Once
the power of religion to destroy intelligent thought has been
removed, minds become free to use the empirical tools of science and
critical thinking to clearly examine the consequences of our actions.
This freedom is an important quality that makes any atheist
community a profoundly powerful force for the ethical good. Many of
our discussions have touched on the madness of current drug policy.
To my recollection, there have been hundreds of statements confirming
the madness of current drug policy and not one ever voicing support
for current policy. It is time to put that consensus to work to
change the world outside our community. I have put a substantial
amount of time into providing us with some background information
which I hope we will find to be helpful. You will find that most
people from religious communities will be on our side. Let's
mobilize their support where we can and clearly confront the madness
with good humor and clear intellect where we can't.
Tommy
Wells and Marion Barry worked together to introduced legislation to
decriminalize the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana. There
are still modest civil penalties, $100 fine for those over 18 and
mandatory attendance at an alcohol and drug awareness program for
those under 18. The text of the bill can be found here.
I
have spoken with passion about my desire to do away with this most
absurd aspect of the “war on drugs.” Given that Colorado and
Washington states have passed laws legalizing recreational use of
marijuana last year we now have proof that the public is willing to
support a more rational legal approach to marijuana. A North
Carolina group, Public Policy Polling, in a poll of DC residents in
April of this year determined that 63% somewhat supported or strongly
supported what these states accomplished in in their respective
referendums. The poll also asked DC residents about the more modest
legal change advocated by the Wells/Barry law. In this case DC
residents reported 75% support and only 21% in opposition.
In
June the ACLU release a report titled The War on Marijuana inBlack and White. The subtitle
is Billions of Dollars Wasted on Racially Biased Arrests.
It is a staggering indictment of DC policy. As you read this bear
in mind that marijuana use rates are very similar across racial
groups. Washington DC is spending at a higher rate to
prosecute and incarcerate marijuana users than any American state.
This “investment” has resulted in a record 846 people arrested
per 100,000 population during 2010. The highest state rate was in
New York with 535 per 100,000. It is also over three times the
national rate of 256 per 100,000. Even worse, the arrest rates of
1,489 blacks and 185 whites (per 100,000) is a ratio greater than 8
to 1. This is higher than all other states with the exception of
Iowa at 8.35. It is over double the 3.73 to 1 ratio for the nation
as a whole. A huge 91% of marijuana arrests were of blacks. Thus
Washington DC has the national record for arrest rate and spending on
marijuana arrests and prosecution with almost a national record high
rate for differentially targeting African-Americans. In 2011 DC
graduated 2,868 people from high school and arrested 5,759 (over
twice the HS graduations) for marijuana possession. The high
unemployment rate among blacks in DC is a serious problem. The
extremely high rates at which DC gives “criminal records” to DC
blacks for a victimless “crime” largely ignored among whites
explains a big part of how and why we have this problem.
The
legal structure of this system was laid down by Congressional
Dixiecrats with a deep racial bias in a period prior to 1974. This
bias does not serve our current interests and should end as soon as
possible. There is no valid white interest in maintaining a black
underclass. The city as a whole would be much more pleasant for
everyone if there were greater equality and economic inclusion. The
current policy regarding marijuana is the single most significant
engine creating the current black underclass. At our Secular Values
Candidates' Forum earlier this year I raised the issue of
ameliorating criminal records. I specifically considered these minor
records for marijuana use as the most important records to be
expunged. The Wells/Barry bill does not deal with prior records.
However, it is a massive step in the right direction because most
current criminal prosecution for marijuana will cease.
People
should fully understand the medical implications for cannabis users
(cannabis is the name of the genus for marijuana). There is a
complex system of cannabinoid receptors that are specifically
designed to process cannabinoids such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC),
one of the primary active components of marijuana. There are many
functions for these receptors and their importance can be seen in the
fact that many cannabinoids in marijuana are found in mother's milk.
The well known tendency of THC to enhance enjoyment of sensation
includes delight in taste, colloquially called “having the
munchies.” The endocannabinoids of mother's milk specifically
activate the receptors to reinforce the critically important sucking
response in infants. For people who are addicted to other drugs
(such as heroin, cocaine, tobacco or alcohol) marijuana can ease the
symptoms and provide an alternative which, for most people, will
cause less harm to the body and mind. A list of effects and
comparisons with other drugs will be included in a postscript. This
list documents that cannabis has many categories of potential harm,
some of them very significant. People should not indulge without
considering the risks that are involved. However, even with these
negative effects it is one of the most benign recreational drugs in
common usage. It has on average less negative effects than any other
recreational or illicit drug with the possible exception of ecstasy.
I
think that this possible change in the law is the single largest move
toward social justice that could be accomplished in the near future.
Hopefully the information in this letter to the reader will help in making your decision in regard to this bill.
