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US: Letter: A different leaf

Found: Wed Sep 15 21:16:52 2004 PDT
Source: Arlington Advocate, The (MA)
Copyright: 2004 Community Newspapers, Inc.
Contact: arlington@cnc.com
Website: http://www2.townonline.com/arlington/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3498
Source: Brookline TAB (MA)
Copyright: 2004, Tri-Town Transcript
Contact: brookline@cnc.com
Website: http://www2.townonline.com/brookline/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3502
Webpage: http://www2.townonline.com/georgetown/opin... [translate]
Newshawk: http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/

[ topical analysis ]    propaganda analysis
Letter: A vote for L'Italien

Letter: Note on Mental Olympics

Letter: A different leaf

Thursday, September 16, 2004To the editor:

Mr. Beck's Aug. 12 article "Waiting to Inhale" is an artful portrait of deception. As chronicled in the Record, I have followed Mr. Epstein's sinister campaign now for some time. I would have little concern for the radical and dangerous social experiment he proposes if it weren't for the fact that a lot of other people seem to be swallowing the propaganda he's been preaching, most alarmingly some law enforcement officials and a few air-headed politicians who seem to have no mind of their own (Rep. Doug Peterson of Marblehead has no opinion on the matter - how sophisticated).

The arguments that Mr. Epstein and his ilk present are the same ones that were spun by the misguided intellectual elite where I went to college, all whilst many of my friends turned into potheads, some ultimately moving on to harder drugs. I witnessed many lives ruined and a lot of people hurt during that period of my life. How much worse it would have been if possession hadn't been a criminal offense. Like other pro-pot advocates, Mr. Epstein invokes the reasoning of a fool that reminds me of the lowering of the drinking age to 18 back in the '70s, hailed at the time as great "social progress" by the liberals on Beacon Hill. Only after teen traffic accidents and DUI arrests skyrocketed did the citizenry come to its senses. A lot of kids paid a terrible price for the temporary insanity of the ones who were supposed to be looking after them.

The public needs to wake up and do their homework. Marijuana is a dangerous drug and should never be decriminalized. Mr. Epstein pompously claims that that marijuana never killed anyone. Tell that to the families of victims of a 1987 train crash in Maryland that claimed 17 lives. The engineer who was high on pot drove through four warning signals. In 1995, according to the Drug Abuse Warning Network, there were more than 47,100 marijuana-related admissions into hospital emergency rooms. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, in 1996 there were more than 196,000 admissions of people into drug treatment programs who stated that marijuana was their primary drug of addiction.

According to a major study of motor vehicle collision victims in a regional Trauma Unit in Toronto, marijuana was the most commonly found drug in impaired drivers other than alcohol. Marijuana is worse for the lungs than tobacco with nearly five times more carbon monoxide and three times as much tar. Marijuana smoke contains 50 percent more cancer-causing materials than tobacco smoke and has been linked to both pre-cancerous growths and to cancer. Research has also long implicated cannabis as an exacerbating factor in mental illness.

In spite of the compelling evidence that debunks Mr. Epstein's assertions, he wants to put marijuana use in the same category as a traffic violation. Decriminalization and legalization is virtually the same thing. How many times have you exceeded the speed limit without so much as a warning? Decriminalization of marijuana will open a floodgate of use particularly among young people. Growing cannabis will be the new "in thing" and selling pot will go from a back alley transaction to a commercial boon that will only benefit the sleaziest segment of humanity. And if you think an already overtaxed police force is going to scramble around arresting people for misdemeanors you are from another planet.

Perhaps the most outrageous contentions that Mr. Epstein makes, echoed by the pitifully naove BU professor Jeffrey Miron, are the predicted economic benefits should pot become legal. Conveniently omitted from their argument is the cost of rehab for a whole new generation of smokers, to say nothing of lost productivity, destroyed families and an increase in crime, accidents and highway fatalities. And of course those involved with the cannabis trade are gleefully going to pay taxes. Right, and the earth is really flat. Another equally bogus argument that needs to be refuted is the need for medical use of marijuana. Responsible physicians will tell you that there are much more effective alternatives for pain relief.

In bringing my son up I face a host of bad influences to battle with and I don't need one more demon let loose just to satisfy the indulgence of some leftover hippies from the '60s. Mr. Epstein needs to be sent a strong message by this community - our kids' safety is more important than Mr. Insuik's right to light up a joint on the subway. And our elected officials need to be put on notice that we will not be persuaded by misinformation that Mass Cann and their disciples are disseminating. We have enough problems to deal with without battling this one.

It is heartwarming to read in the paper every week about the sacrifices that so many individuals make in serving this community - coaching a team, helping the sick, mentoring to troubled kids, refurbishing historical buildings, adopting orphans from foreign countries. When Mr. Epstein and his narcissistic crusaders take their last dying breath, should they succeed in advancing their evil agenda, they'll be able to say, "I made it easier for kids to get high and tune out." What a disgraceful legacy to leave behind. Let's keep those "waiting to inhale" waiting - indefinitely.

