following a marijuana arrest that wouldn’t have happened under the proposed law? We are arresting people for marijuana, forcing them into treatment, then citing those stats as evidence that marijuana is addictive and that we should be allowed to arrest people for having it. That is how stupid the modern marijuana debate has become.

Fact and fiction aside, the whole thing is just ugly to read. Its grammar and sentence structure are reminiscent of the incoherent anti-drug rants one might find on this blog after a big link draws hostile attention. Could they be written by the same person?

"In fact, marijuana sends the highest percentage of New Hampshire residents into drug treatment than any other illicit drug."

"The last thing New Hampshire need is more drugs, drug users, and drug dealers on their streets and communities – further straining limited law enforcement manpower and resources."

It's usually best not to get too caught up in correcting the grammar of one's opposition, and in most cases I'd consider that an indulgent and childish distraction from the real matters at hand. In this case, though, I think the high-schoolish tone in which the Deputy Drug Czar addresses politicians and the press is just lazy and disrespectful. Factual errors and bad writing are ubiquitous in any political debate, but when it arrives on White House letterhead, questions about basic competence merge with the broader ideological conflict.

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New England Pushes for Marijuana Decrim.

Over the recent months I have had the pleasure of observing the work that folks have been doing in Massachusetts and New Hampshire in regards to Marijuana Decriminalization. New Hampshire's HB 1623 that would decriminalize marijuana up to a quarter of an ounce was not "Supposed" to pass the house. Thankfully the legislators of the Granite State where professing dismay to the idea of students losing their financial aid for mistake.
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Simple Farmers Bearing Brunt of Afghan Drug War

EDITOR'S NOTE: Kalif Mathieu is an intern at StoptheDrugWar.org. His bio is in our "staff" section at http://stopthedrugwar.org/about/staff It was reported by the Associated Press on March 24 that 100 Afghan drug police were killed in the line of duty in 2007. One hundred deaths, not even counting civilians, simply to claim 13 provinces out of the country's 34 as poppy-free, seems like a brutal waste. And the war isn't truly even being fought against drugs, or even against a logical enemy of the state like the Taliban. This war is being fought against simple farmers, mostly in the remote and unruly provinces that don't have strong state presence. Farmers are thereby forced to pay taxes totaling in the tens of millions to non-governmental entities like the Taliban, essentially for "safe passage" in these lawless areas. This cost makes it a necessity, not merely an option, to secure the profits of growing opium. According to the World Bank: "[T]he cultivation of opium poppy started in the late 1970s -- with gross income per hectare yields 12 to 30 times higher than the country's staple, wheat." Given those numbers, it's easy to see why farmers living on the edge in a lawless province paying taxes to people like the Taliban would use opium growing to give themselves a little breathing room. It isn't that these farmers ideologically support opium or heroin use, or support the Taliban, quite the contrary. From the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's John Dixon of the Agricultural Management, Marketing and Finance Service in 2004: "Opium is not a crop of choice for most Afghan farmers. There are just no attractive alternatives at present that can give them a return anywhere near the return opium gives." So why is it that the focus of all of this on eliminating the growth of poppies instead of increasing central government jurisdiction, thereby increasing general security? Even after clearing these 13 provinces of opium, farmers have started planting marijuana instead, according to the AP, and so the struggle continues. Stop wasting time and money and lives burning fields of cropland and start working on protecting these farmers from Taliban extortion! This would seem a much more positive plan of action than destroying their livelihoods and committing them to poverty. The process would also reduce Taliban funding since they would have fewer and fewer farmers to exploit. That may sound optimistic, but at least aiming for the goal of security is a little more helpful to the people and realistic to work toward than trying to eliminate the drug trade in a place like Afghanistan. The government of Afghanistan doesn't even agree 100% with the United State's approach to the situation: in late 2007 the US was pushing to spray opium fields with pesticides from the air, but the Afghanis wouldn't allow it.
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In The Trenches

Drug Sense Focus ALERT: #362 Medical Marijuana In Michigan - Yea or Nay?

