From: [c--o--n] at [dsmnet.com] (Carl E. Olsen)
Newsgroups: alt.hemp,alt.drugs,talk.politics.drugs
Subject: Clinton Lies About Marijuana
Date: Fri, 21 Oct 1994 22:52:15

NORML
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SPECIAL BULLETIN - SPECIAL BULLETIN - SPECIAL BULLETIN - SPECIAL BULLETIN

October 20, 1994

President Clinton Urges School Children to Tell the Truth
Then Lies to Them About Marijuana
  Speaking to students at Framingham (Massachusetts) High School today 
President Clinton said, "We disagree about a lot of things but we should 
be able to agree that our schools should say people should tell the truth."
Then two paragraphs later he went on to tell them, "Every single scientific
study done over the last several years shows Manning increases in the 
toxicity and the danger of using marijuana, especially to young women, and 
what might happen to their child bearing capacity in the future." This is 
simply untrue.

  The fact is that the only large-scale testing of marijuana done in the 
United States-at the University of Mississippi under the sponsorship of the 
National Institute on Drug Abuse-has shown no increase in average potency 
over the last 12 years. (Other studies show no increase in potency over an 
even longer time.)
  Moreover, increased potency does not mean increased toxicity. In 1988 the 
Chief Administrative Law Judge for the Drug Enforcement Administration said 
that "marijuana cannot induce a lethal response as a result of drug related 
toxicity." He went on to say that in "strict medical terms marijuana is far 
safer than many foods we commonly consume." There has been no change in the 
"toxicity" of marijuana.

  In response to the President's remarks, Richard Cowan, the National 
Director of NORML, said, "Lying to children about marijuana undermines the 
credibility of ML drug education. When young people find out that they have 
been lied to about pot they don't believe the warnings about cocaine. These 
kids have been lied to personally by the President of the United States.
This is a great tragedy. If President Clinton wonders why there has been an 
increase in cynicism in America, he should look in the mirror."

  [For a complete transcript of the President's speech, contact the White 
House Press Office at 202-456-2100. For other information contact Allen St. 
Pierre at NORML, 202-483-5500.]

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