"Experts" on Marijuana

The New York Times ran a rather lengthy piece from “Experts” on Marijuana. http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/if-marijuana-is-legal-will-addiction-rise. Most, as usual, fail to grasp the reality of the situation, the exception being Norm Stamper of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

Here is my brief response:

Many of the opponents of Marijuana fail to adequately address the potency issue as well as the large body of “Unofficial” research; research conducted largely in non-American facilities.
The U.S. government only permits research funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) which has a stated purpose of opposition to legalization. The government also allows only Marijuana grown by the government at one facility in Mississippi which is of notoriously low quality.
Foreign research, unfettered by government meddling, indicates Marijuana is far safer a substance than many we currently use. Indeed, Drug Enforcement Administrative Law Judge Francis Young in 1988 stated the Marijuana “Is safer than many of the foods we commonly consume.”
It has been proven Marijuana is not physically addictive. Just as a certain number of the populace can not use dairy products, some people have adverse reactions to Marijuana.
Because of negative policy, people who enter hospital emergency rooms are frequently drug tested. When Marijuana is found in one’s system, far too often it is determined that the visit is “Marijuana related” even if that person comes in for treatment of an injury.
There has never been a death caused solely by the consumption of Marijuana. There has never been a case of cancer caused solely by Marijuana. There is no possibility of overdose of Marijuana. It is not physically addictive. It does not cause one to try other substances.
The problem is simply U.S. government policy that tries to enforce a narrow set of values on free people by making them less free to choose their own following.

Skywolf.