Big Marijuana? How About Be Afraid of Big-time Prohibitionists?

Frum “Be afraid of Big Marijuana”

A fellow named David Frum recently wrote an anti-cannabusiness screed on CNN.com entitled “Be Afraid of Big Marijuana.” Frum is a Prohibitionist yammerer who’s on the Board of Directors of the infamous “Smart Approaches to Marijuana” group (led by disgraced former Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy, who should not be giving guidance to anyone anywhere.

What his article tells me, as a person who’s actually knowledgeable about cannabis, is that the Prohibition mentality of the 1920s is still alive and well, and that its adherents will stop at nothing to advance their agenda. In fact, this article starts laying the groundwork for new Prohibition-era thinking, as Frum attacks alcohol as well as marijuana! Here are some prime examples from his post:

Frum: To understand where the marijuana debate is going, it’s important to appreciate that “medical marijuana” is a laughable fiction.

OH: Medical marijuana is not a laughing matter for the approximately 2 million Americans who depend on it every day. Medical marijuana patients range from 5-year-old Charlotte Figi who suffers from constant life-threatening seizures without it to 74-year-old Elvy Musikka, who the Federal government (you know, the people who claim that cannabis has no medical uses yet holds a patent on cannabinoids) sends a can of joints every few months to keep her from going blind.

Frum: In California, the typical user of so-called medical marijuana is a 32-year-old white man with no life-threatening illness but a long record of substance abuse.

OH: Even assuming this is true — and Frum uses the equally unreliable Kevin Sabet as his “source” for information — this profile also exactly matches that of a military veteran who’s been drinking or taking pills to self-medicate (neither of which is nearly as safe as cannabis). As I wrote in my series The Biggest 5 Myths About Medical Marijuana, “Veterans often suffer from intractable pain, PTSD, or both. Ironically, many of the self-righteous people who attack medical marijuana often claim to be pro-military and pro-veteran.”

Frum: Under Colorado’s now-superseded medical marijuana regime, only 2% of those prescribed marijuana suffered from cancer, and only 1% from HIV/AIDS. Some 94% cited unspecified “pain” as the justification for their pot prescription.

OH: Frum’s use of scare quotes on “pain” is monstrous, in my opinion. Here are the only qualifying conditions for medical marijuana in the state of Colorado (source: another article on CNN!):

There are eight medical conditions for which patients can use cannabis — cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, muscle spasms, seizures, severe pain, severe nausea and cachexia or dramatic weight loss and muscle atrophy.

That Frum stoops to trivialize the suffering of patients with physician-certified severe pain is especially disturbing.

Frum: Warren Buffett famously explained the economics of tobacco: “It costs a penny to make. Sell it for a dollar. Plus, it’s addictive!” Alcohol conforms to the same ugly logic.

OH: Here, Frum uses another typical tactic of people who argue with no facts. His sudden transition about the addictive nature of tobacco and alcohol in the middle of an article about marijuana is not a mistake. He hopes to confuse the reader by linking two known highly physically addictive substances with marijuana, a substance that many people believe to be addictive solely because the government has been claiming that for years via its DARE program.

As is fairly well-known by now, about as many people claim they’re “addicted to marijuana” as they do to being addicted to things like sex, the Internet, or chocolate. And as the DEA’s own administrative judge said 25 years ago, “Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man.” Not quite as dangerous as alcohol or tobacco!

Most of the rest of Frum’s article is an unabashed advertisement for his buddy Kevin Sabet’s new anti-marijuana book. As that book purports to “expose 7 myths about marijuana”, I expect to be refuting every one of those points in the near future!