EX-SURGEON GENERAL: LEGALIZE POT
(above): Joycelyn Elders "Marijuana is not addictive -- not physically addictive anyway," Elders said. "Nobody says that marijuana causes violence. "As we know alcohol can cause much more aggressiveness. You aren't as likely to hurt someone from using marijuana as you are from using alcohol." "I think we consume far more dangerous drugs that are legal: cigarette smoking, nicotine and alcohol," Elders told the New York Times on Friday. "I feel they cause much more devastating effects physically. We need to lift the prohibition on marijuana." "Former US Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders told CNN's Don Lemon Sunday that she supports the legalization of marijuana. "Bill Clinton appointed Elders as the United States Surgeon General in 1993. After leaving her office, she became a professor of pediatric endocrinology at the University of Arkansas. "'Many people say [marijuana legalization] would make a bad situation worse,' Lemon began his interview. 'How do you respond to that?' "'I don't think much could be worse than the present situation that we have,' answered Elders, 'when we have the highest number of people in the world being criminalized, many for non-violent crimes related to marijuana.' "A recent study found that one in 28 US kids has a parent in prison, as Raw Story reported. "In all, 2.7 million US children have parents behind bars, and 'two-thirds of these childrens parents were incarcerated for non-violent offenses,' the study notes. "The study also finds that the US now has a prison population larger than the 35 largest European countries combined. The incarceration rate in the US is five times that of Great Britain -- 753 inmates per 100,000 people, compared to 151 inmates in the UK. Even the British incarceration rate is high compared to some countries: 96 in France and 88 in Germany, for example." [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:la...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/la...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
