T
The420Guy
Guest
London, United Kingdom: Data from the United States and abroad indicates
that removing criminal penalties for marijuana possession will not lead
to increased drug use, according to findings published this month by the
British Journal of Psychiatry.
"The available evidence suggests that ... removal of criminal
prohibitions on cannabis possession (decriminalization) will not increase
the prevalence of marijuana or any other illicit drug," authors found.
Their study noted that a far greater percentage of Americans age 12 and
older (33 percent) report having tried marijuana as do their Dutch
counterparts (16 percent), despite the fact that open sale and possession
of pot is permitted in the Netherlands. Dutch figures also indicated that
decriminalization appears to have had "some success" separating pot from
the hard drug market, thereby reducing the number of marijuana users who
try other illicit drugs. The study is one of the first to draw
cross-sectional comparisons of drug use among Americans and non-Americans
of identical age groups.
Similar findings were noted in countries with alternate versions of
marijuana decriminalization. Empirical data from Italy and Spain, which
decriminalized possession of all psychoactive drugs, indicate that their
citizens use marijuana at rates comparable to neighboring countries that
maintain strict prohibition.
The authors concluded: "Our judgment, based on review of the research
literature, is that at present the primary harms of marijuana use
(including those borne by non-users) come from criminalization. ... This
prohibition inflicts harms directly and is costly. Unless it can be
shown that the removal of penalties will increase use of other more
harmful drugs, ... it is difficult to see what society gains [from
prohibition.]"
NORML Executive Director R. Keith Stroup, Esq. praised the study's
findings, noting that it joins a long list of prestigious commissions and
study groups that have reached the same conclusion. "The U.S. National
Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse (the Shafer Commission), the
LeDain Commission in Canada, and the Wooten Report in England all agreed
that we should stop arresting responsible marijuana smokers. The data
today, just as it did then, overwhelmingly supports the removal of
criminal penalties for the personal possession and use of marijuana."
The study, which was sponsored by the RAND Drug Policy Research Center,
appears in volume 178 of the British Journal of Psychiatry.
For more information, please contact R. Keith Stroup, NORML Executive
Director, at (202) 483-5500.
NORML Foundation
1001 Connecticut Ave., NW
Ste. 710
Washington, DC 20036
202-483-8751 (p)
202-483-0057 (f)
www.norml.org
foundation@norml.org
that removing criminal penalties for marijuana possession will not lead
to increased drug use, according to findings published this month by the
British Journal of Psychiatry.
"The available evidence suggests that ... removal of criminal
prohibitions on cannabis possession (decriminalization) will not increase
the prevalence of marijuana or any other illicit drug," authors found.
Their study noted that a far greater percentage of Americans age 12 and
older (33 percent) report having tried marijuana as do their Dutch
counterparts (16 percent), despite the fact that open sale and possession
of pot is permitted in the Netherlands. Dutch figures also indicated that
decriminalization appears to have had "some success" separating pot from
the hard drug market, thereby reducing the number of marijuana users who
try other illicit drugs. The study is one of the first to draw
cross-sectional comparisons of drug use among Americans and non-Americans
of identical age groups.
Similar findings were noted in countries with alternate versions of
marijuana decriminalization. Empirical data from Italy and Spain, which
decriminalized possession of all psychoactive drugs, indicate that their
citizens use marijuana at rates comparable to neighboring countries that
maintain strict prohibition.
The authors concluded: "Our judgment, based on review of the research
literature, is that at present the primary harms of marijuana use
(including those borne by non-users) come from criminalization. ... This
prohibition inflicts harms directly and is costly. Unless it can be
shown that the removal of penalties will increase use of other more
harmful drugs, ... it is difficult to see what society gains [from
prohibition.]"
NORML Executive Director R. Keith Stroup, Esq. praised the study's
findings, noting that it joins a long list of prestigious commissions and
study groups that have reached the same conclusion. "The U.S. National
Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse (the Shafer Commission), the
LeDain Commission in Canada, and the Wooten Report in England all agreed
that we should stop arresting responsible marijuana smokers. The data
today, just as it did then, overwhelmingly supports the removal of
criminal penalties for the personal possession and use of marijuana."
The study, which was sponsored by the RAND Drug Policy Research Center,
appears in volume 178 of the British Journal of Psychiatry.
For more information, please contact R. Keith Stroup, NORML Executive
Director, at (202) 483-5500.
NORML Foundation
1001 Connecticut Ave., NW
Ste. 710
Washington, DC 20036
202-483-8751 (p)
202-483-0057 (f)
www.norml.org
foundation@norml.org
