Legal pot is a public health menace

Note the authors: WIlliam J. Bennet and Robert A. White.

Bennet was a "drug czar" under George H W Bush. This editorial is hardly news. "Ex drug czar thinks drugs are bad" is a more realistic title than the one given. It would be more newsworthy if Bennet took the opposite position.

Robert A. White is listed as "an attorney" in New Jersey. If he's a defense attorney, it might be newsworthy if he was against legalization. As it stands, he might be a prosecutor, or have some other ulterior motive to favor harsh legal penalties for marijuana use.

I finally found a way to read the article , and I find that this is more "reefer madness" moral panic. Bennet and White make a weak argument, the point of which is entirely predictable for Establishment White Guys: POT BAD. POT CORRUPT YOUTH.

As a person who went to public schools in the 60s and 70s, I can say that I have seen this "MJ today is FAR STRONGER than the 'tea leaves' of the Jazz Age" line trotted out many times. Get some new propaganda, Establishment White Guys: that one has whiskers on it. Even if it's true, it just sounds so wimpy. You're going to have to try harder to convince anyone other than the Other Establishment White Guys who read Wall Street Journal. And you need to convince a lot of people to preserve the appearance of rule with consent of the populace.

I loved the line:

The APA noted that young people who become addicted to marijuana lose an average of six IQ points by adulthood.

A complete distortion. It was actually a single presentation at the American Psychological Association (APA) convention that made that claim. I see no indication on the APA website http://www.apa.org that the statement was endorsed by the group.

I can't help but see this as a commercial attempt to keep the failed war on drugs (and the government money) rolling.

Link to avoid paywall: http://www.google.com/url?q=http://online.wsj.com/articles/w...

Legalization doesn't mean it will become more accessible to teens, in fact it should do the reverse. Colorado has seen declining pot amongst teens usage since it was legalized and is below the national average. Holland has a very low cannabis use among teens, although it's legally accessible there, whereas the US has a very high use where it is illegal ...

Futhermore it is never mentioned what the real public health menaces are: Cigarettes and Alcohol! Accounting for the vast majority of deaths, the next biggest killer is prescription medicines. Let's focus on the truly deadly narcotics!

WSJ oped page is a public mental health menace.

If pot becomes legal it would be bad news for Corrections Corp of America and GEO group. They are already sweating the prospect of Obama legalizing a whole bunch of immigrants.

http://www.ibtimes.com/top-private-prison-operators-geo-corr...

Site is behind a paywall; I'm guessing most of us can't read the article...

Paywall