10 THINGS EVERY PARENT, TEENAGER AND TEACHER SHOULD KNOW 
ABOUT MARIJUANA...

Q. What is Marijuana?
A. Marijuana refers to the dried leaves and flowers of the 
   cannabis plant(1), which contains the non-narcotic 
   chemical THC at various potencies. It is smoked or eaten 
   to produce the feeling of being "high." The different 
   strains of this herb produce different sensual effects, 
   ranging from sedative to stimulant.

Q. Who Uses Marijuana?
A. There is no simple profile of a typical marijuana user. 
   It has been used for 1000s of years for medical, social 
   and religious reasons and for relaxation(2). Several of 
   our Presidents(3) are belived to have smoked it. One out 
   of every five Americans say they have smoked it. And it 
   is still popular among artists, writers, musicians, 
   activists, lawyers, inventors, working people, etc.

Q. How Long Have People Been Using Marijuana?
A. Marijuana has been used since ancient times(4). While 
   field hands and working people have often smoked the raw 
   plant, asristocrats historically prefer hashish(5) made 
   from the cured flowers of the plant. It was not seen as a 
   problem until a calculated disinformation campaign was 
   launched in the 1930s(6), and the first American laws 
   against using it were passed(7).

Q. Is Marijuana Addictive?
A. No, it is not(8). Most users are moderate consumers who 
   smoke it socially to relax. We now know that 10% of our 
   population have "addictive personalities" and they are 
   neither more nor less likely to overindulge in cannabis
   than in anything else. On a relative scale, marijuana is 
   less habit forming than either sugar or chocolate but 
   more so than anchovies. Sociologists report a general 
   pattern of marijuana use that peaks in the early adult 
   years, followed by a period of levelling off and then a 
   gradual reduction in use(9).

Q. Has Anyone Ever Died From Smoking Marijuana?
A. No; not one single case, not ever. THC is one of the few 
   chemicals for which there is no known toxic amount(10). The 
   federal agency NIDA says that autopsies reveal that 75 
   people per year are high on marijuana when they die: This 
   does not mean that marijuana caused or was even a factor in 
   their deaths.

   The chart below compares the number of deaths attributable 
   to selected substances in a typical year:

     Tobacco...........................340,000-395,000
     Alcohol(excluding crime/accidents).......125,000+
     Drug Overdose(prescription).........14,000-27,000
     Drug Overdose(illegal)................3,800-5,200
     Marijuana.......................................0

     *Source: US government Bureau of Mortality
     Statistics, 1987 

Q. Does Marijuana Lead to Crime and/or Hard Drugs?
A. No(11). The only crime most marijuana users commit is that 
   they use marijuana. And, while many people who abuse 
   dangerous drugs also smoke marijuana, the old "stepping 
   stone" theory is now discredited, since virtually all of 
   them started out "using" legal drugs like sugar, coffee, 
   cigarettes, alcohol, etc.

Q. Does marijuana Make People Violent?
A. No. In fact, Federal Bureau of Narcotics director Harry 
   Anslinger once told Congress just the opposite - that it 
   leads to non-violence and pacifism(12). If he was telling 
   the truth (which he and key federal agencies have not often 
   done regarding marijuana), then relegalizing marijuana 
   should be considered as one way to curb the growing violence 
   in out cities.

   The simple fact is that marijuana does not change your 
   basic personality. The government says that over 20 million 
   Americans still smoke it, probably including some of the 
   nicest people you know.

Q. How Does Marijuana Affect Your Health?
A. Smoking anything is not healthy, but marijuana is less 
   dangerous than tobacco and people smoke less of it at a 
   time. This health risk can be avoided by eating the plant 
   instead of smoking it(13) or it can be reduced by smaller 
   amounts of stronger marijuana.

   There is no proof that marijuana causes serious health or 
   sexual problems(14) but, like alcohol, its use by children 
   or adolescents is discouraged. Cannabis is a medicinal herb 
   that has hundreds of proven, valuable therapeutic uses - 
   from stress reduction to glaucoma to asthma to cancer 
   therapy, etc(15).

Q. What About All Those Scary Statistics and Studies?
A. Most were prepared as scared tactics for the government by 
   Dr. Gabriel Nahas, and were so biased and unscientific that 
   Nahas was fired by the National Institute of Health(16) 
   and finally renounced his own studies as meaningless(17). 
   For one experiment, he suffocated monkeys for five minutes 
   at a time, using proportionately more smoke than the 
   average user inhales in an entire lifetime(18). The other 
   studies that claim sensational health risks are also highly 
   suspect, since they lack controls and produce results which 
   can not be replicated or independently verified(19).

Q. What Can I Do About Marijuana?
A. No independent government panel that has ever studied 
   marijuana has ever recommened jail for users(20). Concerned 
   persons should therefore ask their legislators to 
   re-legalize and tax this plant, subject to age limits and 
   regulations similar to those on alcohol and tobacco.



