Reviews WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

http://www.ukcia.org/

The UK Cannabis Internet Activists met on line back in 1995, taught
themselves HTML (the markup language used by all web browsers), and got to
work on building a site that is clearly organised and nice to look at. A
site edited by partisans must be interpreted with caution, but the approach
seems responsible and incorporates links or references to information from
many reputable sources.

These include the BMA, whose report recommending a change in the law to
allow research on the use of cannabinoids in chronic illness, published
almost a year ago to the day, has plainly been influential. This week the
House of Lords' Science and Technology Committee concurs (p 1337), and
there seems little doubt that change in the law will follow. Events in the
United States are moving in the same direction, following pressure from
groups such as the Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp (
http://www.crrh.org/ ). A total of seven states covering a fifth of the
nation's population have directly contradicted federal drug laws in recent
referendums. Far more sites argue for reform than for the status quo:
despite an assiduous morning's browsing on a high speed network, anti-drug
sites proved elusive. On the internet at least, those fighting the war on
the "war on drugs" are definitely winning.

While advocacy abounds, hard scientific evidence about cannabis is hard to
find. There are, for example, no trials reported at
http://www.controlled-trials.com/, although its presence refutes earlier
reports ( http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7167/1258/c ) that the
website does not exist. Hint for press officers: if you want to publicise
your website take care to supply the correct URL.

Checked-by: Richard Lake