Regarding Matt Cameron’s March 31 column (“Highly liberating”), the drug war is largely a war on marijuana smokers. In 2008, there were 847,863 marijuana arrests in the U.S., almost 90 percent for simple possession. At a time when state and local governments are laying off police, firefighters and teachers, this country continues to spend enormous public resources criminalizing Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis.
The end result of this ongoing culture war is not necessarily lower rates of use. The U.S. has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available. An admitted former pot smoker, President Obama has thus far maintained the prohibition status quo rather than pursue real change. Would Barack Obama be in White House right now if he had been convicted of a marijuana offense in his youth?
Decriminalization is a long overdue step in the right direction. Taxing and regulating marijuana would render the drug war obsolete. As long as marijuana distribution is controlled by organized crime, consumers will continue to come into contact with sellers of hard drugs like meth and heroin. This “gateway” is a direct result of marijuana prohibition.
Students who want to reform marijuana laws should contact Students for Sensible Drug Policy at www.SchoolsNotPrisons.com.
Robert Sharpe, MPA
Common Sense for Drug Policy
Once again the use of any mood altering drug for the purpose of changing ones mood is of considerable danger especially for young people who bodies are going through very major ongoing biological changes as they transition into adulthood. Aften at this stage their brain chemistry is changing along with their balance in their hormones that regulate bodily systems. Aften its the first sign of depression that frequently goes unnoticed or unrecognized by either themselves or others around them. Attempting to self medicate with weed, alcohol, sex, food is absolutely the wrong way to go as it only leads to more serious problems in the future life of the individual. If you are using any of the above frequently or in any compulsive way it would be well to advise to get ourself evaluated by a medical doctor or psychologist to determine the extent if any of the possiblility of self medication for clinical depression and then to take the steps to treat yourself according to the standard of care for such a diagnosis. Over use of weed can result in severe depression on its own merits and if you are already depressed, then you would only be compounding the problem. In addition there is a diagnosis of weed induced psychosis with or without paranoia and if in fact you are mentally unstable to begin with the use of weed will evenutally commpound your mental health status. This is also true of alcohol, sex, other drugs, and food. Often the first warning of clinical depression may or can be anxiety. Taking any substance that may be addictive to self medicate for anxiety only results in having to use more of whatever your using to self medicate as it does not treat the cause of anxiety or depression. My strong advice to anyone who finds themselves using any substance frequently or compulsively is to get a medical evaluation and some psychological testing to determine if a diagnosis of anxiety and/or depression is evident and then to get the standard of care for the treatment of any diagnosis.
Dr Joseph H. Quintano
Psychologist
Report this comment
Agree/Disagree:
0 
0