"PENALTIES AGAINST POSSESSSION OF A DRUG SHOULD NOT BE MORE
DAMAGING TO AN INDIVIDUAL THAT THE USE OF THE DRUG ITSELF."
                   -President Jimmy Carter
                     Message to Congress
                        August 2, 1977


        This pamphlet was researched and produced as a
                    public service by the

                      FAMILY COUNCIL ON
                        DRUG AWARENESS

               P.O. BOX 71093, LA CA 90071-0093
                        (213) 288-4152

                   Distributed locally by:


                ILLINOIS MARIJUANA INITIATIVE
                        P.O. BOX 2242
                       DARIEN, IL 60559
                        (708) 859-0499

      Ported into the cyberdomain by the Merry Hempsters
        at the RIPCO BBS (312) 528-5020 (check out the
                       HEMP sub-board)

              Additional copies available from:

           BACH, PO BOX 71093, L.A., CA 90071-0093
           25cents each, Ten for $1.50, 100 for $10


                    FOOTNOTE TO THE TEXT:

1. The same plant, known as hemp, has an estimatied 50,000 
   non-drug and commercial uses including paper, textiles, 
   fuels, food, medicine and sealants, but these uses are also 
   blocked by existing laws. Sources:Encyclopidia Brittanica, 
   federal documents and historical records; Herer, Jack, THE 
   EMPEROR WEARS NO CLOTHES.

2. Coptic Christians, Rastafarians, Shintos, Hindus, 
   Buddhists, Sufis, Essenes, Zoroastrians, Bantus and many 
   other sects have traditions that consider the plant to have 
   religious value. In the Bible, God told man to use "all the 
   seed bearing plants," not excluding hemp/marijuana.(Genesis 
   1:12).

3. "Father of our Country" George Washington recorded a 
   preference for female plants and mentioned a "curious" 
   preparation, possibly hashish. Thomas Jefferson and Ben 
   Franklin were also implicated. America's founding fathers 
   were hemp farmers. Mrs Lincoln had a prescription for 
   hashish. Kennedy was known to smoke marijuana for his back 
   pain and to favor legalizing it. Source: Washinton 5-26- 
   1794 letters and journals, Jefferson writings, national 
   archives, periodicals.

4. Archeologists report that cannabis was possibly the first 
   plant cultivated by humans - about 8,000 B.C. - and was 
   used for linen, paper, and garments. Source: Colombia 
   Univ., History of the World. It was being smoked in china 
   and India as early as 2700 B.C.

5. Turkish smoking parlors, a tradition in the Middle and Far 
   East, were popular in Europe and America as recently as the 
   turn of the Century

6. The exhaustive Indian Hemp "Raj" Commission report 
   (British, 1896) found no cause to restrict its use. But the 
   notorious yellow journalist William Randolph Hearst 
   fabricated and published horror stories about marijuana 
   that were eventually investigated and shown to be lies, but 
   not until long after the marijuana prohibition was enacted 
   in 1937. Source: Larry Solman, REFFER MADNESS

7. Laws against marijuana were passed a year after the 
   invention of a machine to harvest and process hemp so it 
   could compete commercially against business owned by 
   Hearst, the DuPonts and other powerful families. Source: 
   Jack Herer, THE EMPEROR WEARS NO CLOTHES.

8. Marijuana use does not lead to physical dependency. Costa 
   Rican Study, 1980; Jamaican Study, 1975; Nixon Blue Ribbon 
   Report, 1972, et al

9. Source: Pschology Today, Newsweek, et al.

10. Source: All University medical studies, UCLA, Harvard, 
    Temple, etc.

11. Costa Rican Study, 1980; Jamaican Study, 1975; "The legal 
    drugs for adults, such as alcohol and tobacco...precede 
    the use of all illicit drugs." Source: National Academy of 
    Sciences.

12. The FBI reports that 65-75% of criminal violence is 
    alcohol related. "Pacifist syndrome" testimony was given 
    by Federal Bureau of Narcotics Director Harry Anslinger 
    before Congress(1948). However, the "Siler" Study 
    conducted by the US in Panama(1931) reported "no 
    impairment" in military personnel who smoked marijuana 
    while off duty.

13. "The only clinically significant medical problem that is 
    scientifically linked to marijuana is bronchitis. Like 
    smoking tobacco, the treatment is the same: stop smoking." 
    Source: Dr. Fred Oerther, MD

14. Coptic Study(UCLA), 1981; "There is not yet any conclusive 
    evidence as to whether prolonged use of marijuana causes 
    permament changes in the nervous system or sustained 
    impairment of brain functions and behavior in human 
    beings." Source: National Academy of Sciences.

15. Source: Dr. Tod Mikuriya, MARIJUANA MEDICAL PAPERS. 
    MArijuana could replace at least 10-20% of prescription 
    drugs now in use. Source: Dr. Raphael Mechoulam. MArijuana 
    was a major active ingredient in 40-50% of patent 
    medicines before its ban.

16. 1976

17. 1983

18. The US government reports that the oral does of cannabis 
    required to kill a mouse is about 40,000 times the dose 
    required to produce symptoms of intoxication in man. 
    Source: Lowe, JOURNAL of PHARMACOLOGICAL and EXPERIMENTAL 
    THERAPEUTICS, Oct, 1946

19. In another famous study, Heath/Tulane(1974), wild monkeys 
    were brutally captured, then virtually suffocated in 
    marijuana smoke over a period of 90 days. Source: National 
    Institute of Health.

20. "Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission"(British, 
    1894); "Siler Commission" Report(US 1933); "LaGuardia" 
    Commission(New York, 1944); President Nixon's "Shafer" 
    Commission(US, 1972); "Ladine" Commission(Canada, 1972); 
    Alaska's State Commission(Alaska, 1989); Attorney 
    General's Research Advisory Commission(California, 1990), 
    et al.

