The DEA Position on Marijuana

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) believes that "any change in the legal status of marijuana, even if limited to adults, could affect the prevalence of use among adolescents (5)...treatment admission rates for adolescents reporting marijuana as the primary substance of abuse increased from 32 to 65 per cent between 1993 and 2003.22 More young people ages 12-17 entered treatment in 2003 for marijuana dependency than for alcohol and all other illegal drugs combined.23

A few billionaires—not broad grassroots support—started and sustain the "medical" marijuana and drug legalization movements in the United States. Without their money and influence, the drug legalization movement would shrivel. According to National Families in Action, four individuals – George Soros, Peter Lewis, George Zimmer and John Sperling – contributed $1,510,000 to the effort to pass a "medical" marijuana law in California in 1996, a sum representing nearly 60 per cent of the total contributions.70

Here is a Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) site that discusses the health dangers of marijuana and cites medical articles.

The DEA Position On Marijuana

Table of Contents

Smoked Marijuana is Not Medicine
Marijuana is Dangerous to the User and Others
Dependency and Treatment
Marijuana as a Precursor to Other Drugs
Mental and Physical Health Issues Related to Marijuana Use
Delinquent Behaviors and Drugged Driving
Marijuana and Incarceration
The Foreign Experience
The Netherlands
Switzerland
Canada
United Kingdom
The Legalization Lobby
Still, There’s Good News
Appendix A: Acronyms
Endnotes

The DEA Position On Marijuana

The campaign to legitimize what is called "medical" marijuana is based on two propositions: that science views marijuana as medicine, and that DEA targets sick and dying people using the drug. Neither proposition is true. Smoked marijuana has not withstood the rigors of science – it is not medicine and it is not safe. DEA targets criminals engaged in cultivation and trafficking, not the sick and dying. No state has legalized the trafficking of marijuana, including the twelve states that have decriminalized certain marijuana use.1 [Full Text]

Here is an official Office of National Drug Control Policy site that has information about marijuana. The document is called, "Marijuana Myths & Facts: The Truth Behind 10 Popular Misperceptions ."