By Keith Stroup, NORML Executive Director Source: NORML A Refutation of the Drug Czar's "Open Letter to America's Prosecutors" It will come as no surprise to most Americans to learn that our federal officials tend to exaggerate the potential dangers of marijuana in order to justify our nation's criminal drug policies. But recently, the White House's anti-marijuana propaganda campaign has taken on an increasingly alarmist and extremist tone – arguably crossing over any reasonable line of probity. The Bush Administration's latest rhetoric does not qualify as a mere exaggeration; they are flat-out lying to the American public. They are purposely misrepresenting the available research in an attempt to justify federal and state policies that result in the arrest of more than 650,000 Americans annually on minor marijuana possession charges. Specifically, in an "open letter" to America's prosecutors (dated November 1, 2002), ONDCP Deputy Director Scott Burns insists, "Nationwide, no drug matches the threat posed by marijuana," and urges law enforcement officials to "aggressively prosecute" marijuana violators. The letter further advocates prosecutors "tell the truth" about marijuana, and then lists more than a dozen unsubstantiated, misleading and fallacious statements regarding cannabis – including the allegation that marijuana is more addictive than "alcohol, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, ecstasy, and all other illegal drugs combined." Apparently the Drug Czar's office has forgotten about the very real risks of truly dangerous drugs such as heroin, methamphetamine, crack and powder cocaine – as well as tobacco and alcohol, two legal but far more lethal drugs than marijuana. NORML has decided it is time to blow the whistle on this shameful exercise in government propaganda by launching our own marijuana "truth" campaign. The first salvo in this campaign is presented here: a point-by-point refutation of the ONDCP's "open letter" to America's prosecutors. We invite all who are interested in learning the truth about marijuana to read the Drug Czar's letter, and then read NORML's rebuttal, and decide for yourself who is lying about marijuana and why. NORML believes there is nothing to be gained by exaggerating marijuana's harmfulness. On the contrary, by overstating marijuana's potential harms, our policy-makers and law enforcement community undermine their credibility, and their ability to effectively educate the public of the legitimate harms associated with more dangerous drugs. In addition, exaggerating the dangers associated with the responsible use of marijuana results in the needless arrest of hundreds of thousands of good, productive citizens each year in this country. We cannot any longer remain silent and permit this taxpayer-funded propaganda to occur without a challenge. Finally, if you believe the Drug Czar has been lying to the public about marijuana, then please join us in protesting their behavior by sending an e-mail telling them how you feel. And while you are at it, please let your representatives in Congress know you oppose spending tax dollars on counterproductive, exaggerated anti-marijuana propaganda. Let's reel-in the government propaganda machine, and begin an honest public education campaign about the minimal risks presented by marijuana. In essence, let's allow the science (as opposed to the rhetoric) to dictate our public policy regarding marijuana. As you will see, the facts speak for themselves. Complete Title: Your Government Is Lying To You Again About Marijuana Source: NORML and the NORML Foundation (DC) Author: Keith Stroup, NORML Executive Director Published: January 15, 2003 Copyright: 2003 NORML Contact: norml@norml.org Website: http://www.norml.org/ DL: http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5513
marijuana doesn't make me want to kill people, but propiganda sure does. all those completely inocent people getting locked up under such a phenominal lie. and the worst part is the person who rids the world of such evil would be concidered the criminal. how could they possibly say that mj is more addictive than all the rest combined, all the people who decide that they want to quit smoking the pot will succeed. i have watched many fail when it comes to ciggarettes and alcohol. it just sickens me.
what a load of horseshit. i mean who the hell do they think they are, like they are above the law. ahh yah, dont think so. peace
Haha. Your government's retarded..... ... well, so is mine... but. Come to Canada or the UK! With legalisation quite imminent within the next 10 years I love it! Or go to Holland. My Dad lives there..... he's such a caner.
why the hell would they accually make someting so much fun and so pure and natural illegal!!! in the constitution, it states that you are allowed to have the right to Life, and hey are taking that away from us because if we want to spend our life stoned then why the fuck not! as long as we dont hurt anybody or kill anybody thnen why cant we just fuking have a good time!!! the government is so stupid!!! fuck the pigz!!!it is not like the damn laws are accually going to stop anybody from smoking it up!!!
good god youd think we were still in the 60s. obviously the man who wrote that is completely unconciess to the fact of lying. he must justify it by something retarded
furthermore is addiction really the issue? hell theres lots of addictive things that are legal like cigarettes for one.in another matter i believe disorientation is the real issue.look at alchohol i mean hell whut do you think is safer to drive on weed or alchohol? and alchohol is legal?
The government (the US government) often speaks of patriotism these days when referring to just about anything with which they want to sway public opinoin in a drastic manner. You see; creating the notion that doing whatever it is they want you to do is 'patriotic' is not only an old concept, but still surprisingly effective. It's a concept that works whether they are for or against whatever it is they're talking about. When concerning the drug war, rather than say it's unpatriotic to smoke marijuana they insinuate that by buying this particular drug you are somehow funding 'terrorism' (or as it used to be called; 'communism') and getting innocent people killed somehow without mentioning that even if this was true it would stop as soon as you could legally buy weed in a store, completely seperate from the black market. As horrible as these false 'reports' and propaganda are it's important to keep in mind that there are people that believe these things wholeheartedly. The worst part of all is that even when you know the truth and want to do something about it, there's nothing that can be done without the will of the people. Apathy is rampant in most of the western world right now and it needs to stop in the place that it began, America. Right now I live in a country similar to both 1930's Germany and 1950's America. One group of people has managed to make everyone forget about the lessons of the past simply by playing off the fears of the many and spreading false complacancy. They've belittled true problems and replaced them with monstrous images of terrorists poisoning our water supply or doped up teenagers eating babies (okay that's an exaggeration, but I wouldn't be surprised if they reach that extreme at some point). Now, whenever I hear a politician speak of 'patriotism' I don't worry about betraying my country, I move a little closer to deciding if I should stay here and work for freedom and truth or just say 'screw it' and move to Canada.