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From: doper@inner.city.net (doper)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.drugs,rec.drugs.cannabis,alt.drugs,alt.law-enforcement
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Subject: 10 Things Every Parent, Teenager & Teacher Should Know About Marijuana
...
Date: Thu, 01 Aug 1996 04:44:44 GMT
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10 THINGS EVERY PARENT, TEENAGER & TEACHER

SHOULD KNOW ABOUT MARIJUANA

1. What is Marijuana?
"Marijuana" refers to dried flowers and leaves of some strains of the
cannabis hemp plant (1), which contain various quantities of the
non-narcotic chemical THC in various quantities. When smoked or
eaten, it produces the feeling of being "high," which lasts a few hours.
Different strains of this herb produce their own sensual effects, ranging
from sedative to stimulant.

2. Who Uses Marijuana?

There is no simple profile of a typical marijuana user. It's been used
for thousands of years for medical, social and religious reasons as well
as for relaxation (2). Several of our Presidents farmed hemp (3), and
some are believed to have smoked it. One out of every five Americans
in all walks of life say they have tried it, and it is still very popular.

3. How Long Have People Been Using Marijuana?

Since Biblical times (4). This practice was widely accepted in America, (5)
as well, until the orchestrated campaign of the 1930s led to disinformation, (6)
public hysteria, and the first American laws against using it. (7)

4. Is Marijuana Addictive?
No, it is not. (8) Most users are moderate consumers who only smoke
it socially or occasionally to relax. We now know that 10% of our
population have "addictive personalities," and they are no more nor less
likely to abuse cannabis than anything else. On a relative scale, marijuana
is less habit-forming than either sugar or chocolate. Sociologists report a
general pattern of marijuana usage that peaks in the early adult years,
followed by a period of levelling off, and finally a gradual reduction in use. (
9)

5. Has Anyone Ever Died From Smoking Marijuana?

No; not even once. (10) Judge Francis Young studied all the evidence in
1988, and ruled that "marijuana is far safer than many foods we commonly
consume." The federal agency NIDA says that autopsies show 75 people per
year are high on marijuana when they die, but this does not mean marijuana
is a factor in any of their deaths. This chart shows the number of deaths from
selected substances in a typical year:
Tobacco ......................................................................
.......... 340,000-395,000
Alcohol (excluding crime/accidents) ...........................................
....... 125,000 +
Drug Overdose (prescription) .................................................
.... 14,000-27,000
Drug Overdose (illegal) .......................................................
........... 3,800-5,200
Marijuana .....................................................................
................................... 0
*Source: U.S. government Bureau of Mortality Statistics, 1987.

6. Does It Lead to Hard Drugs?

No. (11) Although people who abuse drugs often smoke marijuana also, the Natio
nal
Academy of Science reports that "Legal drugs for adults, such as alcohol and tob
acco,
... precede the use of all illicit drugs." Tobacco is known as "the gateway dru
g."

7. Does It Cause Violence?

No, just the opposite. (12) The only crime most marijuana users commit is usin
g
marijuana. The U.S. Shafer Commission (13) report was the most comprehensive
study ever undertaken on the subject. It found that marijuana smokers "tend to
be
under-represented" in violence and in crime, "especially when compared to users
of
alcohol, amphetamines and barbiturates." The simple fact is that marijuana does
not
change your basic personality. The federal government reports that over 70 mill
ion
Americans have smoked it ... probably including some of the nicest people you kn
ow.

8. How Does Marijuana Affect Your Health?

A Harvard University medical team in 1987 found that "dangerous physical reactio
ns
to marijuana are almost unknown." All smoke is unhealthy, but marijuana is sa
fer
than tobacco, and people tend to smoke less of it. That risk can be eliminated
by
eating the plant instead of smoking it (14) or it can be reduced by using water
pipes to
smoke smaller amounts of more potent marijuana. Moreover, cannabis is a proven
medicinal herb with hundreds of modern therapeutic uses in treating ailments fro
m
stress to arthritis to glaucoma to asthma to cancer therapy, to AIDS, and more.
(15)

9. What About All Those Scary Stories and Reports?

Most sensational claims of health risks cite no studies or sources at all. Othe
rs rely
on a handful of inconclusive or flawed reports. (16) After 20 years study, the
California Attorney General's panel (17) concluded in 1989 that "an objective
consideration shows that marijuana is responsible for less damage to the
individual and society than alcohol and cigarettes."

10. What Should We Do?

American taxpayers have funded many studies on this very point, and every
independent government panel on marijuana has opposed the jailing of marijuana
smokers. (18) Most have urged lawmakers to re-legalize and tax use of this her
b
by responsible adults, with age limits and regulations like those on alcohol and
tobacco. Tell your elected leaders to free up our police and resources to comba
t
violent crime and to honor our national pledge and comniittment to "liberty and
justice for all" by ending marijuana prohibition.

