DOJ Foot-Dragging On Prison Rape Unites Left-Right Coalition

Federal statistics gathered by the DrugAbuseWarninNetwork (DAWN) do indicate an increase in the number of people “mentioning” marijuana during ER visits. (It's hardly unique to marijuana however, as the overall number of drug mentions has risen dramatically since the late 1980s – likely due to improved federal reporting procedures.) However, a marijuana “mention” does not mean that marijuana caused the hospital visit or that it was a factor in leading to the ER episode, only that the patient said that he'd used marijuana previously.



For every ER visit related to drug use, hospital staff list up to five drugs the patient reports having used recently, regardless of whether or not use of the drug caused the visit. The frequency with which any drug is mentioned in such visits is generally proportional to its frequency of use, irrespective of its inherent dangers.



It's foolish for anyone – especially those in the administration’s anti-drug office – to imply that marijuana is in any way potentially more dangerous to one’s health than heroin. Marijuana's mentioned to hospital staff more frequently than heroin, not because it’s more dangerous, but simply because a far greater percentage of the population uses marijuana than uses heroin. It is also worth noting that alcohol is by far the drug most frequently reported to DAWN, even though it is reported only when present in combination with another reportable drug. Moreover, marijuana is rarely mentioned independent of other drugs.



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