CANNABIS ANALYSIS

CANNABIS: EVIL OR A HARMLESS WEED OR A HARMLESS HIGH? - BY Inan Sage
SKUNK PSYCHOSIS IS NOT A SOFT OPTION - Anon
LEGALISATION IS THE ONLY WAY FORWARD - BY Don Barnard [LCA]
DRUG REFORM IS BACKWARD STEP - Editorial Comment

- - CANNABIS:EVIL WEED OR HARMLESS HIGH, Ivan Sage

The Government's controversial reforms in cannabis law come into
effect from today. While some are welcoming a relaxation in the law,
others are far from happy. Here, Ivan Sage gives an overview of the
reforms and reports on how the changes in the law will. be policed.

From today, cannabis is to be reclassified from a Class B to a
Class C drug.

The relaxation in the law has caused great consternation among some
medics, mental health workers and those who would prefer the law
tightened even further, although it has offered encouragement to
others who would like to see the use of cannabis decriminalised.

One thing is for sure though many are confused as to whether or not
the possession or smoking of cannabis is legal. The fact is,
possession and use of cannabis in this country is now, and always
has been, illegal.

People consistently found in possession of small amounts of
cannabis could be arrested, although they are more likely to receive
an informal on.the-spot warning and have their drug confiscated.

Police have been advised to use discretion as whether or not to make
an arrest. Under new guidelines, smokers are far more likely to be
arrested should they he seen smoking publicly near schools or youth
clubs.

The penalties for dealing cannabis have not changed - there is still a
maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.

Many pro-cannabis supporters see reclassification as a stepping stone
in the right direction in their desire to decriminalise the drug.

Others believe it has medicinal benefits - in fact, trials of
cannabis-based drugs are currently under way to ascertain its
effectiveness in alleviating pain and the symptoms of illnesses
such as multiple sclerosis.

Some people suggest cannabis is merely a 'soft' drug, no worse than
cigarettes or alcohol, both of which are legal.

Home Secretary David Blunkett believes relaxing the law on
cannabis will give credibility to our drug laws and will enable the
police to focus their efforts on tackling what he considers to be more
dangerous drugs in circulation such as cocaine and heroin.

Tory leader Michael Howard disagrees and has accused the
Government of sending out a "con-fused and muddled signal".

Howard has slated the Government's handling of the move and
its UKP 1m advertising campaign designed to get its message across
more clearly - He has also pledged to reverse the cannabis reform
should the Tories return to power.

Several health experts are deeply worried that the reform suggests
smoking cannabis is safer and less harmful than other Class B drugs.

A spokesman for the British Medical Association said: "We are
extremely concerned the public will think that reclassification equals
'safe'. It does not."

Here we ask two people - the concerned parent of a child who smokes
cannabis, and a pro-cannabis campaigner - for their views.

- - SKUNK PSYCHOSIS IS NOT A SOFT OPTION, Anon.

High hopes: While some campaigners claim cannabis has real medical
benefits, others' experiences of the drug are far from harmless.

The "soft'! drug cannabis is now downgraded in its level of criminal
seriousness. This family believes it a wrong decision because
cannabis may not have the same physical effects as hard drugs, but its
damage to some minds long after use as ceased was, apparently,
overlooked by the legislators.

It is foolish to say that everybody who uses cannabis will become a
raging lifelong psychotic. But you cannot predict who will survive the
experience unscathed.

A significant, and we believe growing minority, are ruining their
lives by taking as little as one joint of skunk which makes them off
the wall and often leaves them there for months, years even in some
cases it could be for life.

The simple joint of the 60's is not he same as the very much stronger
substance often mixed with chemical impurities available easily
everywhere today.

Start Of A Nightmare

One night three years ago, our son came home in a black mood shouting
down the street. We thought he was drunk. It was the beginning of a
nightmare for him and the rest of us, and now involving others, that
is still not resolved.

Later, a letter from his employer arrived, and as a result we
discovered he bad been taking the drug regularly for months. He
had even been found among the company machinery claiming to be Jesus.

He was abusive, irrational and illogical but we did manage to get
him to see our GP who referred him for local psychiatric help.

By now he was a chain smoking (ordinary cigarettes) haunted
individual. He did not take medication, or admit there was anything
wrong - it was everybody else who was wrong and against him. We could
not, and sometimes still cannot, get through to him against a tirade
of abuse and illogical outbursts.

For 18 months he was unemployed and unemployable. He rarely kept
psychiatric appointments, but stayed in his room for long days playing
music - the same pulsating piece -. at full volume, sometimes at three
and four in the morning. We cut the power, apart from the centre light
to his room for the sake of our own and our neighbours sanity.

