Drug Watch International
USA ARTICLES

  • Cannabis Hemp THC in the Food–Cosmetic Supply by Jeanette McDougal, MM, CCDP, Chair and William R. Walluks, Member, Hemp Committee, Drug Watch Intl. (8/2000)
    Fiber Cannabis hemp seed, though containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in hemp/marijuana) and other cannabinoid residue, is being heavily marketed and promoted by the hemp industry as a source of food, nutraceuticals, and cosmetics.  The harmful effects of THC on humans and other animals is well documented.
  • Drug Czar's Vision: An Interview with John P. Walters  (5/2002)
    The White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy, run by drug czar John P. Walters, has a media budget of $180 million to use in the war on drugs.  Walters, who worked in the drug office under the first President Bush, joined the current Bush administration in December. He recently sat down for a question-and-answer session on his plans and policies. He was asked about the advertising campaign — including these ads and others — against drugs, and other issues.
  • The Drug Problem by Alan Markwood, Illinois Delegate (9/99)
    This essay is about the drug problem in society, particularly in the United  States.  By "drug" I mean alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs such as marijuana, hallucinogens, stimulants, depressants, and opiates.  In regard to youth, inhalants (household chemicals inhaled to get a "high") are also included.

    This is not about the struggles faced by individuals who are addicted, or who struggle with any of the many life problems that can arise from drug use.  Others are well addressing those issues in the treatment programs they offer and the publications they write.  That society should be more diligent in ensuring availability of treatment for all who need it has been well stated by others.  This essay is not about people's drug problems so much as society's drug problem.
  • Drugs, Needles, and Harm by Alan Markwood, Illinois Delegate (1996)
    Needle Exchange Programs are among the most heavily promoted applications of "Harm Reduction."  The theory of "Harm Reduction" is that drug use can be made more safe, as an alternative to drug abstinence.  Needle Exchange Programs (NEPs) seek to prevent HIV infection by providing clean needles to intravenous users of illegal drugs.
  • Ecstasy [Misinformation] is astonishing by Mike Corlett, Salinas, California (8/2001)
     I decided to look at the drug lobby's latest public relations winner, the illegal recreational drug called Ecstasy. Ecstasy was a cover story of Time magazine last year, and was part of the plot of recent episodes of three series on HBO cable TV: "The Sopranos," "Arliss," and "Six Feet Under." Ecstasy is a drug for which DanceSafe's Web site provides "services (to) help people use as safely as possible." Ecstasy is a drug that was offered (for sale) to my teenage daughter last month as she was buying gas at a north Salinas gas station.
  • From Choice to Legalization by Arlene B. Seal, Ph.D.
    Much of the continued use of drugs and some of the other major problems associated with drugs in the US, such as gangs and violence, can be attributed, in part, to the type of education implemented over the past two decades at all levels.  Today, about 95%-98% of drug "prevention" curricula and youth programs (including "drug-free" youth programs) are based on a "choice/decision-making" model. Drug prevention education based on teaching children that "it is their choice or decision whether or not to use drugs" is actually COUNTERPRODUCTIVE TO THE GOALS OF A DRUG-FREE SOCIETY.
  • Glaucoma:  Why marijuana is not a safe or effective treatment
    The country's leading ophthalmologists are "chagrined" and "disturbed" to hear that claims are being made touting marijuana as a treatment for glaucoma.  Because of wide fluctuations in intraocular pressure, and a numerous other factors which affect the course of this disease, doctors agree that using marijuana as a treatment is likely to mask problems and increase the risk of blindness.
  • Hemp: A cover for legalizing pot by Jeanette McDougal, Minnesota Delegate
    Separating hemp reality from hemp rhetoric is like separating fleas from dogs: It's hard to do, and it's temporary. When one hemp fact is established, pro-hemp advocates rush in with another of their own facts.
  • It Doesn't Make Sense by Sandra S. Bennett, Past President Drug Watch International (8/2001)
    It does not make good sense that many children now get no drug prevention education in their schools, unless being able to access pro-drug, pro-legalization sites on the Internet through school and public libraries is thought to be appropriate drug education.
  • Mandatory Minimum Sentences: An Overview by David Risley, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Illinois
    The purpose of mandatory minimum sentences is to prevent the judicial trivialization of serious drug crimes.  They do that well, to which some protest. Because the federal sentencing system is the model most often cited, it will be used for illustration throughout the following discussion. Mandatory Minimum Sentences [full text with references]
  • Medical Marijuana Questions and Answers by Sandra Bennett, Past President Drug Watch International (3/2002)
    What do you say to the media when they ask for your input on "medical" marijuana? Over the past two years I have been asked by numerous radio talk show hosts, most of whom have already had had the medical pot mavens on their programs, to respond for "the other side."
  • Myth of "Harmless Marijuana" by John P. Walters. Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy, The White House, Washington, D.C.
    The Washington Post, May 01, 2002, Wednesday, Final Edition, Editorial Section
    Parents are often unaware that today's marijuana is different from that of a generation ago, with potency levels 10 to 20 times stronger than the marijuana with which they were familiar. Marijuana directly affects the brain. Researchers have learned that it impairs the ability of young people to concentrate and retain information during their peak learning years, and when their brains are still developing. 
  • Parent Power by Dr. Keith Schuchard
    The following are excerpts from a talk given by Dr. Keith Schuchard, a parent and University of Texas Professor of English, on the topic of drug use in society, and particularly marijuana, and the need for parents to participate in the effort to keep drugs away from our children. 
  • Protect New Mexico — Press Release, January 7, 2002
    Protect New Mexico is a new anti-drug organization made up of bi-partisan New Mexicans dedicated to promoting sound policies to combat the destruction caused by illegal drugs. Protect New Mexico was created to provide lawmakers and the public with relevant and factual information regarding the drug problems facing our state. We believe the only way to reduce the demand of dangerous drugs is through a balanced approach of treatment, prevention, and enforcement.
  • Tobacco, Marijuana, Ecstasy and the Media — by Northwest Center for Health and Safety (3/03)
    In 1964 the Surgeon General, Dr. Luther L. Terry, issued a report stating that cigarette smoking was the primary cause of lung cancer. The 1971 book Cigarette Country, written by Susan Wagner and published by Praeger Publishers, documented how the tobacco industry and the media worked together to discredit the surgeon general's report and keep the public in the dark.  This same phenomenon is going on today with illicit drugs, particularly with marijuana and ecstasy, the two drugs favored by the media.
  • The Truth About Marijuana and Industrial Marijuana Hemp by Strategic Intelligence Section, Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Wisconsin Department of Justice (11/2001)
    By letter dated March 20, 2001, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) denied a petition to initiate rulemaking proceedings to reschedule marijuana. The letter sent to the petitioner (denying the petition), along with the supporting documentation that was attached to the letter, constitute an extraordinary collection of information pertaining to the harms and dangers of marijuana and also lower-potency industrial marijuana hemp. 
    The cited research substantiates long-time concerns expressed by law enforcement and other preventionists in challenging drug proponents and pro-drug materials that promote the smoking of marijuana, marijuana for “medical” uses, and the growing of industrial marijuana hemp. 

 

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