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.'
The courts have ruled that regulation does include prohibition. I can cite a case for you if it would do any good.
Do you also concur with the following?
[Zon] The marijuana cocaine prohibition laws violate individual/property rights.
Would you also agree with the following?
[mugs99] Anyone who supports the criminalisation of marijuana cocaine is a socialist.
What is loaded about a simple question asking if anyone can name the party? Just a simple quiz, no personal opinions were requested. I think you are paranoid.
You could cite the case Robert, but I could cite a case where the court decided Jim Crow was constitutional. The courts are not always right.
I'm not "y'all". Do you want an answer, or do you want to be a troll?
It depends on how the answer will be used. I find it rather difficult not to attribute malicious intent to someone who enjoys wasting people's time at work.
How can simply naming a site be used? I think you are paranoid.
I find it rather difficult not to attribute malicious intent to someone who enjoys wasting people's time at work.
I cannot waste your time. It is only you that can waste your (and your bosses) time.
The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; but that's the way to place your bets.
Who would you have interpret our constitution? Congress? The DNC? You?
Let me guess ... Number 3?
You ever heard of a jury?
Strange. You say you enjoy doing what you say it is impossible for you to do. I'm willing to bet you'd spend the rest of the day explaining it in many posts and replies if I would be willing to entertain you. I'm not.
He plays the same tune over-and-over, like my 15 yr old daughter. He figures (along with his cronies, RP, cposomething or other (who this probably is, for real)) that if he can keep you/us sidelined with his puerile attempts at pure quantity domination, he wins. Don't give him the satisfaction. He is just a troll, and will do nothing but raise your blood pressure... Just look at all of the posts he does each day. He apparently has no job, so accuses others of being lazy or dishonest. That, also, must be something from his past. I'm my own boss, and can come and go. I never tried cocaine, but have enjoyed bales of marijuana. I drink red wine daily, with dinner. I just like folks to be aware!
The only trolling I enjoy is off the cost of NC, near Morehead City. It offers a lot of fun, and usually results in dinner (King/spanish Mackerel steaks, on the grill, for example) !
Redeem the time!
Strange. You say you enjoy doing what you say it is impossible for you to do. I'm willing to bet you'd spend the rest of the day explaining it in many posts and replies if I would be willing to entertain you. I'm not. >i>
Of course, if you posted my original post you would see that you have lied again. I never said I enjoyed wasting your time or that I could waste your time or whatever. But then again, your game is lies and propaganda, not the truth. And you know it. That is why you won't "entertain" any discussion on the truth.
YOU SAY that I say. Please put up my post and you will see that I am completely consistent. Nevermind your slander.
I know the truth, and you ain't spreading the truth! You just sound controlling, ornery, and wrong.
Strange. You say you enjoy doing what you say it is impossible for you to do. I'm willing to bet you'd spend the rest of the day explaining it in many posts and replies if I would be willing to entertain you. I'm not.
Here is my statement. Totally consistent. Nevermind your lies.
No. I just enjoy seeing y'all waste your work hours posting Soros' propaganda instead of your bosses agenda.
812 posted on 07/29/2004 3:11:38 PM PDT by cinFLA
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Another lie. And you can find NO post where I stated such. Of course, that is the name of your game, lies, deceit and propaganda.
I am glad your daughter trumpets the truth, unlike her father.
Touchy subject, huh? When everyone realizes that your arguments for legalized marijuana will also be applied to hard drugs, your mask is pulled off!
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