Richard Collins

Baldpate Road

Georgetown

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I thought this page was interesting because:
conceptevidencehitslinks
 $drug_related
[news] [concept]
$legalization $prohibition_agency $illegal_drugs  
definition for $drugwar_propaganda : a drug war propaganda event, campaign release, slogan, or theme $drugwar_propaganda
[news] [concept]
"propaganda" "campaign" $propaganda_theme1 $propaganda_theme2 $propaganda_theme3 $propaganda_theme5 $propaganda_theme6 $propaganda_theme7 $propaganda_theme8 $propaganda_theme42Themes in Chemical Prohibition
Drug War: Covert Money, Power and Policy: Propaganda
Shamanism and the Drug Propaganda
definition for $propaganda_theme1 : drug war propaganda theme: hated groups $propaganda_theme1
[news] [concept]
"potheads" "hippies"2Hated Groups (propaganda theme 1)
definition for $propaganda_theme2 : drug war propaganda theme: madness, violence, illness caused by drugs $propaganda_theme2
[news] [concept]
"dangerous drug" "crime" "criminal" "hurt" "addiction" "destroyed" "dangerous" "impaired" "cancer-causing" "cancerous" "cancer" "problems" "accidents"15Madness,Crime,Violence,Illness (propaganda theme 2)
definition for $propaganda_theme3 : drug war propaganda theme: survival of society $propaganda_theme3 50%
[news] [concept]
"community"2Survival of Society (propaganda theme 3)
 $use_is_abuse
[news] [concept]
"Drug Abuse" "marijuana use"2Use is Abuse (propaganda theme 4)
definition for $propaganda_theme4 : drug war propaganda theme: all use is abuse, gateway $propaganda_theme4
[news] [concept]
$use_is_abuse Use is Abuse, Gateway (propaganda theme 4)
definition for $propaganda_theme5 : drug war propaganda theme: children corrupted by drugs $propaganda_theme5 70%
[news] [concept]
"kids" "teen" "young people" "message"7Children Corrupted (propaganda theme 5)
definition for $propaganda_theme6 : drug war propaganda theme: demonize; use of drugs is epidemic; war $propaganda_theme6 60%
[news] [concept]
"evil" "demon"2Demonize, War (propaganda theme 6)
definition for $propaganda_theme7 : drug war propaganda theme: total prohibiton or access $propaganda_theme7 70%
[news] [concept]
"legalization" $legalization1Total Prohibition or Access (propaganda theme 7)
definition for $propaganda_theme8 : drug war propaganda theme: dissent attacked $propaganda_theme8 90%
[news] [concept]
"pro-pot" "pot advocates" "my life"3Dissent Attacked (propaganda theme 8)
 $illegal_drugs
[news] [concept]
$cannabis $various_illegal_drugs  
 $drugs 95%
[news] [concept]
$various_drugs  
definition for $prohibition_agency : police, propaganda, and other government drug prohibition agencies $prohibition_agency
[news] [concept]
"police" "law enforcement" "Drug Abuse Warning Network"3http://www.mapinc.org/campaign.htm
Drug Enforcement Administration
http://www.mapinc.org/walters.htm
 $legalization 70%
[news] [concept]
"decriminalized" "Decriminalization" "legalization"5http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm
definition for $cannabis : cannabis (marijuana) product or use $cannabis
[news] [concept]
"Marijuana" "marijuana-related" "cannabis" "pot" "potheads" $medical_cannabis18http://mpp.org
http://pot-tv.net
http://cannabislink.ca/
http://norml.org
http://cannabisnews.com/
http://marijuananews.com/
Schaffer Library: Marijuana
http://mapinc.org/pot.htm
definition for $medical_cannabis : cannabis for medical use $medical_cannabis
[news] [concept]
"medical use of marijuana"1http://www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org/
http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm
 $alcohol 50%
[news] [concept]
"alcohol"1Stanton Peele Addiction Web Site
 $various_drugs 95%
[news] [concept]
"drugs" "drug"7 
 $various_illegal_drugs
[news] [concept]
"Drug Abuse"1http://www.mapinc.org
http://www.drugwarfacts.org
DEA's Drugs of Abuse booklet

re:0.5 st:0.01 fo:3.1 s:0 d:0.06 c:0 a:6.02 m:0.89 t:10.69

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Bot's analysis of: "The Dangers and Consequences of Marijuana Abuse" the U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Demand Reduction Section, May 2014
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    $various_illegal_drugs concept - general terms for illegal drugs
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    $propaganda_theme5 concept - drug war propaganda theme: children corrupted by drugs
    $propaganda_theme5
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    $propaganda_theme4
    $use_is_abuse concept - drug war propaganda theme: all use is abuse
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    $propaganda_theme2 concept - drug war propaganda theme: madness, violence, illness caused by drugs
    $propaganda_theme2
    $propaganda_theme1 concept - drug war propaganda theme: hated groups
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    $drugwar_propaganda concept - a drug war propaganda event, campaign release, slogan, or theme
    $drugwar_propaganda
    $drug_related concept - related to illegal drugs and prohibition