Appeal-Democrat, 22 Oct 2010 – Science tells us cannabis is safer than over-the-counter drugs. It was endorsed by the AMA in 1937 and just last year the AMA called for the rescheduling of cannabis. The 1999 federally funded Institute of Medicine Report debunked the so-called "gateway effect." Marijuana has been legal for years in Alaska with no apparent ill-effect on the populace. Cannabis is legal in Portugal and Spain and essentially legal in the Netherlands, with no adverse effects there. Data from the Netherlands reveals only 13 percent of high school kids use marijuana compared to 19 percent in the U.S.