http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_13397853 By Ramon Bracamontes / El Paso Times Posted: 09/23/2009 12:00:00 AM MDT EL PASO

Marijuana Is Harmful John P. Walters is the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. In the following viewpoint Walters argues that marijuana is a potent, addictive drug that impairs brain function in teens and young adults. In addition, he asserts that attempts to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes are _base_d on pseudoscience and open up legal loop-holes that allow dangerous drug dealers to control their cities with a reign of terror. Far from Harmless After years of giggling at quaintly outdated marijuana scare stories like the 1936 movie Reefer Madness, we've become almost conditioned to think that any warnings about the true dangers of marijuana are overblown. But marijuana is far from harmless -it is pernicious. Marijuana directly affects the brain. Researchers have learned that it impairs the ability of young people to concentrate and retain information during their peak learning years, and when their brains are still developing. The THC [which is the active ingredient that produces the high] in marijuana attaches itself to receptors in the hippocampal region of the brain, weakening short-term memory and interfering with the mechanisms that form long-term memory. Do our struggling schools really need another obstacle to student achievement? Marijuana smoking can hurt more than just grades. According to the Department of Health and Human Services [HHS], every year more than 2,500 admissions to the District of Columbia's overtaxed emergency rooms-some 300 of them for patients under age 18-are _link_ed to marijuana smoking, and the number of marijuana-related emergencies is growing. Each year, for example, marijuana use is _link_ed to tens of thousands of serious traffic accidents. Research has now established that marijuana is in fact addictive. Of the 4.3 million Americans who meet the diagnostic criteria for needing drug treatment (criteria developed by the American Psychiatric Association, not police departments or prosecutors) two-thirds are dependent on marijuana, according to HHS. These are not occasional pot smokers but people with real problems directly traceable to their use of marijuana, including significant health problems, emotional problems and difficulty in cutting down on use.  Sixty percent of teens in drug treatment have a primary marijuana diagnosis.  Marijuana contains hundreds of carcinogens. Moreover, anti-smoking efforts aimed at youth have been remarkably effective by building on a campaign to erode the social acceptability of tobacco.  Should we undermine those efforts by promoting smoked marijuana as though it were a medicine? Says prosecutor Volkov: The experience in D.C. shows that marijuana dealers are no less violent than cocaine and heroin traffickers. They have just as much money to lose, just as much turf to lose, and just as many reasons to kill as any drug trafficker. Skeptics will charge that this kind of violence is just one more reason to legalize marijuana. A review of the nation's history with drug use suggests otherwise: When marijuana is inexpensive, as it would be if legal, use soars-bad news for the District's schools, streets and emergency rooms. OKAYAMA, Japan, July 1 (UPI)

Marijuana Is Harmful Not nearly as harmful as the bullshit you just posted. It's all been soundly disproven and Walters is a proven drug war liar.

Topaz < This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it wrote in message Marijuana Is Harmful Not nearly as harmful as the bullshit you just posted. It's all been soundly disproven and Walters is a proven drug war liar. i like 2 smoke, not always, though

Marijuana Is Harmful John P. Walters is the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. In the following viewpoint Walters argues that marijuana is a potent, addictive drug that impairs brain function in teens and young adults. In addition, he asserts that attempts to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes are _base_d on pseudoscience and open up legal loop-holes that allow dangerous drug dealers to control their cities with a reign of terror. While it's true that MJ affects brain chemistry, under every serious legalization scenario it would remain off-limits to teens.  And while the potential dangers of MJ should not be under-estimated, we should bear in mind that pot is less addictive than refined sugar - thousands of times less likely to lead to serious health consequences than this substance that we know to be _link_ed to obesity and an epidemic of diabetes. The legal status of any substance should be weighed _base_d on its own merits and the potential costs and gains of making it illegal. By any reasonable standard of measurement MJ would have been decriminalized for adults decades ago.