For More Information, Write:

FAMILY COUNCIL ON DRUG AWARENESS
Box 71093, LA, CA 90071-0093 (213) 288-4512
Distributed locally by:
HASH MARIHUANA HEMP MUSEUM
O.Z. Achterburgwal 148, Amsterdam.
Tel: (31) 20 - 6235961
Additional copies available from:
BACH, PO Box 71093, L.A., CA 90071-0093
30c apiece, Ten for $1.75, 100 for $12

"Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more

damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself."
--President Jimmy Carter
Message to Congress
 August 2, 1977

FOOTNOTES TO THE TEXT:

1. Researchers count about 50,000 non-smoking commercial uses for

cannabis hemp; in paper, textiles, fuels, food, medicine, sealants,
etc. But even the pharmacologically inert strains and uses of hemp
are now outlawed. Sources: Encyclopaedia Brittanica, US Dept. of
Agriculture; Herer, Jack, The Emperor Wears No Clothes.
2. In the Bible, God told man to use "all the seed bearing herbs" and
did not exclude the hemp / marijuana plant. (Genesis 1:12). Coptic
Christians, Rastafarians, Shintos, Hindus, Buddhists, Essenes,
Sufis, Zoroastrians, Bantus and many other sects have traditions that
consider the plant to have religious value.
3. America was founded by hemp farmers. 1975 President of the American
Historical Reference Society and consultant for the Smithsonian Institute,
Dr. Burke, counts the following seven U.S. presidents as cannabis
smokers: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James
Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Zachary Taylor and Franklin Pierce, as well as
Ben Franklin. 'Father of Our Country" George Washington once recorded
his preference for female plants and mentioned a "curious" preparation
(5-26-1974 letter), possibly hashish, made from the resins of hemp
flowers. After Abe Lincoln's assassination, his wife was prescribed
hashish for her nerves. John F. Kennedy was known to smoke marijuana
for his back pain and to favor legalization. (Washington farm journals,
Jefferson diaries, national archives, etc.)
4. Archeologists report that cannabis was probably the first plant cultivated
by humans -- about 8,000 B.C. (Columbia University, History of the
World.) It was used for linen, paper and garments. It was being smoked in
China and India by 2700 B.C. (US Dept. of Agriculture Yearbook, 1913.)
5. Turkish smoking parlors, a tradition in the Middle and Far East, were
popular in Europe and America as recently as the turn of the Century.
6. Forty years earlier, the exhaustive British "Raj" Indian Hemp Commis-
sion (1896) study of 'gunjah' smokers found no cause to restrict its use.
7. Notorious yellow journalist William Randolph Hearst fabricated and
published horror stories about marijuana. His lies were eventually
exposed, but not until long after marijuana prohibition was enacted in
1938. (Sloman, Larry, Reefer Madness.) The law against 'marijuana' was
passed a year after the invention of.a machine to process hemp that could
compete commercially against businesses owned by Hearst, DuPont and
other powerful families. (Herer, Jack, The Emperor Wears No Clotbes.)
8. Marijuana use does not lead to physical dependency: Harvard Medical
Report, 1987. Judge Francis Young, Sept., 1988 (Docket # 88-22). NY
LaGuardia report, 1944. U.S. Shafer Commission, 1972, et.al.
9. Sources: Kaplan, John, Marijuana: The New Prohibition. Newsweek,
Sept 7, 1970. U.S. Shafer Commission, 1972, et. al.
10. Source: Harvard Medical Report, 1987; Judge Francis Young, Sept.,
1988 (Docket # 88-22).
11. Costa Rican Study, 1980; Jamaican Study, 1975; Shafer Coman, 1972.
The FBI reports that 65-75% of criminal violence is alcohol related.
12. Federal Bureau of Narcotics chief Harry Anslinger told Congress in
1948 that marijuana causes pacifism, but the "Siler Commission" study
conducted by the U.S. in Panama (1931) had already reported "no impair-
ment' in personnel who smoked marijuana during off-duty hours.
13. Also known as President Richard M. Nixon's "Blue Ribbon Report."
14. "The only clinically significant medical problem that is scientifically
linked to marijuana is bronchitis. Like smoking tobacco, the treatment is
the same: stop smoking." (Dr. Fred Oerther, M.D., 1991.)
15. Traditional uses source: Dr. Tod Mikuriya, Marijuana: Medical
Papers. Marijuana could replace at least 10-20% of prescription drugs
now in use. Source: Dr. Raphael Mechoulam. Marijuana was a major
active ingredient in 40-50% of patent medicines before its ban.
16. "There is not yet any conclusive evidence as to whether prolonged use
of marijuana causes permanent changes in the nervous system or
sustained impairment of brain function and behavior in human beings."
(National Academy of Sciences) In the famous Heath/Tulane study
(1974), wild monkeys were brutally captured, then slowly suffocated in
smoke over a period of 90 days. Source: National Institute of Health.
17. The California Attorney General's Research Advisory Panel 20th
Annual Report, 1989 (released 1990; portions suppressed).
18. Major U.S. and international studies on marijuana and policy include
"'Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission" (British, 1896); "Siler
Commission" Report (U.S., 1.933); "LaGuardia" Commission (New York,
1944); "Shafer Commission" (U.S., 1972); "Ladaine Commission"
(Canada, 1972); Alaska State Comsn. (1989); Attorney General's
Research Advisory Panel (California, 1990), et. al.

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