MODERATORS: I surely am not intending to spam here, please let me know if anything I have posted in this thread is out of line with the rules, it does not seem to be to me.

I replied to the whitehouse today as follows:

MR. AXELROD,


PLEASE HEAR THIS:
PLEASE HELP! THIS ARTICLE IS AS SIMPLE AS IT GETS. MORE PEOPLE WOULD SPEAK UP IF THEY WERE NOT SCARED OF BEING UNJUSTLY TREATED. I HAVE BEEN PERSONALLY AFFECTED BY THE PROHIBITION OF marijuana, AND AS A TEXAS RESIDENT AND A TAX PAYING, COLLEGE GRADUATE, IT HAS SUBSTANTIALLY LIMITED MY OPTIONS FOR EMPLOYMENT. ALSO, I AM FORCED TO TURN TO "LEGAL" PRESCRIPTION DRUGS TO COUNTER CONSTANT LOWER BACK PAIN. THIS SHOULD BE TOTALLY RE-EVALUATED. IT IS A NEW DAY, SIR.

SINCERELY,
RICHARD BARTON



Anti-Drug researcher changes mind and says Legalize marijuana

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For 30 years, Donald Tashkin has studied the effects of marijuana on lung function. His work has been funded by the vehemently anti-marijuana National Institute on Drug Abuse, which has long sought to demonstrate that marijuana causes lung cancer. After 3 decades of anti-drug research, here's what Tashkin has to say about marijuana laws: "Early on, when our research appeared as if there would be a negative impact on lung health, I was opposed to legalization because I thought it would lead to increased use and that would lead to increased health effects," Tashkin says. "But at this point, I'd be in favor of legalization. I wouldn't encourage anybody to smoke any substances. But I don't think it should be stigmatized as an illegal substance. Tobacco smoking causes far more harm. And in terms of an intoxicant, alcohol causes far more harm." [McClatchy]
We've been told a thousand times that marijuana destroys your lungs, that it's 5 times worse than cigarettes, and on and on. Yet here is Donald Tashkin, literally the top expert in the world when it comes to marijuana and lung health, telling us it's time to legalize marijuana. His views are shaped not by ideology, but rather by the 30 years he spent studying the issue. He didn't expect the science to come out in favor of marijuana, but that's what happened and he's willing to admit it.