GATEWAY DRUG

Marijuana has always been recognized as a "gateway drug" because the users of methamphetamines, cocaine, and heroin almost always began their initial use of drugs by smoking pot. That is why marijuana is not the benign drug its advocates would have you believe. Those who use "recreational drugs" do so for their pleasure producing qualities. Sooner or later, the use of a drug, such as marijuana, becomes prosaic, thus leading its users to seek out stronger pleasure producing substances. Hence, the graduation from pot to meth, coke, heroin, or multiple drug use.

Until the 1970s, in most states, mere possession of marijuana constituted a felony. Marijuana became a major "drug of choice" during the anti-Vietnam War movement and, for political purposes, the penalties for the use, possession, or small sales of this drug evolved from felonies to misdemeanors. Politicians don't want NICE KIDS FROM GOOD FAMILIES to be sent to prison and/or to have a criminal record for smoking pot..

Advocacy groups, such as the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), have long pushed for the legalization of marijuana. NORML was originally bankrolled by Hugh Hefner of Playboy fame. Hefner, that paragon of virtue with his multiple sex partners, believed in the cultural revolution slogan of IF IT FEELS GOOD, DO IT! His counter culture mindset compelled him to advocate the legalization of recreational drugs, especially marijuana.

NORML takes credit for the decriminalization of marijuana by several states. and for the legalization of medicinal marijuana use in eleven states. NORML and other groups, like the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), debunk the "gateway" concept by using the ridiculous analogy of milk, the first ingestion by the newborn, being the true gateway substance which leads to the use of food, alcohol, tobacco, etc..The leniency shown to pot users could be coming to an end. Alaska and several other states which have decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana are considering reversing their position.

Since 1975, Alaska has had the most liberal marijuana laws of all the states. Because the state's highest court ruled that the use and possession of small amounts of marijuana was a privacy right, possession of up to four ounces has been legal. However, the governor thinks that was then and this is now. Now there are much more potent types of pot and he believes that makes marijuana a truly dangerous drug. The governor has sent a bill to the Alaska legislature, which if enacted will recriminalize the possession of pot.

As for medical marijuana, is it science or science fiction? Medical authorities disagree about whether or not this drug really relieves the suffering of patients afflicted with glaucoma, cancer and AIDS. There is no scientific proof that marijuana has any medicinal value. NORML, MPP, and other pot proponents have done a good job of conning some members of the medical profession and some legislators into believing that marijuana is some kind of miracle drug. However, last April, the Food and Drug Administration declared marijuana has no medical value, thereby contradicting a 1999 review by the Institute of Medicine.

A recent study by Jon Gettman, a researcher from Virginia, claims that marijuana has become this nation's biggest cash crop, exceeding the value of corn and wheat combined. It is by far the biggest cash crop in California, and according to Gettman, it is among the top three cash crops in 30 states. Those who are calling for the legalization of marijana have jumped on this study by claiming that the federal government is losing billions of dollars anually in tax revenues by its prohibition against the cultivation and possession of pot.

When I was a California narcotics parole agent, I dealt with hundreds of heroin addicts. Despite all of the hassles and incarcerations, they continued to use heroin because they really liked the great feeling it gave them. I have yet to meet a heroin, cocaine, or meth user who did not smoke pot before graduating to the use of more dangerous drugs. That is why I am convinced that marijuana is far from benign, and that this gateway drug is actually the MOST DANGEROUS OF THE ILLICIT DRUGS.

Marijuana should not be legalized. The medicinal use of marijuana should be outlawed. The states which have decriminalized marijuana should recriminalize the use and possession of pot. Those convicted for possessing small amounts of pot should be made to serve a minimum of 30 days in a juvenile or adult detention facility. Will that fill up our jails and cost us a lot of money? Yes, but in the long run it will lead to a significant reduction in the use of pot and other drugs. A little jail therapy will go a long way to negate the pleasure producing qualities of pot.





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