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This advertisement appeared in New Republic, the National Review, NewsMax, the American Prospect, Reason, the Progressive and The Nation in winter 2005.

Do Our Drug Laws
Focus on the
Truly Dangerous Drugs?

Comparing Dangers
of Popular Drugs

Does Jailing Marijuana Users Make More Sense
than Jailing Coffee Drinkers?

Dependence: How difficult it is for the user to quit, the relapse rate, the percentage of people who eventually become dependent, the rating users give their own need for the substance and the degree to which the substance will be used in the face of evidence that it causes harm. Withdrawal: Presence and severity of characteristic withdrawal symptoms. Tolerance: How much of the substance is needed to satisfy increasing cravings for it, and the level of stable need that is eventually reached. Reinforcement: A measure of the substance's ability, in human and animal tests, to get users to take it again and again, and in preference to other substances. Intoxication: Though not usually counted as a measure of addiction in itself, the level of intoxication is associated with addiction and increases the personal and social damage a substance may do.

Source: Dr. Jack E. Henningfield, PhD, for NIDA, Reported by: Philip J. Hilts, New York Times, Aug. 2, 1994  "Is Nicotine Addictive? It Depends on Whose Criteria You Use."
Common Sense for Drug Policy
www.CommonSenseForDrugPolicy.org -- www.DrugWarFacts.org
Mike Gray, Chair; Robert Field, Co-Chair
717-299-0600 - info@csdp.org



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