A few weeks ago, Congressman Barney Frank and Ron Paul introduced H.R. 5843, an ill-considered piece of legislation aimed at legalizing marijuana, a topic more often heard in college dorms at 2 o’clock in the morning than in the hallowed halls of our Congress. Indeed, at a press conference announcing the effort to legalize pot, Congressman Frank cracked jokes about how this law could create a “marijuana futures market” and acknowledged that the chance of the bill passing were not “high.”

Fortunately for the millions of parents and public health and safety officials across the country who are working hard every day to keep drugs away from young people, this law will not pass. With so many important pieces of legislation waiting before Congress, it’s unfortunate that some have focused their attention on such a frivolous law. What’s really disappointing, however, is that there are still some who cling to outdated 70’s-era perceptions that marijuana is just about fun and partying and “self-expression.” It isn’t. Marijuana is actually about dependency, disease, and dysfunction. And as decades of research and data reveal, marijuana is now a much bigger part of our Nation’s drug problem than most people realize.

So why should marijuana remain illegal? Because the harms that would come from making this drug more widely available vastly outweigh whatever benefits its enthusiasts claim for it. Marijuana is a Schedule I Controlled Substance under a federal law that evaluates the balance of risks and benefits of drugs with input from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The reason why marijuana is illegal is to protect public health and public safety. Simply put, marijuana is a substance that intoxicates those who use it, injuring their health and the well-being of those around them. Consider some of the evidence:

• While marijuana is the most used illegal drug, with an estimated 15 million users on a monthly basis, researchers agree that if legal disincentives were not in place, the number of users would soar, leading to far greater negative social impact on everything from school performance and roadway and workplace accidents, to the prevalence of serious mental illness and rising emergency room episodes. Not only that, but marijuana use is now currently the leading cause of treatment need for those abusing or dependent on illegal drugs and for young people, has surpassed alcohol in addictive risk and impact on dependency requiring treatment.
• Marijuana potency has grown steeply over the past decade. According to the latest data on marijuana samples analyzed to date, the average amount of THC in seized samples of the drug has now reached a new high of 9.6 percent. This compares to an average of just under 4 percent reported in 1983 and represents more than a doubling in the potency of the drug since that time. This has serious implications in particular for young people, who are being placed at not only increased risk for schizophrenia, depression, cognitive deficits and respiratory problems, but are further at significantly higher risk for developing dependency on other drugs, such as cocaine and heroin than are non-smokers.
• Buying and using illegal drugs is also not a victimless crime. The money that so-called “recreational” users spend on pot has negative consequences that can touch the lives of people around the world. When Americans spend money on illegal drugs, they are providing financial support to groups that use violence and terror as a way of doing business. Drug-fueled violence in Mexico over the last two years has cost at least four thousand lives by most estimates, financed by recreational users with disposable income in this country. According to estimates, illicit-drug purchases in the United States contribute more than $13.8 billion to Mexican traffickers. The majority of that income comes from marijuana sales, which accounts for 61 percent of that income, or $8.5 billion, eclipsing the potential revenue from cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine combined. Estimated revenue for cocaine is $3.9 billion, methamphetamine $1 billion, and heroin less than $400 million.

Some pro-drug interest groups have argued that keeping marijuana illegal itself does damage, since people run the risk of arrest if they break the law. But in fact, marijuana offenders represent only a very tiny fraction of state prison inmates in the United States. A recent review of those actually convicted and sentenced for marijuana offenses shows that they are overwhelmingly drug traffickers or multiple, often violent, offenders, and not those arrested for simple possession or use. Here’s a chart that shows a breakdown:

Finally, any elected official who is concerned about crime in their community should consider the long-established link between marijuana use and committing crimes. According to data from the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring system, the great majority of men arrested for any violation in America have drugs in their system at the time of arrest, with marijuana being the most often detected. The rate testing positive for marijuana ranges from a third to more than a half of all male arrestees at the time of arrest.

We’re optimistic that members of Congress will continue to see through the haze. The reason that marijuana is, and should remain, illegal is that the drug itself is harmful to our citizens and to our communities. That is the assessment of the medical and the law enforcement community. Increasingly, that is the assessment of a growing number of young people, as well, since marijuana use has plummeted by 25 percent over the past six years.

Unfortunately, marijuana is often the blind spot of drug policy. While teen marijuana use is down sharply, adult use - with all the social, economic, and health consequences that go along with it - will not improve until we start being more honest with ourselves about the seriousness of this drug. Too many of us are in denial, and it is time for an intervention.

Editor’s note: the White House ONDCP was asked to comment in response to this post on Rep. Frank’s decriminalization bill from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 12th, 2008 at 4:14 pm and is filed under Uncategorized .