Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) on Marijuana Law Reform

Thank you for writing to express your opposition to the continued criminalization of marijuana. I appreciate having the benefit of your comments.

More than 11 million Americans buy illicit drugs and use them more than once a month, spending by most conservative estimates over $50 billion – and perhaps as much as $150 billion or more – annually in a diverse and fragmented criminal market. Supporters of decriminalizing marijuana believe it is not addictive, but nearly all studies show that most abusers of Schedule 1 drugs began by using marijuana. The National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health found that marijuana is indeed addictive with chronic use, and can have detrimental affects on the brain, the heart and lungs. It is absolutely essential that more studies be performed before approving a federal policy that discounts the harmful effects of marijuana.

I guess 17,000 studies just aren’t enough.  By the way, most abusers of Schedule 1 drugs began with alcohol, marijuana has less dependence risk than alcohol, and does not cause head, neck, or lung cancers, cognitive declines, memory loss, emphysema, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.  It may, with long-term chronic use, cause increased cough, sputum, or in rare cases, bronchitis.  Not anything like a legal tobacco cigarette would, however.

Legalizing marijuana would also set a dangerous precedent of undermining warnings to our children about the harmful effects of drug addiction. Today’s youth already view all drug use as less harmful and more socially acceptable and, as a result, usage is up. Sociologists agree that this increasing drug use exacerbates our worst social problems — crime, spiraling health costs, welfare dependency, domestic violence, teenage pregnancy and homelessness.

Actually, teen usage of marijuana is down since states began legalizing it for medical purposes.  What’s up lately is abuse of the legal prescription drugs that are advertised day and night on TV.

Measured in dollar value, at least four-fifths of all the illicit drugs consumed in the U.S. are of foreign origin, including 60-75 percent of marijuana. The foreign drug cartels that smuggle these drugs into the United States use murder and violent intimidation every bit as heinous as international terrorists. Enforcement experts in both the United States and Mexico argue forcefully that legalizing marijuana would increase competition and violence among these cartels, not reduce it.

Uh, wouldn’t legalization mean we can grow our own openly and domestically?  How many Mexican cartels are battling it out over tobacco fields, hops farms, or wine vineyards right now?

The federal anti-drug initiative has two major elements: (1) reduction of demand and (2) reduction of supply. Our foreign allies in this war on drugs deserve all of the efforts we can make to reduce the demand here in the United States.

Again, thank you for expressing your views on this issue. Please feel free to contact me with further comments or questions.

Sincerely,

Jerry Lewis
Member of Congress