What do supporters of drug legalization use as strategies in the effort toward outright legalization of marijuana, as well as legalization of other recreational drugs?

To garner support, supporters of comprehensive drug legalization use state’s rights, marijuana as a medicine and people’s natural compassion for the sick as excuses for its value. Point for point:

• federal law still overrules state law;
• the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has never approved smoked marijuana as a medicine, and only the FDA has the power to do this; and
• pro-legalization groups have transformed the debate from decriminalizing drug use to one of compassion and care for people with serious diseases. It exploits the suffering of chronically ill patients with false promises about marijuana as a medicine.

  It is important to realize that the campaign to allow marijuana to be used as medicine is a tactical maneuver in an overall strategy to completely legalize all drugs. The New York Times interviewed Ethan Nadelman, then director of the Lindesmith Center, in January 2000. Responding to criticism from former Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey that the medical marijuana issue is a Trojan horse for drug legalization, Mr. Nadelman did not contradict General McCaffrey. "Will it help lead toward marijuana legaization?" Mr. Nadelman said, "I hope so."

Does medical marijuana exist other than in crude, smoked form?

Actually, yes. Marijuana has no medical value that cannot be met more effectively by the legal, FDA-approved prescription drug Marinol.

Marinol does not produce the harmful health effects associated with smoking crude marijuana. The active ingredient in Marinol is synthetic THC (the major psychoactive component of marijuana), which has been found to relieve the nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy for cancer patients and to assist with loss of appetite in AIDS patients. Also unlike crude, smoked marijuana, it is a controlled dose and has been studied and approved by the medical community and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

What drug schedule does marijuana fall under?

Marijuana is a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act.

Schedule I drugs are classified as having a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States and lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision. Drug scheduling definitions were established by the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 and refer to the tiered system at the state and federal levels, regulating psychoactive drugs and access to them. There are five schedules. Schedule I includes heroin, LSD and marijuana.

What is the major psychoactive component of marijuana that some feel should be available to medical patients?

THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the major psychoactive component of marijuana. It is THC that medical marijuana supporters want to be available to patients, but it is difficult to administer safe, regulated dosages of medicines in smoked form. As stated above, the synthetic version of THC is the active ingredient of Marinol, which has been found to relieve the nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy for cancer patients and to assist with loss of appetite in AIDS patients. Marinol is also FDA-approved.

How does smoking marijuana compare, health-wise, with smoking tobacco?

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), someone who smokes five joints per week may be taking in as many cancer-causing chemicals as someone who smokes a full pack of cigarettes per day. Smoking one marijuana cigarette deposits about four times as much tar into the lungs as a filtered tobacco cigarette.

Smoking marijuana combines the worst elements and long-term impacts of smoking tobacco, plus the mind and memory altering component and impaired judgment.

NIH studies have shown this as one of many long-term health consequences of marijuana use. Marijuana contains more than 400 chemicals, including most of the harmful substances found in tobacco smoke. The harmful chemicals and carcinogens that are byproducts of smoking create entirely new health problems.

Has the Supreme Court addressed any case involving marijuana as medicine?

In a unanimous 8-0 decision, the U.S. Supreme court ruled on May 15, 2001 that marijuana may not be distributed to persons who prove a medical necessity for the drug.

The highest court in the country has spoken on the issue – and spoken clearly. The court's decision affirmed an existing federal law that classifies marijuana as an illegal substance and offers no medical exceptions.

Where does the majority of funding for state ballot initiatives (and legislative measures) to allow marijuana to be used as medicine come from?

The majority comes from drug legalization organizations. The bulk of the funds and the effort come not from small contributors, but from millionaires who are long-time supporters of the drug-legalization movement. Ballot initiatives have passed through a major disinformation campaign financed by wealthy individuals from outside these states. The following is an excerpt from the Congressional testimony of Thomas A. Constantine, DEA administrator, before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary in 1996:

“Proposition 215 in California and Proposition 200 in Arizona were drafted, financed and supported by legalization proponents using the compassionate pain argument as a guise for their drug legalization agenda. Billionaire financier and legalization advocate George Soros provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in California alone to garner support for the proposition. In Arizona, Soros almost doubled his California donations, a significant portion of which were made through organizations such as the Drug Policy Alliance, with which he is affiliated. Other donors included representatives from the Progressive Corporation, the Men's Warehouse and other pro-legalization groups.

Proponents waged a sophisticated, misleading campaign, which led voters to believe that the initiatives were simply limited to compassionate pain relief. Opponents of the propositions, including the American Cancer Society, the California Medical Association, the Glaucoma Research Foundation, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the California Narcotics Officers Association and many family groups concerned about the impact of drug legalization on the nation's children, were outspent and out-campaigned by the well-orchestrated effort to legalize drugs on a national basis. These individuals cynically used the suffering and illness of vulnerable people to further their own agenda.”

Should marijuana be accepted as medicine?

No, marijuana should not be accepted as a medicine. Medical science is willing to approve, after testing, even dangerous drugs if they’ve been shown to be helpful to sick people, but to quote the FDA, “While there are no proven benefits to smoked marijuana use, there are many short and long term risks associated with marijuana use.” And of those leading the legalization movement, some are political activists who have been wanting it legal since the 70s and are now claiming its medical benefits, and others are commodities traders who use their millions to fund initiative movements in states they do not even live in. Aspirin’s derived from willow bark – has your doctor ever asked you to smoke a tree and call him in the morning?

Are any FDA-approved medications smoked?

No. Smoking is generally a poor way to deliver medicine. It is difficult to administer safe, regulated dosages of medicines in smoked form. Secondly, the harmful chemicals and carcinogens that are byproducts of smoking create entirely new health problems.

Do any major American health organizations accept crude marijuana as medicine?

No. Not one. Scientific research has not demonstrated that smoked marijuana is helpful as medicine. Questions of medicine are for the FDA and medical community to answer – not special interest groups, not individuals, not public opinion. Our medical system relies on proven scientific research, not polling results. The FDA and American Medical Association, along with every other major American health organization in the country, have rejected crude marijuana as medicine.

Who is most at risk from drug legalization and increased availability of recreational drugs?

Children are most at risk from legalization and the accompanying availability of recreational drugs. If drugs become more available, acceptable and cheap, they will draw in greater numbers of vulnerable youth. And because of marketing tactics of drug promoters and the major decline in drug use in the 1990s (due in great part to antidrug, education and awareness campaigns), there is a growing perception among young people today that drugs are harmless. A decade ago, for example, 79 percent of 12th graders thought regular marijuana use was harmful; only 58 percent do so today.

Because peer pressure is such a factor in inducing kids to experiment with drugs, the way kids perceive the risks of drug use is critical. Legalizing smoked marijuana, giving it the government’s stamp of approval, sends the message to kids that drug use is not only harmless, but normal. This is precisely the opposite message we should be conveying.