DrugSense FOCUS Alert #362 - Monday, 24 March 2008 Earlier this month, the voters of Michigan succeeded in qualifying an initiative for the November election ballot. When passed by the voters on November 4th Michigan law will allow patients to use, possess, and grow their own marijuana for medical purposes with their doctors' approval. This will likely make Michigan the first medical marijuana state in the heartland, although there are bills pending in some other midwest states. Michigan is home to more than 10 million people. Of the states with current effective medical marijuana laws only California has a larger population. Three articles were written for the Sunday editions of the Kalamazoo Gazette this month, a newspaper in the heartland of Michigan. They illustrate the battle Michigan folks will have in the media in the months ahead. The author of the articles, Chris Killian, went to some length to find both pro and con arguments. Please read the articles at http://www.mapinc.org/author/Chris+Killian Note that for the two oldest articles Michigan letter writers have responded as shown at the 'Letters' link at the top of each MAP archived article. We are not suggesting that out of state letter writers respond to Michigan press articles about the initiative. This is a battle best fought by in state letter writers. Folks outside Michigan may find other ways to support the initiative by going to the initiative website at http://stoparrestingpatients.org/ But the three articles do illustrate the type of arguments made in the press both for and against medicinal marijuana initiatives, bills and laws in every state. As letter writers improve their arguments in letters sent to their state papers they advance the issue. ********************************************************************** Excerpts from 'Nuclear-Blast Survivor Heads Veterans for Medical Marijuana Access' published on March 9th: The atomic explosions off remote islands in the South Pacific seemed to turn night into day. They also turned Martin Chilcutt into a marijuana user. Chilcutt said the drug has helped him to ease the pain he says dates back to his exposure to radiation during a 1956 U.S. government project testing nuclear and thermonuclear weapons. A state ballot proposal could allow voters in November to decide whether Chilcutt's measures to self-medicate should be legal in Michigan. The 74-year-old former intelligence officer with the U.S. Naval Air Force has used other medications to help him with his physical and psychological problems, but marijuana helps "so much better," he said. [snip] Although there are different ways to use the drug, such as ingesting or inhaling it, there is no difference in the drug's effect based on consumption, according to the Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care, which is spearheading the state marijuana initiative. "It just makes life so much easier," he said. "It allows you to be comfortable." Chilcutt, a retired psychotherapist, said he first learned of marijuana's medical benefits in the late 1970s while counseling Vietnam War veterans in California. They told him the drug could help allay his pain, he said. He said he takes eight other medications for ailments the marijuana doesn't help, including a thyroid condition. Advocates for the medical use of marijuana say it's also effective in easing symptoms from other serious illnesses such as HIV/AIDS, glaucoma and multiple sclerosis. Critics cite a U.S. Food and Drug Administration report in 2006 that said "no sound scientific studies" support the medical use of the drug. If the marijuana-use proposal is approved by state voters, Michigan would become the 15th state -- and the first in the Midwest -- with a law that permits marijuana use for seriously ill people. Michigan law currently prohibits marijuana use for any reason. It's estimated between 40,000 and 50,000 people -- about one-half of 1 percent of Michigan residents -- would be eligible to use marijuana for medical purposes. In states where the law is now in place, it's estimated the same percentage of residents would qualify to use the drug, according to the Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care. [snip]
In The Trenches

4:20 Drug War NEWS: 03/24/08

Drug Truth Network Update: 4:20 Drug War NEWS from 90.1 FM in Houston and dozens of radio affiliates in the US and Canada & on the web at www.kpft.org. We provide the "unvarnished truth about the drug war" to scores of broadcast affiliates in the US and Canada. 4:20 Drug War NEWS 03/24/08 to 03/30/08 now online (3:00 ea:) Select online at www.drugtruth.net Mon - Jim Hightower, author "Swim Against the Current - Even A Dead Fish can Go with the Flow" 1/7 Tue - Jim Hightower, author "Swim Against the Current - Even A Dead Fish can Go with the Flow" 2/7 Wed - Jim Hightower, author "Swim Against the Current - Even A Dead Fish can Go with the Flow" 3/7 Thu - Jim Hightower, author "Swim Against the Current - Even A Dead Fish can Go with the Flow" 147 Fri - Jim Hightower, author "Swim Against the Current - Even A Dead Fish can Go with the Flow" 5/7 Sat - Jim Hightower, author "Swim Against the Current - Even A Dead Fish can Go with the Flow" 6/7 Sun - Jim Hightower, author "Swim Against the Current - Even A Dead Fish can Go with the Flow" 7/7 Next - Century of Lies on Tues, Cutural Baggage on Wed (Now With Transcripts): - Cultural Baggage 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT & 9:30 AM PT: TBD - Century of Lies 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT & 9:30 AM PT: Eric Sterling - Common Sense for Drug Policy Hundreds of our programs are available online at www.drugtruth.net, www.audioport.org and at www.radio4all.net. Check out our latest videos via www.youtube.com/fdbecker: Please become part of the solution, visit our website: www.endprohibition.org for links to the best of reform. "Prohibition is evil." - Reverend Dean Becker, Drug Truth Network Producer Dean Becker 713-849-6869 www.drugtruth.net
In The Trenches

