I am deeply disturbed by our government's recent crackdown on marijuana consumers, and by the irrational disinformation campaign against cannabis use that has continued unabated for over 50 years.

Today, the major arguments against marijuana (also known as cannabis) are as follows:

-- Legalizing cannabis would create more users;

-- The potency of cannabis has increased and the plant is therefore more dangerous;

-- Cannabis is detrimental to health.

Here are the facts:

-- Marijuana was made legal in Holland in the late 1960s. According to H.W. Janssen, a narcotics officer located in Heerlen, the percentage of marijuana users fell dramatically after legalization.

Currently about 1.5 percent of the Dutch population uses cannabis. The percentage of users in the United States is 15 times larger than this.

-- According to a study published in the Kansas Law Review (Vol. 36), the percentage of THC contained in cannabis confiscated by the Drug Enforcement Agency has remained stable over the last 10 years.

In 1981, the mean percentage of THC contained in confiscated plants was 2.92. By 1987, the mean percentage had actually dropped to 2.5. This proves government figures regarding potency have been exaggerated.

-- According to NORML (the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), our government has sponsored two long term health studies on cannabis, one in Jamaica and one in Costa Rica. The results of these studies are not widely known because they discovered marijuana users live longer than non-marijuana users.

In over 8,000 years of known usage, no one has ever died from marijuana, yet we have over 400,000 deaths every year attributed to alcohol or tobacco.

Despite this evidence more than 300,000 people are arrested every year for violation of our marijuana laws, mostly for minor possession. When these people are jailed, it costs the taxpayers $30,000 per year per prisoner.

If the government really wants to do something about drug abuse, they should go after the truly dangerous drugs, like alcohol, tobacco, cocaine and heroin.

Our country was founded on principles of freedom. If we can choose freely to use such dangerous drugs such as tobacco and alcohol, why is our Bill of Rights being revoked in the pursuit of a relatively harmless plant?