Treatment statistics do more harm than good

The prohibition faction makes much ado about the increase in marijuana treatment admissions in justifying their obscene budgets. Of course, in reality it has almost nothing to do with cannabis abuse and everything to do with the criminal justice system. Doug McVay of Common Sense for Drug Policy neatly deconstructs their sham statistics in a piece posted at drugwar.com. He connects the dots between the courts and the treatment facilities, deflating their numbers with facts and finds the most important point.

What does it all mean? No one disputes the fact that it is possible for people to abuse marijuana, however the problem is obviously less significant than is being portrayed by the feds. The ultimate question is whether the potential for abuse is so great that marijuana should be dealt with as a criminal problem, as we do heroin and cocaine, or as a public health issue as we do alcohol and tobacco. The debate is difficult enough for the public without the issues being obscured by the political spin being given to research.

Not to mention ignoring the research that disproves the claimed effectiveness of their prohibition/punishment model. The answer is apparent to anyone willing to spend the time reviewing the facts. Prohibition is pointless and especially in the case of marijuana, causes more harm to the public welfare than the prohibited behavior.