Buzzby

Readers Dispute Column On Marijuana Addiction
Courier-Journal | 05/24/2006

A vice, not a crime

David Hawpe has become lazy. Lazy column ("Marijuana's not funny, just look at the statistics," May 21), lazy research, lazy conclusion.

First, whether marijuana is addictive is apparently debatable within Hawpe's own tiny framework. If "10 percent of those who try the stuff become hooked at some point," doesn't that mean 90 percent who try the stuff do not become "hooked"? People abuse marijuana just as people abuse alcohol, tobacco, gambling, red meat, TV, you name it.

Why not make subscribers think a little? How about this:

1. Vices are acts by which an individual hurts himself.

2. Crimes are acts by which an individual harms another person or person's property.

3. Vices are errors individuals make in search of their own happiness. There is no (criminal) intent to hurt others.

4. Therefore, deregulate and decriminalize vice-like behavior. Don't punish people for their vices. Let them seek help. Now there's a colunm.

I have to run my six miles now. (Addiction? Vice? Should we regulate? Criminalize?) Hawpe's column: It's bad stuff. No joke.

TIMOTHY F. MANN

Louisville 40243

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A 'liberator' the brain needs

David Hawpe's column cited a Wall Street Journal writer, Kevin Helliker, who … cited "addiction-treatment statistics that show 'dramatic growth in marijuana-related problems.' " Since there are apparently no replicative studies, Helliker's statistics are suspect.

Helliker alleged, "The percentage of addicts who cited pot as the main problem more than doubled." That claim is suspect, since the February 2006 Drug Early Warning System reported, "The use of the three substances most popular among Maryland 12th graders -- alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana -- has declined since 1984…." ( http://www.cesar.umd.edu/ ). That refutes the claim that "marijuana addiction" is difficult to break.

Damaged relationships are not due to marijuana, but to the $69-billion-a-year war on drugs…. Jailing nonviolent users damages relationships.

Helliker and Hawpe ignore the fact that marijuana is neither a drug nor addictive. It is a liberator from drugs such as heroin, cocaine, alcohol and tobacco.

Marijuana is a cannabinoid. The brain has marijuana receptors. If the brain doesn't need marijuana, why does it have so many marijuana receptors?

DAVID DUNN

Louisville 40220

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