Posted on 07/25/2004 1:12:55 AM PDT by MadIvan
New super-strength marijuana readily available on US streets is prompting the White House to change direction in its war against drugs.
Research from the government-sponsored Marijuana Potency Project claims today's cannabis is more than twice as strong as in the mid-Eighties, leading to greater health risks for those smoking it at increasingly younger ages.
Now President George Bush, who had already promised a more aggressive campaign against substance abuse, has ordered that resources be allocated to fighting so-called 'soft' drugs instead of concentrating on harder forms, such as heroin and cocaine.
'We are working hard on education, but unfortunately a lot of today's parents are under the impression marijuana is harmless and that their kids trying it is some kind of rite of passage,' said Jennifer de Vallance, of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
'They might have had experience in their own teenage years with no problems, but this is not the same marijuana as in the Sixties, Seventies and Eighties. Today's forms are much stronger and potentially more harmful, especially to young people whose brains are not fully developed and are therefore more susceptible to adverse reactions.'
The Marijuana Potency Project, at the University of Mississippi, analysed more than 30,000 samples seized over the past 18 years by the authorities. It found that the average level of the active ingredient in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), jumped from 3.5 per cent in 1985 to more than 7 per cent in 2003.
Of more concern to the analysts is that the upward trend appears to be continuing. The average potency of 20 marijuana samples seized and tested so far this year exceeds 9 per cent, with a peak of 27 per cent in one batch from a state in the North West.
'Today's marijuana is a much more serious problem than the vast majority of Americans understands,' said John Walters, the government's director of drug control policy who has promised a clampdown on producers.
Those who support the legalisation of cannabis are not convinced. 'Whenever government officials speak about drugs issues, a more detailed examination of the facts is a good idea,' said David Borden, executive director of the Washington-based Drug Reform Coordination Network.
'These projects are always government-funded and, without criticising the researchers, officials take what they want from it and send out their press releases. There has always been a wide range of potencies. It doesn't mean people are getting more intoxicated, because the higher the potency, the less they smoke.'
Figures suggest overall drug use in America's high schools has fallen by 11 per cent in two years but the National Centre on Addiction and Substance Abuse reports the number of children and teenagers receiving treatment for marijuana abuse jumped 142 per cent over the last decade, and that emergency hospital admissions of 12 to 17-year-olds in which marijuana was implicated rose 48 per cent in four years.
Borden acknowledges children must be steered away from drugs, but says: 'Their anti-drugs efforts have had a paradoxical effect in promoting the underground cultivation of marijuana. The number of users makes it an appealing target and there is no limit to the number of arrests that can be made, and the government uses those numbers to scare the public into thinking there is some big problem.
'All the government has been able to do is encourage people to experiment with stronger drugs than they would have before.'
Don't you understand? This is all part of Bush's brilliant scheme. Let the cops become self-supporting through enhanced seizure and forfeiture laws. When there's a profit in law enforcement, they'll hire more people, causing unemployment to go down. Arresting more people also keeps unemployment down, since convicts aren't counted and guards have to be hired. Then, when everyone is either a cop, a guard, or a convict, and all wealth is in the hands of the police, terrorists won't stand a chance. If nothing else, a cop is bound to stumble over them, maybe catching them talking on a cell phone in the movie, or eating a candy bar on the DC metro. It's brilliant, I tell you!
Ah, I see. So according to you, it's OK for the states to make marijuana illegal.
Now, why don't I believe that?
Though, the word is clear your eyes are not open or you can not see. You should not need to be convinced that God's grace is with someone in order to treat them as you would like to be treated. Yet, you seem convinced that your war has some merit and the actions taken to 'purify' the minds of the populace are rightful as regards God and country. I faithfully submit that you are one of the many blindly following the fascist dictates of an oligarchy which has usurped our Constitution and treads upon the God given rights of the people to partake of gifts from God. It is simple fascist ignorance to believe that this herb is just a weed to be eradicated when its seed contains the most complete and absorbable combination of amino acids required by the human body for sustenance of any plant on the face of Earth. As a fuel source for a combined nanotech and biological device this God given seed will deliver mankind from the bondage of physical corruption by constantly rebuilding our physical body. As you noted above regarding Paul:
Romans 8:21
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
BTW, PaxMacian means peacemaker.
Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Many other things must still come to pass before it will be on Earth as it is in Heaven. But, we must all do what we can to work toward peace.
Seek peace! May peace be with you.
Learn to read! The "..." you placed there means you cut off "or to the PEOPLE."
The founders of this country believed there existed inalienable rights granted by God to the people, also known as natural rights, for which no government including the states possess the rightful power to deny to the people.
Ok, Ivan. What is the Observer? Isn't it a UK paper? Next. Do NOT panic. This - if at all true - and since we haven't heard anything in our own media - to that effect as of yet - we can't be sure of its seriousness - is only a part of the prep-strategy for the campaign and coming election. Like, show and tell, for some constituents, should the Dems find an issue to seize upon, then Bush can be ready.
"I faithfully submit that you are one of the many blindly following the fascist dictates of an oligarchy which has usurped our Constitution and treads upon the God given rights of the people to partake of gifts from God."
If you feel this way, why do you bother trying to get official approval from the "fascist" state? If they are without authority in this matter, and God is on your side the discussion is moot. Paul might disagree with you (see Romans 13), but who is he to challenge Genesis 1, or PaxMacian?
As for my seeming fascist enchantment, these discussions are the extent of my activity in the so-called War on Drugs. I'm not up at nights working complots of woe for pot smokers (or anyone else).
It should be a duty for freedom loving Republicans to prevent government from imposing upon individuals, through force and coercion, arbitrary puritanical beliefs that are contrary to established religious facts, beliefs and scripture. Only in this way can we assure the freedom of religion envisioned in this nations’ founding.
I don't think so. As a matter of fact, I believe most organized religions consider it a sin -- I know for a fact the Catholic Church does.
Take your bible-thumping spiel someplace else, preacher-man. The DU could really use your services.
I don't think anyone reads Pax. I tried but couldn't figure out what he was saying.
I read him once way back in '02. Since he merely re-posts the same screed time after time after time, once is all that's necessary.
LMAO
As always, you present no debate only attack.
Yet, you fail at even that by insulting your own intelligence.
The truth will always be the truth.
Attack the text not the poster!
Perhaps if we could understand what you are writing, we could debate you. Take a hint.
I think that in Genesis God said to EAT the herb but not to eat the animals. It is very clear that God intended us to be vegetarians and not to smoke.
What you think means nothing!
I have debated that point with you on multiple threads.
And, if you had read any of them then you should
easily have been able to see your folly.
It is such an obviously flawed point of view
that it is certainly truly ridiculous.
I have repeatedly asked you to stop posting that nonsense, as well.
I don't think you believe that, but insist on posting it to annoy me.
"Perhaps if we could understand what you are writing, we could debate you. "
Come back when you learn english.
The Bible is VERY clear. In Genesis it says to EAT the herb. It does NOT say to eat animals If fact, we should protect the animals. We should all be non-smoking, vegetarian PETA members, right?
If we carefully study the Holy Bible we find that God intended man to he a vegetarian. In Genesis, God says, "I have given you every herb-bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in the which is the fruit of a tree-yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat" (Genesis 1:29). Even when God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, Vegetarianism was necessarily implied. If we follow the commandment, "Thou shalt not kill (Exodus 20: 13), it is naturally out of the question to eat meat, fish, fowl, or eggs.
What's this I hear about you and thongs?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.