Andrea Barthwell, MD, former Deputy Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), wrote in an editorial published Feb. 17, 2004 in the Chicago Tribune:
"By characterizing the use of illegal drugs as quasi-legal, state-sanctioned, Saturday afternoon fun, legalizers destabilize the societal norm that drug use is dangerous.
They undercut the goals of stopping the initiation of drug use to prevent addiction...
Children entering drug abuse treatment routinely report that they heard that 'pot is medicine' and, therefore, believed it to be good for them.
The best hope for reducing drug use and its consequence is to teach children not to start. A child is less likely to use if there is a clear warning.
The biggest threat to creating an effective environment of prohibition is the active campaign of legalizers to blur the line between dangerous, illegal drugs and medicine."
Feb. 17, 2004 - Andrea Barthwell, MD 
Eric Voth, MD, Chairman of the International Drug Strategy Institute, sent this response to ProCon.org on Dec. 3, 2001:
"Yes. It sends the wrong message to all citizens that smoking is an appropriate delivery system."
Dec. 3, 2001 - Eric A. Voth, MD
Gabriel Nahas, MD, PhD, Professor Emeritus at Columbia University, wrote in a Mar. 1997 editorial published in theWall Street Journal:
"Epidemiological surveys indicate that the greater the perception of harm associated with marijuana, the lower the frequency of its use among children and adolescents."
Mar. 1997 - Gabriel Nahas, MD, PhD
The California Narcotics Officers Association (CNOA), stated in their policy statement "The Use of Marijuana as a Medicine", published on their website (accessed May 22, 2002):
"The medicinal marijuana movement and its media campaign have helped contribute to the changing attitude among our youth that marijuana is harmless, therefore contributing to the increase of marijuana use among our young people after 12 years of steady decline."
May 22, 2002 - California Narcotics Officers Association (CNOA)
The US Office of National Drug Control Policy (OCNDP), published an article titled "Statement on Marijuana as Medicine" (updated May 4, 2002), which stated:
"The confusing message about marijuana that these referenda send our children could not come at a worse time. In recent years, drug use by young people has increased at an alarming rate.
Among eighth graders, the use of illicit drugs -- primarily marijuana -- has tripled. This increase has been fueled by a measurable decrease in the proportion of young people who perceive marijuana as dangerous...
The federal government must protect public health by preserving the medical-scientific process for determining medicines. We must also protect children from increased marijuana availability and use, preserve drug-free workplaces, and uphold federal law.
With drug use by young people increasing, America must not send incorrect information to our youth about the risks of marijuana. The reduction -- not the promotion -- of illicit drugs is a national priority."
May 4, 2002 - Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)
ProCon.org. (2008, June 16). Would allowing the medical use
of marijuana send the wrong message to our children and our
society? Retrieved from
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Mitch Earleywine, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology at the State University of New York at Albany, and Karen O’Keefe, Esq., Attorney and Legislative Analyst for Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), stated in their Sep. 2005 report "Marijuana Use by Young People: The Impact of State Medical Marijuana Laws":
"While it is not possible with existing data to determine conclusively that state medical marijuana laws caused the documented declines in adolescent marijuana use, the overwhelming downward trend strongly suggests that the effect of state medical marijuana laws on teen marijuana use has been either neutral or positive, discouraging youthful experimentation with the drug....
Legislators considering medical marijuana proposals should evaluate the bills on their own merits without concern for unproven claims that such laws increase teen marijuana use. Opponents of medical marijuana laws should cease making such unsubstantiated claims."
Sep. 2005 - Mitch Earleywine, PhD
Karen O'Keefe, JD
John L. Kane, Jr., Senior Judge of the US Courts for the District of Colorado, wrote in an opinion editorial printed Apr. 27, 2002 in the Rocky Mountain News:
"In this darkest of comedies, the government hasn't the slightest notion what message our children are presently receiving. Perhaps we should send a message to our children about the causes of death in the United States.
We would have to tell them that tobacco is legal and, at 430,700 deaths per year, is the leading cause of substance-abuse deaths; that alcohol is legal and 110,600 die from it each year; that adverse reactions to legal prescription drugs cause 32,000 fatalities a year; that 30,500 commit suicide; 18,000 are homicide victims; and that 7,600 people die each year from taking anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin.
Of course, we don't want to send them the wrong message that the total number of deaths caused by marijuana is zero."
Apr. 27, 2002 - John L. Kane, Jr., JD
Francis L. Young, former Chief Administrative Law Judge for the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), made the following statement in his Sep. 6, 1988 ruling:
"There are those who, in all sincerity, argue that the transfer [of marijuana] to Schedule II will 'send a signal' that marijuana is 'OK' generally for recreational use.
This argument is specious. It presents no valid reason for refraining from taking an action required by law in light of the evidence...
The fear of sending such a signal cannot be permitted to override the legitimate need, amply demonstrated in this record, of countless sufferers for the relief marijuana can provide when prescribed by a physician in a legitimate case."
Sep. 6, 1988 - Francis L. Young
Ann Shulgin, a therapist and author, wrote the following in Nov. 1996:
"Several generations of high school students have grown up ignoring and disbelieving everything they've heard from government and police about drugs, including information that was factual and valid, because they discovered for themselves that most of what has been taught to them [about drugs] was simply not true."
Nov. 1996 - Ann Shulgin
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