EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT CANNABIS IS NOT HARMFUL

Sir, - Re Lauren James' letter (Opinions on cannabis show selfish attitude,
EADT July 31), which asks:

Why not wait until we have the technology that can provide us with the
definitive evidence that says cannabis will not harm us?'

In reply, could I point out that cannabis has been used for over 5,000
years without a single reported death.

The USA has been spending billions of dollars each year for decades trying
to prove how dangerous it is but, so far, has not been able to show that it
is any more harm or addictive than coffee.

Lauren James goes on to write: "At the moment, I am reading every week some
kind of report about cancer starting earlier in cannabis users, or memory
loss due to cannabis?'

It is unfortunate that these reports are published before the editors of
those journals bothered to check if they have any basis in fact. No,
cannabis does not cause cancer - those studies were refuted on peer review.

Studies by the UCLA, The' Shaffer commission, the Kaiser-Permanente
Insurance firm, and many others, showed that cannabis users either had less
or the same amount of cancer non-user.

As for memory loss, the New Scientist magazine has published several
articles debunking this myth.

PHILLIP SLATTERY, ( No, I don't smoke cannabis),