Sincerely
yours,
Donald
Wharton
PS:
Marijuana Negative Medical Effects (with comparisons to other
drugs)
There
can be significant harm to IQ, memory and motivation among young
users who start in their teen years. This effect is not found among
those starting as adults. The smoking of any organic compound is
likely to be carcinogenic although amounts smoked are much less than
is the case with tobacco. A cancer link has not been formally
proven. There is some chance that the claimed anti-cancer properties
of marijuana counteract the known carcinogens shown to exist in
marijuana smoke. The largest epidemiological study I could find
actually showed a lower lung cancer rate in those who smoked
marijuana. The carcinogens created by smoking should be avoided by
ingesting it or using a vaporizer which does not burn it. People
should obviously not mix smoking and driving. Smoking can produce
dry mouth and all the irritation to the throat and lungs that are
caused by cigarettes. Reddening of the eyes is also possible.
Some
people say with justification that Internet use can be an addiction.
Anything that is pleasurable can be addictive and create other
problems in life. The most commonly cited statistic that I could
find on Federal government web sites says that 9% of marijuana users
will become addicted. These same agencies report much higher rates
of addiction for alcohol, nicotine, cocaine or heroin.
Methamphetamine is one of the most addictive drugs known. About half
of addicted marijuana users will report some explicit withdrawal
symptoms. The rest will be addicted because of the pleasurable
experience. Based on the relative ease of dealing with withdrawal
symptoms a number of researchers have rated caffeine as more
addictive than marijuana. For other researchers the greater pleasure
and intoxication effect from marijuana indicates to them it is more
addictive than caffeine. This illustrates the subjective nature of
addiction assessment.
While
the psychoactive qualities of marijuana are generally deemed to be
positive, the very high levels of THC in modern strains can produce
hallucinations, anxiety, depersonalization, paranoia, nausea and
other negative effects. While the rates for each of these might be
low the implications for a particular person can be significant.
All psychedelic drugs have no physiologically addictive qualities.
For most of them the psychological risks are greater than for
marijuana. The relatively shorter duration and effect from ecstasy
gives us some reason to think the overall risks might be less than
those documented for marijuana.
There
can also be a modest to substantial increase in heart rate with a
corresponding short term increase in heart attack risk until the
heart rate returns to normal. The increase in heart attack risk is
comparable to a similar increase in rates during exercise. There are
several ways in which outcomes from marijuana use are empirically
similar to actual exercise. A recently published study based on the
2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (4657 adult men and
women) reported marijuana users had lower waist sizes, higher HDL
ratios and lower fasting insulin levels. Based on these findings, in
an editorial Joseph S. Alpert, Editor-in-Chief of the American
Journal of Medicine, said that THC might in the future be commonly
prescribed for patients with diabetes or metabolic syndrome. Given
the well know anti-cancer effect from exercise this might also
explain the inability of researchers to document an increase in lung
cancer rates for marijuana smokers when many well known carcinogens
exist in marijuana smoke. These results should be considered
preliminary. There are very few studies done with large population
samples and sound methodology.
People
typically do not get violent on marijuana as they do with alcohol.
Three out of four reported cases of spousal abuse are associated with
alcohol. One third of convicted inmates of local jails self report
they had used alcohol at the time of offense and 37.7% of violent
criminals say they had used alcohol. Victim's reports of alcohol use
at the time of the crime are modestly higher. PCP and
methamphetamine are other drugs known to engender violence. Roughly
12% of males arrested in DC tested positive for PCP in 2012.
In
toxicology the lethal dose of a compound is usually designated with
the term LD50 (lethal for 50% of organisms dosed). The level of THC
that would be fatal to half of dosed people is 40,000 times greater
than the amount required to saturate all cannabinoid receptors and
cause maximum intoxication. For comparison, nicotine absorbed from
60 average cigarettes will be at the LD50 level for the majority of
60kg people. (60kg=132 pounds) A similar amount of cocaine will be
fatal. Caffeine from 80 to 100 cups of coffee is understood to be
lethal at the LD50 level. A small number of deaths from caffeine
have been seen with the growing popularity of energy drinks. The
LD50 level for alcohol is considered to be between 0.4% and 0.5% in
the blood. There are fatalities recorded with blood alcohol levels
less than this range. Eight ounces of pure alcohol absorbed in less
than an hour will produce this level in most people weighing 160
pounds or less. Fifteen to 21 average drinks can easily provide this
depending on what is being consumed. Heroin is not directly toxic.
However, as with all opioids it is a potent respiratory depressant
and deaths can occur from a dose of 75mg to 400 mg in an opiate naive
user. The CDC reported the opioids Oxycontin and Vicodin were
responsible for three fourths of the 38,329 drug overdose deaths
reported in 2010 in U.S. Heroin deaths are about 3,500 per year.
Additional deaths from injectable drug use are sometimes caused by
the transmission of HIV or hepatitis C viruses. The CDC estimates
80,000 deaths from alcohol each year and about 1.2 million hospital
admissions. The CDC estimates that 443,000 people die prematurely
from smoking tobacco or exposure to secondhand smoke, and another 8.6
million live with a serious illness caused by smoking. Marijuana use
has none of these lethal risks based on current evidence in the
literature. I remain confident that a lung cancer risk will
eventually be documented with some future well structured study that
properly separates the carcinogenic elements from effects that now
obscure them.
Nothing
in the above analysis should be taken to encourage anyone to use
marijuana. An objective understanding of the entire range of effects
is needed so that policy focus can be placed on the societal and
racial implications of current policy.
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