The case for legitimizing marijuana use doesn't pass scrutiny

David Kilgour, MP Edmonton Mill Woods - Beaumont

Ottawa Citizen, March 28, 2005

Letters, A11

Re: Is pot far more potent than in the past? March 19 and How science is skewed to fuel fears of marijuana, March 20.

In his two-part series on marijuana, Dan Gardner makes the argument that we should not be too quick to accept scientific evidence about the effects of marijuana without a thorough examination of the nature and scope of such evidence. Good public policy on this issue must be based upon good science, but there is still a preponderance of evidence that supports maintaining the status quo as far as marijuana is concerned.

Marijuana has been proven to contain more tar and 50 to 70 per cent more carcinogenic agents than tobacco. Repeated use of marijuana drastically increases users' chances of falling ill with cancer and having respiratory problems.

In a study conducted in 2003 by British researchers, they found that smoking marijuana for even less than six years causes a serious deterioration in the function of the lungs. The Canadian Cancer Society estimates that smoking three to four marijuana cigarettes is the equivalent of smoking 20 tobacco cigarettes. Marijuana could therefore prove to be a much bigger public-health problem than tobacco has ever been.

Given the fact that tobacco use remains one of the biggest drains on our public-health system, it would be hypocritical to allow the decriminalization or legalization of marijuana.

Governments, both federal and provincial, continue to spend millions of dollars to increase awareness of the detrimental effects of tobacco. In light of the fact that marijuana contains more tar than tobacco and has a higher concentration of carcinogens, it would be step backwards in terms of public policy to advocate a relaxation of the law as far as marijuana is concerned while continuing to escalate the fight against tobacco.

Doing so would seriously undermine efforts to curb tobacco use and would result in an inconsistent public-health policy that would lend credence to the accusations of smokers' rights groups that they are being unfairly victimized.

Legitimizing the use of marijuana in any way would not only have consequences related to the increased use of marijuana, but would also undermine efforts to discourage the public, most especially youths, from smoking.

Furthermore, marijuana use has also been shown to increase the difficulty users of both marijuana and tobacco face in ceasing their tobacco use.

A study comparing 452 daily marijuana smokers and 450 non-smokers conducted at the Kaiser Permanente Centre for Health Research in 1993 revealed that the marijuana smokers have had increased incidences of respiratory problems, injuries and other types of illnesses and are absent from work more often.

This imposes a high price on society in the form of higher public health-care expenses and lost productivity. In the case of students who smoke marijuana, four studies have shown a strong correlation between marijuana use and lower grades at the high-school level. These studies also indicated that marijuana users are less likely to graduate from high school.

Several studies have associated smoking marijuana with increased absenteeism, tardiness, accidents on the job and job turnover.

One study that was conducted among municipal employees found that employees who smoked marijuana on or off the job were more likely to exhibit "withdrawal behaviour'' such as leaving work without permission, day-dreaming, spending work time on personal matters and shirking assigned tasks. This resulted in lower productivity and morale on the part of these employees.

As compared to non-users, heavy marijuana users are also more likely to have significantly lower levels of educational attainment and income. A study conducted by the Harvard Department of Psychiatry on the attributes of long-term heavy cannabis users concluded that these individuals, as compared to other individuals of similar socio-economic background, displayed significantly lower levels of educational attainment and income. Cannabis users involved in this study also reported that they felt marijuana has had a negative effect on their cognition, memory, career and social life and has resulted in a deprecation of their physical and mental health.

Marijuana is still linked to an increased predilection toward more harmful kinds of illicit drugs. According to a report published by the United States Department of Human and Health Services in 2002, "Initiation of Marijuana Use: Trends, Patterns, and Implications,'' marijuana users are eight times more likely to have used cocaine, 15 times more likely to have used heroin and five times more likely to abuse or become dependent on other drugs for which they will need treatment.

Despite the fact that claims about marijuana have been exaggerated by some, as Mr. Gardner pointed out, this is still not a strong enough justification for relaxing the current legislation against marijuana. We already have public-health issues related to alcohol and tobacco. Adding marijuana to that list would only serve to increase the burden on our health-care system and on society in general.

David Kilgour,

Edmonton,

MP,

Edmonton-Mill Woods-Beaumont