He caused our telephone bill to increase to UKP 360 in one quarter, so
we were forced to get call barring. This renewed his belief that we
were against him and he raved of the "gangs of Chelmsford" who he said
respected him as "a hero of superior intellect" - whatever that was
supposed to mean

Talk Of Suicide

Just when we thought things were improving they were by no means
right, however - he got involved in a 30-second incident in a pub
which has resulted in the criminal justice system being involved. As a
result he may get proper psychiatric treatment or be sent to jail -
which has already started him talking of suicide.

The effects of this substance on our family, and the knock-on effect
on others, has been the opposite of soft'.

Not only has it made life hell for us, and caused tension with
neighbours, it has resulted in a minor, but in the eyes of the law,
serious injury to an innocent bystander.

Our other sons speak of friends who are "totally out of it" as a
result of using this "harmless substance" although they know many who
seem perfectly okay. Our son's own good friends all seem perfectly
pleasant, balanced. normal young men.

The message given out that cannabis should be taken less
seriously is a misguided one.

One experience of skunk is capable of ruining a person mentally for
life. It really is no "soft" option.

- - LEGALISATION IS THE ONLY WAY FORWARD, Don Barnard of the Legalise Cannabis
Alliance

I cannot understand why anyone wants to retain a law that allows for
putting cannabis-users in jail.

From January 29, the possession of cannabis will still be an
arrestable offence for all minors and those who flout the law.

Adults found in possession of an unspecified amount of cannabis
(consistent with personal use) may be arrested, and that means
preventing the sick and dying from cultivating and using the only
medicine that works for many of them.

Why should someone be classed as a criminal simply for growing and
consuming a plant, providing they are doing no harm and posing no
threat to anyone?

Alleged Hazards

There's been much talk about psychosis and other alleged hazards
relating to cannabis use.

Space does not permit me to address how dangerous cannabis is - or is
not. But I do accept we should be concerned about the health of the
4.5 million cannabis users in the UK.

But let's get real. These bad things have been happening under
prohibition for over 30 years.

Why should anyone think that continuing prohibition would improve the
situation?

Is the law just? People who 'use' or 'grow cannabis' for their own
consumption, or to share. with friends in private are punished. The
disputed issue is whether they should be punished.

A debate on the desirability of amending the laws controlling cannabis
cannot proceed sensibly unless it begins with a reason in favour of
punishing people who cultivate and use cannabis.

Ask yourself - and your friends, neighbours, teachers and those
involved in implementing. Government's anti-drug strategy - do you
think that the laws that put people in jail for non-commercial
cannabis cultivation or possessing cannabis are justified? if
so, why?

If the question cannot be answered to your satisfaction, you should
conclude that People using cannabis should not be punished.

Different Approach.

A Criminal Justice led system has not worked, does address the
concerns of parents and. the medical profession.

It's time to try' a different approach.

We need legislation that reduces the harms, without infringing upon
personal privacy and the right to chose one's lifestyle and beliefs.

We need legislation aimed at protection, not control

Reclassification is an illusion of change.

The legalise Cannabis Alliance believes the way forward is a legal
regulated control of cannabis with licensed outlets such as cafes,
with quality control, education, restricted access to the young,
and removal the criminal contact in obtaining cannabis.

- - DRUG REFORM IS BACKWARD STEP, Editorial Comment

'The confusion surrounding the declassification of cannabis is yet
another worrying example of this Government's apparent inability to
deliver a clear strategy on crime-related issues.

The tough on crime manifesto pledge is, apparently, a long abandoned
promise.

Whatever way you look at it, the perceived impression given to
youngsters is that cannabis, from today classified as a Class C drug,
is relatively harmless.

The Home Secretary's view that declassification will allow the police
to target the use and, supply of 'harder' drugs sounds rather hollow.

This is just another way of reducing crime figures by manipulating
the legal system.

Side~stepping the obvious harm the drug can cause to health,
pro-cannabis lobbyists want legalisation. In fact, they insist
cannabis has medicinal values.

That may be so but, in that case, its use should only he allowed under
strict medical conditions, and only alter the drug has undergone the
same stringent medical trials as demanded of all other prescribed drugs.

You don't need to take medicine unless you are ill - so the majority
of the pro-cannabis lobbyists' argument fails flat when you consider
they only want it legalised so they can use it for their own
recreational purposes without getting their collars felt.

They argue that alcohol and tobacco are legal. Why not cannabis? Well,
what good to society has come from tobacco or alcohol? Ask the medics
what they think. Ask the sufferers of smoking-related illnesses or
alcoholics what the benefits are.

Ask their families and the bereaved.There is nothing worthwhile to
gain by adding another drug, known to be far more carcinogenic than
cigarettes, to that legalised list.

With so many crimes being drug , surely it would be far better to
crackdown hard on one of the.major sources of crime than to take the
easy option of fiddling the figures.