SUNDAY NEWS

Gil Smart’s Feb. 8th column headed "Medals, bongs and little lies" discusses how the Steelers' Santonio Holmes and eight Olympic medal winner Michael Phelps have fun afoul of the law and their advertising sponsors for use of the 'devil weed' marijuana.

He asks (1) "So should society continue to treat marijuana as more dangerous than alcohol and cigarettes, which are perfectly legal, though addictive and potentially deadly?"

He points out (2) "A lot of parents are mad at Phelps for putting them in this situation. But why? Because it reveals this inaccuracy – this lie – that we tell our kids: You smoke dope, you’re done."

And he opines (3) "Understand,as a parent, I could never argue for full-scale legalization. I don’t want packs of blunts on Turkey Hill shelves."

WATCHDOG: Let’s take the statements above in order:

(1) A 1994 study for the NIDA agency of the federal government ranked the comparative dangers of alcohol, heroine, cocaine, nicotine, caffeine and marijuana, weighing "dependence, withdrawal, tolerance, reinforcement and intoxication." Alcohol, heroine, cocaine and nicotine fell in the highly dangerous areas on most counts. Marijuana and caffeine were classified as relatively benign and had similar characteristics. (If you fear marijuana but drink coffee, think again!)


(2) When parents demonize marijuana as a hard drug, teenagers come to learn otherwise from their surroundings and experimentation. This leads them to question what they have been told about the dangers of 'hard drugs' and makes them vulnerable to dangerous experimentation and use. The point: Parents who are truthful are more likely to have influence.

(3) Marijuana could be sold at State Stores and thus taxed, regulated and controlled as we do with alcohol. This is what Common Sense for Drug Policy - www.csdp.org - advocates. NewsLanc's publisher is co-founder and co-chair.

Smart and the Sunday News deserve much credit for the column. The column will infuriate many. (So what else is new about Smart's columns!) We hope it stimulates debate both at www.LancasterOnLine.com and here at NewsLanc.