This report issued by the
National Drug Intelligence Center, National Drug Threat Assessment 2005, February 2005 flat out says that John Walter's propaganda is false, and that marijuana use will continue to grow. Here are some excerpts:
The escalating prevalence of higher potency marijuana such as sinsemilla has resulted in an increase in average marijuana potency; however, high potency marijuana constitutes a relatively small portion of the marijuana available throughout the United States. Commercial-grade marijuana is the most widely available type throughout the country.
A rise in treatment referrals through the criminal justice system has contributed largely to the increase in marijuana-related treatment admissions.
Such data indicate that despite the volume of marijuana trafficked and used in this country, for many in law enforcement marijuana is much less an immediate problem than methamphetamine, for example, which is associated with more tangible risks such as violent users and toxic production sites. Bearing this out, NDTS data also indicate that only 4.6 percent of state and local law enforcement agencies across the country in both 2003 and 2004 identified marijuana as the drug that most contributes to violent crime. Asked to identify the drug that most contributes to property crime, 9.5 percent of agencies nationwide identified marijuana in 2004, more than twice the response for violent crime, but less than reported in 2003 (11.8%).
The dramatic increases in marijuana-related ED mentions and treatment admissions often are viewed with concern, and while these increases may be attributable in part to the higher potency marijuana available today, this hypothesis has yet to be confirmed. Also, a rise in treatment referrals through the criminal justice system (such as through drug courts begun in the early 1990s) has contributed largely to the increase in marijuana-related treatment admissions.
Demand is higher for marijuana than for any other illicit drug, and the constancy of this demand over time has ensured marijuana's ready availability and profitability.
The market for marijuana is strong and stable throughout the United States and should remain so given the drug's wide appeal to users and consistent profitability for distributors as well as producers.
Marijuana production within the United States should increase as DTOs and criminal groups continue to establish or expand large-scale domestic cultivation operations
Law enforcement reporting from the Southwest Border indicates that as cross-border marijuana smuggling has increased, so too has the frequency of violent incidents, again a situation that should only intensify with increased production in and smuggling from Mexico.
An increased supply of marijuana likely will result in increased exposure to the drug and consequently more new users, since initiates to drug use are more likely to start with a drug that is as readily available and easily obtainable as marijuana. Indeed, reporting from some areas has suggested that marijuana is easier for youths to obtain than alcohol or cigarettes. Among established users, particularly among older teens and young adults, the general softening of attitudes regarding the risks associated with and the disapproval of marijuana use, combined with increased availability of the drug, should presage a rise in consumption.
