Pubdate: Sat, 09 Feb 2013 Source: Daily Republic, The (SD) Copyright: 2013 Forum Communications Company Contact: http://www.mitchellrepublic.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1320 Pubdate: 9 feb 13 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n040/a05.html Author: Clifford Schaffer MISINFORMATION ABOUT MARIJUANA CONTINUES Joe Graves simply doesn't have a clue about marijuana. To the Editor: Joe Graves simply doesn't have a clue about marijuana. He needs to read the following and try again: The short history of the marijuana laws at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/History/whiteb1.htm. This is funny and fascinating, and not what you expected. The history of the marijuana gateway myth at: http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/media/schaffer1.htm The idea was fabricated from whole cloth in 1951. Anyone who makes the argument would instantly flunk any class in basic logic. Licit and Illicit Drugs at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/cu/cumenu.htm. This is the best overall review of the drug problem ever written. It has been used as a basic college textbook for decades. If you haven't read it, then you don't know the subject. It is obvious that Graves has not read it. The Drug Hang-Up at http://druglibrary.org/special/king/dhu/dhumenu.htm. This is another excellent history of the lunacy behind the drug laws. It was written by a former president of the American Bar Association who once formed a committee with the American Medical Association to do an impartial study of the drug laws. He quickly found out that the U.S. government doesn't like impartial analysis of the drug laws. Major Studies of Drugs and Drug Policy at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/. This is a collection of the full text of every government commission report on the drug laws from around the world over the last 100 years. They all reached surprisingly similar conclusions, no matter who did them, or when, or where, or why. They all concluded that the marijuana laws do more harm than good no matter what you think of the dangers of marijuana. I am willing to bet that Graves has never laid eyes on any of this. That's the real drug problem - the ignorance of the people who claim they have the solution but have never read any of the most basic research on the subject. By the way, tell Joe no prohibitionist has won this argument on the Internet for the last 20 years. Even the major prohibitionist organizations admit that. The reason is that the legalizers posted the research on the Internet and the prohibitionists simply don't know anything about the subject. Clifford Schaffer, Oakhurst, Calif. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom