COURTS

Potsmoking driver said safer than one who talks on phone

A psychiatrist at the trial of a London hemp shop owner says he tried
marijuana once: 'I just felt silly.'

By Michelle Shephard
Free Press Reporter

A driver talking on a cellular phone is more of a menace on the roads
than one who has just smoked a marijuana joint, an expert witness
testified at a London trial Wednesday.

Heinz Lehmann, who said he has been practising psychiatry since 1937,
said, "I would rather get in a cab and have him smoke a marijuana
cigarette than use a cellular phone."

Lehmann was testifying as an expert witness at the trial of London
hemp store proprietor Chris Clay on charges of possessing and
trafficking in cannabis sativa seeds and seedlings.

Lehmann, who has a lengthy resumé of experience in New York, Ontario
and Quebec, is a professor at McGill University in Montreal. He said
he is an advocate of the legalization of cannabis.

FINDINGS DEBATED: He testified two of the major but often debated
findings in his studies were that marijuana is not addictive and
does not inflict mental damage or create a psychiatric illness.

"I've never had an opportunity to treat someone with a marijuana
addiction," Lehmann said, indicating he has treated nearly 20,000
patients in his lengthy career.

Alcohol, nicotine, tranquillizers, cocaine and opiates (such as
morphine or heroine) were some of the substances he cited as
addictive.

Under questioning of defence lawyer Paul Burstein, Lehmann also
discussed study findings that quashed theories of a tolerance
developing from marijuana use and the gateway theory that marijuana
use will lead to other drug experimentation.

Lehmann said there was no evidence showing marijuana promotes criminal
or aggressive behavior or decreases a person's motivation.

"I am convinced (decreased motivation) is not due to excess marijuana
use . . . but excess marijuana use is a consequence of a personality
disorder," he told the court.

Lehmann laughed when asked whether he has smoked marijuana and
admitted to once trying it in Puerto Rico when it was legal.

"I had to be taught to inhale which was quite an ordeal . . . and then
I just felt silly," he said.

Lehmann also referred to a report where adolescents were studied
those who experimented with marijuana and those who didn't since
they were children.

The study showed the majority of 18-year-olds who had smoked marijuana
had better social skills and were better adapted.

Witness Eric Single, a preventive medicine and biostatistics professor
at the University of Toronto, testified about the societal costs of
substance abuse. Referring to a study he worked on concerning the
costs in Canada in 1992 (the report was released in 1995) he said of
the total cost of all substance abuse was $18.45 billion. Illicit
drugs compared to high alcohol and tobacco cost reached a total
of $1.37 billion.

Single also said a Health Canada opinion poll stated that 69.1 per
cent of Canadians object to the current cannabis laws of imprisonment
upon conviction.

The trial continues Monday.