Washington, DC: Government claims regarding cannabis are misleading, exaggerated, and undermine the administration’s ability to effectively educate the public on the issues of illicit drugs and drug policy, concludes a comprehensive report issued today by The NORML Foundation.
The report, entitled “The 2005 NORML Truth Report: Your Government Is Lying To You (Again) About Marijuana,” is a detailed analysis and refutation of the White House’s more prominent allegations regarding marijuana and marijuana policy.
Among the government’s claims examined in NORML’s extensive report:
* “Nationwide, no drug matches the threat posed by marijuana.”
* “The addiction to marijuana by our youth exceeds their addiction rates for alcohol … and all other drugs combined.”
* “Marijuana and violence are linked.”
* “Marijuana is a gateway drug.”
* “As a factor in emergency room visits, marijuana … now surpasses heroin.”
* “Marijuana is not medicine, and no credible research suggests that it is.”
* “Smoked marijuana leads to changes in the brain similar to those caused by the use of cocaine and heroin.”
* “Marijuana legalization would be a nightmare for America.”
NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said that the “The 2005 NORML Truth Report” relies on peer-reviewed science and federal statistics to refute the government’s anti-marijuana claims, and accused the Bush administration of “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.”
He continued: “NORML believes there is nothing to be gained by exaggerating claims of marijuana’s harms. On the contrary, by overstating marijuana’s potential risk, America’s policy-makers and law enforcement community undermine their credibility and ability to effectively educate the public of the legitimate harms associated with more dangerous drugs.
“It’s time to begin an honest public education campaign about the minimal risks presented by marijuana,” St. Pierre concluded. “Let’s allow science, not rhetoric, to dictate America’s public policy regarding marijuana. As you will see, the facts speak for themselves.”
For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano, at (202) 483-5500. Read the report online at:
http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5513 (HTML version) or
http://www.norml.org/pdf_files/NORML_Truth_Report_2005.pdf (PDF version).