Pot Shots
In the opening salvo of its new "Truth Campaign" against anti-drug propaganda, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws has put together a point-by-point refutation of anti-pot claims made by the Office of National Drug Control Policy in an "Open Letter to America's Prosecutors." The letter, dated November 1, urged more-aggressive prosecution of marijuana offenders, arguing that "no drug matches the threat posed by marijuana." Citing authoritative sources, NORML carefully dissects this and other dubious assertions–regarding marijuana's potency, its role as a "gateway" to other drugs, and its contribution to traffic accidents, among other things.
The ONDCP even tries to resurrect the laughable notion of pot as a "killer weed," insisting that "marijuana and violence are linked." How desperate do you have to be to resort to a charge that even the legendarily hyperbolic drug warrior Harry Anslinger ultimately backed away from?