Madison NORML

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Marijuana

"It's just marijuana" is what most people say to Leinfelder when he talks about marijuana enforcement.

But marijuana, a problem for police for decades, is more potent today than. It's more costly and poses new challenges for police, Bjerke said.

For years, marijuana producers have worked to increase the THC level, or the active drug component, in marijuana - to the point that even the lowest-grade pot is more potent than the highest-quality weed sold in the 1960s and 1970s, Bjerke said.

"Marijuana sold in the '60s would be like our beer today. The lower-level stuff on the street today is at least double the potency it was," Bjerke said.

The more potent the drug, the more expensive - which makes marijuana much more profitable than it once was. And, Bjerke added, more dangerous.

Periodically police uncover a marijuana dealer bringing pot into the area several pounds at a time. The best indication of how much marijuana comes through the community came in 2003: Police discovered more than 650 pounds of marijuana in a Holmen storage unit.

While police were sure the marijuana was going to be shipped out of the area, Bjerke said, the bust showed how much pot is out there. While there are some large suppliers, Bjerke said La Crosse doesn't have a bottomless demand for pot.

"It can be hard to get rid of marijuana in La Crosse. Most only buy it by the quarter ounce or eighth ounce or smaller sizes, so it can take a long time to get rid of larger amounts of pot," Bjerke said.

The bigger busts of recent years involved suppliers bringing in high-grade pot to sell to other dealers.

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Here is my letter in response as published...

IT'S MODERN REEFER MADNESS

By GARY F. STORCK | Madison

La Crosse County Assistant District Attorney Todd Bjerke's claims that marijuana today is more potent than in the 1960s and '70s is plain, old reefer madness, "Drug arrests up 22 percent as trafficking, enforcement increase in region," (Jan. 22).

The truth is that these claims have been repeatedly debunked. A report click here by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws found "the notion that pot has increased dramatically in potency is a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration myth based on biased government data." NORML found that "a careful examination of the government's data show that average marijuana potency increased modestly by a factor of two or so during the '70s, and has been more or less constant ever since."

NORML also notes that, "contrary to popular myth, greater potency is not necessarily more dangerous, due to the fact that users tend to adjust their dose according to potency."

Furthermore, Bjerke's claim that "marijuana sold in the '60s would be like our beer today," minimizes the very real dangers posed by alcohol abuse. The fact is beer - today and yesterday - unlike marijuana ever, has a lethal dose, and like all alcoholic beverages, can trigger health problems, violent behavior, addiction and myriad other harms.

Marijuana, on the other hand, does not trigger violence and has been shown to be much safer than alcohol.

The counterproductive war on marijuana only wastes scarce tax dollars and police resources by pursuing ordinary, otherwise law-abiding citizens for victimless consensual activities.

Gary Storck is founder of the Wisconsin chapter of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws.

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Note: I am actually one of a number of co-founders of the latest incarnations of Wisconsin and Madison NORML, as I signed my submitted LTE.