Reefer Madness
23 June 2008The Perils of Potent Potby Jacob Sullum at Reason
With stronger pot, people can smoke less to achieve the same effect, thereby reducing their exposure to combustion products, the most serious health risk associated with marijuana consumption. Yet the ONDCP inexplicably warns that higher THC levels could meanan increased riskofrespiratory problems.
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To bolster the idea that marijuana is more addictive today, the ONDCP notes that16.1% of drug treatment admissions [in 2006] were for marijuana as the primary drug of abuse, compared to6% in 1992. But referrals from the criminal justice system account for three-fifths of these treatment admissions, and marijuana arrests have increased by more than 150 percent since 1990.
By arresting people for marijuana possession and forcing them into treatment, the government shows why it has to arrest people for marijuana possession. That's our self-justifying drug policy in a nutshell.
Tags: drugs, marijuana, prohibition, substance abuse
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