WHEREAS, overall drug use in the United States decreased by more than one third since the late 1970s, however 15.9 million people in the United States still used illegal drugs in 2001; and

WHEREAS, an estimated 2.4 million Americans used marijuana for the first time in 2000; and

WHEREAS, 10.8 percent of youths 12 to 17 used illegal drugs in 2001 compared with 9.7 percent in 2000; and.

WHEREAS, among young adults age 18 to 25, drug use increased between 2000 and 2001 from 15.9 percent to 18.8 percent; and

WHEREAS, medical marijuana, called Marinol, already exists. The active ingredient in Marinol is synthetic THC, which has been found to relieve the nausea and vomiting associated with various maladies; and

WHEREAS, eight states have enacted legislation that advocate the medical use of marijuana to heal a multitude of physical ailments; and

WHEREAS, reckless campaigns to legalize marijuana mislead and confuse the public as to the true risks and dangers of illegal drug use and undermine efforts in the prevention of drug initiates among youth; and

WHEREAS, there are no Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved medications that are smoked and it is neither rational nor compassionate to provide a harmful, addictive drug with no scientifically proven medical efficacy; and

WHEREAS, inhaling smoke is generally a poor way to administer medicine in a safe, measured, and regulated dose; and

WHEREAS, the harmful chemicals and carcinogens that are by-products of smoking marijuana create entirely new health problems in addition to the hazards of tobacco use; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) reaffirms its opposition to any attempts to replace the established medical and scientific criteria for determining when an illegal drug has a bona fide medical purpose and, therefore, opposes these laws and initiatives as inconsistent with established scientific and medical protocols for establishing the medical value of dangerous drugs; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the IACP strongly supports public awareness efforts by the Office of National Drug Control Police (ONDCP), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that dispel the myths that marijuana has beneficial worth when used for medicinal purposes and that it is not harmful in recreational use; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the IACP strongly encourages state and local law enforcement agencies to become involved as soon as legalization efforts are apparent as an anti-legalization advocate in efforts to counter the legalization lobby.