Tuesday, April 12, 2005

He's at it again. The Drug Czar's got a new set of advertisements coming out. According to his release: The Office of National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP) National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign today launches a new advertising campaign to provide scientific facts about marijuana risks and harms for parents of teens. Themed "Facts for Parents," the print ad campaign underscores the potency and carcinogenic content of marijuana and outlines short- and long-term consequences of marijuana use on adolescent brain development and learning. Starting today, the ads are running in The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. During the course of the next four months, they will also appear in Newsweek, BusinessWeek, Time and Smithsonian magazines. "Scientific facts." Spare me. Check their new ads yourself. An example: Reliable evidence shows that marijjuana today is more than twice as powerful on average as it was 20 years ago. It contains twice the concentration of THC, the chemical that affects the brain. Pot can turn your hopes and dreams for your kids into a nightmare of lost opportunities. Reliable evidence shows that gin has more than twice as much alcohol as beer Which is why you don't drink gin by the case. Notice how they word the ad? They don't come out and specifically claim that higher THC pot will cause a nightmare, but they make the reader infer it. Check out this next one. Quite a few people think that smoking pot is less likely to cause cancer than a regular cigarette. You may have even heard some parents say they'd rather their kids smoked a little pot than get hooked on cigarettes. Wrong, and wrong again. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, one joint can deliver four times as much cancer causing tar as one cigarette. Again, notice what they did? They didn't say that marijuana causes cancer (there's no evidence that it does). They simply said it can deliver "cancer causing tar" -- but not that tar from marijuana cigarettes alone, in the amounts that most people consume it, adds anything to your chances of getting cancer. And they ignore the fact that people smoke much less pot than cigarettes (particularly if it's more potent!) and it's not addictive, so they tend to quit (unlike cigarettes). But the ONDCP cares so little for life, that they're willing to blatantly advise parents that it's better that their kid get hooked on cigarettes than smoke a joint! It's particularly disturbing to see this now -- with tax day approaching -- knowing that I'm paying for it. 6:28:23 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Alabama? I've been negligent in reporting that a medical marijuana bill is quietly working its way through the legislature of -- yes that's right -- Alabama. I admire the persistence of some pretty incredible drug policy reformers in Alabama (Loretta Nall is one of the most notable, but there are others as well). The medical marijuana effort in Alabama is starting to gain some publicity, and although few think it will succeed, the effort is getting a positive message out there. Alabama has a history of being fairly proud of its harsh marijuana laws and enforcement. Interestingly, Alabama was one of several states to provide supporting statements in the Raich v. Ashcroft case -- not because they believed in medical marijuana, but rather because they believed in states' rights enough to support the philosophical concept despite their clear opposition to medical marijuana. Here are some excerpts from the Amicus Brief of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana: Alabama, has apparently earned something of a reputation for its zeal in prosecuting and punishing drug crimes. See E. Nadelmann, An End to Marijuana Prohibition, National Review, p.28 (July 12, 2004) ("Alabama currently locks up people convicted three times of marijuana possession for 15 years to life."). It is not a reputation of which Alabama is embarrassed or ashamed. On the contrary, Alabama's Attorney General has every intention of continuing to prosecute drug crimes to the fullest extent of the law. ... Under Alabama law, as under the U.S. Code, marijuana is a "Schedule I" drug, meaning it has a "high potential for abuse" and has "no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States or lacks accepted safety for use in treatment under medical supervision," Respondents' conduct -- cultivating and possessing marijuana for personal consumption -- would thus plainly be criminal in the State of Alabama. Notably for present purposes, Alabama courts have -- again, at the Attorney General's urging -- expressly refused to recognize "'medical necessity' as a valid defense in a prosecution for the unlawful possession of marijuana." Good luck, Alabama. Always keeping it interesting. 12:07:11 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []