Reefer Quiz

Cannabis mythology

Does cannabis deprivation make journalists stupid? Yes. Read today’s editorials. Those who know the least, pontificate the most.

Does today’s cannabis contain a new poison?  No. It concentrates the traditional ingredients from about 4% to about 15%.

Does it do four times as much damage?  No. Users adjust their intake. In the same way that drinkers don’t gorge tumblers of whisky or  pints of wine, skunk users adjust their intake.

Are cannabis-affected drivers involved in more accidents? No Cannabis, like alcohol, slows drivers’ reactions. But there is an essential difference. Alcohol promotes aggression and convinces drivers that they are more skilful. Cannabis promotes fear and increases drivers’ caution.  Cannabis drivers are not involved in more accidents.

Why did David Blunkett re-classify cannabis to category ‘C’? Parents of young people who had died from heroin and cocaine complained that their children did not believe any of the scary warnings. They felt they had been conned by exaggerated warning on cannabis danger and concluded that they could also handle heroin and cocaine. Group ‘C’ for cannabis represents its relative risk compared with Group A Heroin.

Did Blunkett’s move increase use? No it’s gone down-substantially.

Has there been an increase in cases of schizophrenia? No there has been very large decrease. But there has been an increase in reports of mental health problems. The Advisory Committee decided on fact not hysteria.

Who is demanding a yo-yo back to class ‘B’? The tabloids - plus the empire of the prohibition establishment. There are a growing army of people with a vested interest in continuing and intensifying prohibition. It pays their wages, their pensions and promises them jobs and promotion for life.

What will be the effect of re
classification?
Good? Nothing. People use drugs because of mood, fashion, price and disposition not classification.

Bad? It will convince politicians that they have acted tough. It will be a further excuse for not thinking.

Loyalists revolt
A murmuring heckle spread across the Parliamentary Labour party meeting. No words were discernible, but a babble of whispered conservations drowned out the Prime Ministers words.

Backbenchers had expressed a shared worry. The abolition of the 10p income tax band is hitting people on very low disposable income. I raised it again in an impassioned letter to Downing Street two weeks ago. Months ago, I raised it in a debate.

Those hit are the articulate low earners on incomes that float them off benefits without providing them with spare income. These are the very group in which small reductions in income are painful.

Gordon Brown has argued with justification that there are compensatory benefits that will ensure that few will lose out. There are always exceptions and they are justifiably angry. This time it was loyalists Nia Griffiths and Greg Pope who have e pushed the issue. With enthusiasm I signed Greg Pope’s EDM. Downing Street has responded and a move will now be made.

Not that labour need apologise for the constant shift of income towards those on low pay. The main energy in Government has been directed at lifting the income of the bottom decile of earners.

It’s unlikely that there will be a complete reversal of policy. More compensatory payments are likely. Greg Pope has withdrawn his EDM and a deal; has been done.

A painful mistake that should have been mended sooner.

Comments

[John]

Dear paul I agree with you wholeheartedly re cannabis. It seems that all the actual facts point to the downgrading of cannabis to have been a resounding success. The rates of shizophrenia and psychosis have not risen as a result of its increased use over the past 30 years.
To now suggest that it should be reclassified to "B" against the advise of the Countries leading experts in the field beggers belief. Once again our overstretched Police force will waste thousands of man hours processing otherwise law abiding citizens..absolute madness. When we have a PM who makes policies because of morals or so called common sense ignoring all evidence that shows these are miasplaced I despair for our nation.

[Paul Flynn]

Thanks John. I'll reply on today's blog.

[Winston Matthews]

Thank you Paul for much less paranoid look at cannabis.
I am in the Legalise Cannabis Alliance UK, who have changed status from a political party to an activist group.

Amongst our ideas, we would like to see Coffee shops, allow hobbyist growers,( a good way of evading contamination,
and of course legalisation, so that the revenue could be claimed by our Government.
I know my theory here could be considered Post hoc ergo propter hoc,( although the Media, as you pointed out lead the way, with this type of reasoning)
I do wonder, that with the success of moving to Category C, maybe moving it to Legalisation would help more?
What are your views on taking that next step to Legalising Cannabis please?

[Paul Flynn]

My best hopes for practical reform lie in a new Council of Europe Convention and the Red Cross/Red Crescent Rome consensus. Both argue for a move away from criminal justice solutions to harm reduction ones. There is a change of mood in the UN. these may change the convictions of prohibitionists.

[South-West London UK]

Stop criminalising mature, responsible, taxpaying adults for using cannabis! If we as adults choose to use cannabis knowing that it does not cause harm to us or others then why are we branded as criminals? We can drink ourselves to death or get into fights on a weekend night at the pub but we CANNOT PEACEFULLY have a joint! Hypocrisy? And they wonder why kids dont repesct the law! If they really serious about kids not wanting to use cannabis then surely the only way forward is to tax and regulate cannabis, a move to class b means that kids will be able to buy it easier than before from their dealers and who knows if there lucky they might score some heroin - that would go down a treat! Stupid ignorant politicians bring us nothing but failure!

[morgan]

I would like to ask MP's why none of them have mentioned the recent (since 2006) massive scale contamination of cannabis that has been widespread in the country (commonly know at grit weed).

The health effects of the contamination (and there has been various contaminants ranging from microscopic glass particles, silica and industrial floor wax) are going to felt in the near future (and payed for by the taxpayer)

In excluding the the effects of this unknown contamination the government are ignoring one of the obvious effects of the prohibition of cannabis, it is as if they are blinded to the real effects of their own policies.

Moving it to class B will just make the situation worse

Gordon Brown's 'vision' for the country will result with our friends and families having bloody lungs...

[paulflynn]

Someone sent me a sample of gritweed and I handed it over to the police. I never heard anything further. It looked normal. I could not see any signs of contamination.

Is it still believed to be a problem? I thought it was a passing contamination. No one is going to buy gritweed twice.