Earlier this month, The Enquirer
featured two letters to the editor that were very critical of the
legalization of marijuana. One suggested marijuana use caused a fatal
accident, and the other concerned marijuana being a gateway drug. I am
no expert, but I thought I would share my research.
In
1969, I was a junior in college and member of a fraternity. That year I
learned that a prospective member had a history of smoking marijuana.
While the substance was becoming more fashionable, I was uncertain. But
any given fraternity brother could “blackball” a nominee, thereby
keeping him out of our group. Taking my power seriously, I decided to
speak to our chapter adviser, a family physician in our southeast Ohio
community. He gladly informed me of all the horrors of marijuana usage,
including all the stereotypes that were bandied about then and even to
this day. I blackballed this individual based on his account. I was
lobbied intensely from my fellow “brothers” to change my vote, but I
steadfastly refused.
The year after I graduated, I
came to find a book called "Marijuana: The New Prohibition." It had just
been published and the author was John Kaplan. Kaplan had served in
1966 as the Assistant U.S. Attorney in California and former prosecutor
of drug law violators. A short while later, he was asked to rewrite the
California penal code for drugs under then-Gov. Ronald Reagan. After
two years of research, he submitted the findings of his committee, which
included research scientists, physicians, lawmakers and psychologists.
He was summarily fired and removed from his appointment. His act of
betrayal: his research team called for the legalization of marijuana. He
then decided to publish his comprehensive findings, and this book was
the result.
Though
marijuana was legal in this country until 1937, the classic “Reefer
Madness" (1936) depicted a highly fictionalized version of the depravity
which ensues after the casual use of marijuana.
Attitudes towards
marijuana began to change rapidly.
As the false
associations continue to spread, marijuana became tarnished in the eyes
of well-intentioned people who associated its use with puritanical
visions of pleasure, permissiveness, radicalism, and lack of law and
order.
Kaplan's studies closely examined the
widely-perceived, age-old fairy tale that marijuana leads to harder
drugs, leads to aggression and would impair coordination. The
comprehensive testing done for his studies found all of the above to be
unfounded.
By the way, I am not vouching for all
forms of marijuana as currently used. Over the years, marijuana has been
laced with all kinds of vile additives which create an entirely
different substance. This is what happens when there is no regulation. I
am speaking of a pure form, grown naturally, as would happen should the
DEA drop its outrageous characterization of it and let states regulate
the growing and distribution of it.
Currently,
marijuana is classified as a Schedule I Controlled Substance. There are
five Schedules, according to the DEA website, with the most dangerous
drugs being Schedule I. This group includes those drugs “with no
currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” Included
in this category with marijuana are LSD, heroin, some methamphetamines,
and peyote. Less dangerous drugs, meaning Schedule II, according to the
DEA, are opioids!
If you are thinking that we
should be enlightened enough to know better today, then look no further
than a news conference with Sean Spicer, former press secretary for
President Donald Trump, who during a Feb. 24, 2017 news conference
suggested that marijuana use could lead to harder drugs and even linked
its usage to the opioid crisis.
I have long
believed that the federal government and local authorities, by
demonizing recreational marijuana as malevolent and promoting false
narratives about it, have undermined our countries efforts to convince
young people of the truly dangerous drugs that they should always avoid.
I have not even discussed the positive medical aspects of marijuana.
Yet my hope is that policy on this drug will be driven by scientific
facts, not hearsay and superstition.
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