Yet research of the 1970’s shows that 70 percent of the students in American universities have used marijuana. Its use by high-school students in Canada jumped from 6.7 percent in 1968 to 22.9 percent in 1974. Now, probably three million Canadians and some 24 to 36 million Americans use marijuana.

A reflection of the growth of drug use in the United States is seen in a report by a former White House health adviser, Dr. Peter Bourne. He said that marijuana smuggling is now that nation’s third-largest industry. Only Exxon and General Motors do bigger business in the United States. In Florida, it tops even the tourist industry, he claimed, being now the leading money-maker there. Did you know these things?

Such growth in drug use is sure to cause concern for parents and others. They are concerned about the early and long-range effects of drug taking on children and adults, and on society as a whole.

There are those who propose that legalizing drug use would snatch drug trafficking out of the hands of criminals and allow for better control by government agencies. Especially do they argue for this on the basis of the alleged harmlessness of drugs if used moderately. They may then cite reports like the one that appeared in the Montreal Star News and Review of March 31, 1979, which said: “In the past 80 years 13 major national and international commissions have inquired into cannabis [marijuana] and each has reached broadly the same conclusions: that its dangers have been greatly exaggerated.”

Yet in the same city just a few days earlier, another newspaper, The Gazette (March 22, 1979), reported on a Symposium on Marijuana held at Rheims, France, and said: “More than 40 scientists from 13 countries presented the latest findings on marijuana​—and they are alarming.” [Italics added] The conflicting reports leave many persons perplexed.

Despite the contradictions found in the various studies and reports on drugs, especially when dealing with marijuana use, medical men in general and many scientists are not yet ready to give all “popular” drugs a clean bill of health. There are still serious reservations about the long-term effects of even the so-called “soft” drugs. There is growing concern about the effects on the unborn.

Maclean’s magazine reported that due to a lot of pressure on the Canadian government to legalize marijuana, in March of 1979 “each member of Parliament received a letter from a dozen high-ranking Canadian doctors urging extreme caution in this contentious matter.” Why? One would be wise to find out. He should also investigate why, if it is as harmless as claimed, so many using drugs try desperately and repeatedly to break free from drug use.