IDPC - Supplementary Alert

The International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) is a global network of NGOs and professional networks that specialise in issues related to illegal drug production and use. The Consortium aims to promote objective and open debate on the effectiveness, direction and content of drug policies at national and international level, and supports evidence-based policies that are effective in reducing drug-related harm. It disseminates the reports of its member organisations about particular drug-related matters, and offers expert consultancy services to policymakers and officials around the world. IDPC RESPONSE TO THE 2007 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL BOARD The latest INCB Annual Report was published on 4th March 2008. This brief response explains the contents of the report, and comments on the positions taken by the Board on proportionality in drug law enforcement, the scheduling of coca leaf, and harm reduction. http://idpc.info/php-bin/documents/IDPC_Response2INCB_AnnRpt07_EN.pdf
In The Trenches

LEAP on the Hill: Stories from the week of March 14, 2008

Psssss. I agree but I can’t say it in public: On Monday and Tuesday I attended a 2,000 person conference in DC; the US League of Cities. I had about 35 conversations & all but one person agreed that we needed to end prohibition. (Are you ready for the ‘but’)? BUT all of them said, saying so publicly will mean a loss in the next election for mayor or city council. As I silently screamed each time I heard this, I gave them ideas on what they could say in public the policy is not achieving any of its objectives, use a public health approach to reduce crime and drug use, etc. & perhaps more importantly, to hold a breakout session at next year’s conference which would discuss alternatives to prohibition. Hold your breath?? If at first you do not succeed, try, try again!!: On Thursday Congressman Kucinich (D-OH) held an oversight hearing of the ONDCP (Drug Czar). The Drug Czar, John Walters, came and brought over 20 charts to impress the committee how well prohibition is working. {he had no chart showing how many teen drug dealers had died KIA (killed in action)}. The members took a 40 minute break to vote on the floor. When the room was fairly deserted (leer), I just walked to Kucinich’s desk area and placed a DEA pamphlet down in a spot he would certainly see it. As I returned to my front row seat, an aide walked over, picked up my pamphlet, gave me a bad look and put it in her pocket. Two hours later at the end of the hearing, I walked up to Congressman Kucinich, introduced myself and handed him a pamphlet. He read the first sentence: “Drugs are readily available to America’s youth..” I suggested he read the question to future government witnesses. He smiled, nodded, put the pamphlet in his jacket pocket, thanked me and left. As my fellow Texan and LEAP board member, Terry Nelson, wrote: Nobody in the wrong can stop a man in the right who just keeps on a comin.’
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MEDICAL MARIJUANA - - NOT A DRUG!!! STOP THE PERSECUTION!!!

Texas and other "no-tolerance" states are taking advantage of people with medical problems who, for whatever reason, do NOT believe in taking man made medication, cannot take man made medication, etc. This problem goes further than this one case. But we feel that if we can make a point with this petition, maybe we can make a difference for really good people out there, that are persecuted because of a difference of opinion.
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Wally still doesn't get it

The headline in Friday's paper reads:Oppal calls for calm after shooting.This is the same Wally Oppal that recently called for a return to the habitual criminal act.His solicitor General John Les actually used the word habitual,Wally substituted chronic offender but the thought was exactly the sameThese people know exactly why people are dying.They know the drug laws as they stand now are killing people and will continue to do so until something is done.Unfortunately,they still think the answer lies somewhere in the current system of jail,enforcement,policing and the court and criminal justice system.I have no idea how their minds work or how they think that the drug problem,which has gotten consistently worse,can be solved with more of the same.The stats keep getting muddled and the death toll is either pumped up or down played,depending on the point they're trying to make.Right now the plan seems to be to play down peoples fear as the bodies are really starting to pile up.I was recently in contact with the head of the Green party(she actually wrote me herself)and they want to end this war.The Liberal party of B.C.