Uses of Marijuana

were marijuana users and almost a third of all teenagers polled answered that they or some close friendI used marijuania. It is the rare person today wh0o does not have a frienid or relative wlho has tried pot, and a large number of people certainly know incidenits of its use even in the grammar schools. Solomon Snycler has assembled a concise, intelligenit treatise on some important aspects of marijuana that reveals the stubject to be not only fascinating but also terribly mis-undcerstood. In writing this book, the autlhor lhas compiled an impressive list of references an(d supportiv%e articles. The first two chapters, "MIarijtuana as Medicine" and "A Brief World History," were taken from the December 13, 1970 New York Times Mlagazine article "What We Have Forgotten About Pot" and the third clhapter, "Belhavioral Effects," fromi the 'May 1971 issue of Psychology Today. The fourth chapter, "Dangers," is written by the autlhor and discusses rationally and objectively the real and apparent dangers as well as misconceptions associated witll the use of marijuania. The Indian Hemp Commission Report of 1893 and the La Guardia Report of 1944 are only two of the several major studies cited that have attempted to assess the dangers of marijuana. A most valuable part of this chapter is a disctussion of the relationship between marijuana and lheroin. Stupposedly, smoking pot leads to the use of heroin. Dr. Snydler points out that this is not only a relatively new idea (since the 1930's) but also that proof of this alleged sequel is difficult to find whereas mtuch evidence to the contrary exists. He concludes, "The 'stepping stone to heroin' theory lhas been pretty muich debunkedl. It seems likely that tlle association between the two drugs is due simply to their being sold by the same pedd(llers." The chapter, "Research and Progress," also written by Dr. Snyder, (liscuisses the chemical basis of pot, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the relation-slhip between pot and LSD, and possible fuLture uses of THC. In the final clhap-ter, "Legal Turmoil," the autlhor refers the reader to the more comprelhensive disctlssion of marijuana and the law in J. Kaplan's Marijluania: The NVew Prohibition. MIentioned in this brief clhapter are several inconsistencies and, more importantly , current and future legislation whlich miglht solve the thorny prol)lem of the legality of marijuana. Twenty-one fine plhotograplhs, taken from several sources andI dispersed tlhroughlout the text, range from close-ups of the …