norml23 - Page 31

 It is irrational to classify marijuana in Schedule I when It is
 much less dangerous than the other drugs in Schedule 1. Marijuana as a
 1ow potential for abuse, and is analogous to or even less dangerous I
 than the substances listed in the lower Schedules of the Act.
 S. Severe Penalties for Marijuana Offenses, While
 Identical Conduct Involving Alcohol and
 Tobacco Cannot be Criminally Punished, are
 Arbitrary, Irrational and Xypocdtical.
 Defendant's final argument is that it is arbitrary, irrational,
 and hypocritical to classify marijuana in Schedule ! of the CSA, with
 its attendant severe penalties, when identical conduct involving
 alcohol and tobacco cannot be criminally punished.
 The CSA specifically exempts alcohol and tobacco from the overage
 of the laWo 21 U.S.C. 802 (6) provides that:
 The term "controlled substance" means a drug or
 other substance, or immediate precursor, included
 in Schedule I, ill, IV or V of part g of this
 subchaptero The term does not include distilled
 spirits, wine, mart beverages, or tobacco, as those
 terms are defined or used in subtitle E of the
 Internal Revenue Code of 1954.
 The disparity in treatment between marijuana on the one hand, and
 alcohol and tobacco on the other, can no longer be justified. Recent
 evidence indicates that alcohol and tobacco are far more dangerous
 drugs than marijuana, and present a much greater health hazard to the
 user.
 Alcohol operated in the body as a centraS nervous system
 depressant: its effects are very similar to those produced by the
 barbiturates. Jaffe, supra, at pgo 289. Tolerance develops from regular
 use, and discontinued use precipitates a severe withdrawal syndrome
 similar to that of barbiturate withdrawal and ma_'ked by hallucinations
 and delirium tremors which can read to death. Id., at pg. 292. What is
 commonly called "a!coho[ism" is actually physical addiction to the drug
 alcohol. Alcohol abuse causes cirrhosis of the _iver, which ranks
 seventh nationally as a cause of death, Jo Fort, Alc:oho[: Our Biggest