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Letter: Cannabis Party Was Right: It Is Not A Gateway To Addiction
Hugh Robertson Cork Examiner, Ireland
Monday 06 Oct 1997 In your editorial (The Examiner, May 28th), you state 'the reality that cannabis is a stepping stone to addiction and harder drugs. That is accepted wherever the drugs menace is prevalent and remains a central reason for not legalising its use.' I would like to point out that all the research done has refuted this piece of propoganda. I would refer you to: 1. The La Guardia report which states: "The use of marijuana does not lead to morphine or heroin or cocaine addiction." 2. The Jamaican Study carried out on behalf of The Center for Studies of Narcotics and Drug Abuse of the National Institute of Mental Health. Directed by Drs. Vera Rubin and Lambros Comitas of the Research Institute for the Study of Man and conducted in Jamaica. Summarizing the findings of the study in the July 4, 1975 issue of Science Magazine, Dr. Erich Goode of the State university of New York at Stony Brook wrote: "One of the more interesting findings to emerge from this study relates to the 'stepping-stone' hypothesis. ... Nothing like that occurs among heavy, chronic ganja smokers of Jamaica. No other drugs were used, aside from aspirin, tea, alcohol, and tobacco. The only hard drug use known on the island is indulged by North American tourists." 3. The study conducted by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and released in 1982, the 15-month study analyzed the habits of American marijuana smokers and offered one of the most comprehensive and balanced analyses ever compiled regarding marijuana and its effects. In regards to marijuana's gateway potential, the study concluded that, "There is no evidence to support the belief that the use of one drug will inevitably lead to the use of any other drug." 4. In the USA, federal statistics indicate that although nearly 66 million Americans over age 12 have experimented with marijuana at some point in their lifetime, less than one-third of them have ever tried cocaine. Moreover, less than 16 million Americans admit to having ever experimented with LSD, less than 7 million have ever tried methamphetamines, and only 2.5 million have ever graduated to heroin. In sum, federal statistics conclude that the overwhelming majority of American marijuana users do not move on to harder drugs. 5. Also from the USA, the 1995 guidebook: Marijuana: Facts for Teens, published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), states unequivocally that, "Most marijuana users do not go on to use other drugs." Need I continue to provide you with more evidence or do you accept that you have been misinformed? Researchers and reporters are always welcome at the worlds largest on-line library of drug policy information at http://www.druglibrary.org/ Hugh Robertson
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