MB Civic

MB posted an article from AlterNet re some truths about the war on drugs. The article mentions the re-named “Partnership for a Drug-Free America” – who gave us the infamous “this is your brain…this is your brain on drugs…any questions?” ad.

I once wrote a (unpublished) response to a Partnership for a Drug-Free America ad. In it, among other things, I cited two facts which, as I noted then, “speak volumes more than a full-page of conjecture and paranoia.” Those two facts were:

1. In all of recorded history, not one person has died as a direct result of marijuana use, unless the marijuana was tained with something else. Consider that. Not one single time in history has the phrase “marijuana use” been listed as “cause of death” on a death certificate. Not once.

2. The country of Jamaica, which has the highest per capita consumption of marijuana in the world, has one of the lowest rates of lung cancer in the world. Yet China, with one of the lowest per capita consumption rates of marijuana in the world, has one of the highest lung cancer rates. It is no coincidence that China also has one of the highest cigarette consumption rates.

I could now add a third fact. As of 2011 or 2012, in the U.S., more people are addicted to prescription drugs than to illegal drugs like marijuana, cocaine, heroin, etc. Even more remarkably, more people DIE from overuse or misuse of prescription drugs than from overuse or misuse of illegal drugs.

There are more facts that could be added here, but these three alone underscore how bogus the war on drugs really is.

Peace.