02/08/2007 00:00:00
Letter: Control Cannabis
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ALWYN Glover is absolutely right to express his concern over
politicians' shenanigans regarding cannabis (Mixed messages on cannabis
cause alarm, Readers' Letters, July 28).
However, the classification argument is a red herring from a Government
promoting a continuation of a repeatedly discredited policy of
prohibition. After all, it was a Class B drug when half the Cabinet
tried, but didn't enjoy, it.
A sense of proportion is needed when dealing with cannabis and mental
health. Hysterical headlines and scaremongering do not help with the
facts. Leslie Iverson, professor of pharmacology and member of the
Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, said: "The authors admit that
there is no conclusive evidence that cannabis use causes psychotic
illness. Their prediction that 14 per cent of psychotic outcomes in the
UK may be due to cannabis use is not supported by the fact that the
incidence of schizophrenia has not shown any significant change in the
last 30 years."
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The association between alcohol and mental health problems is
considerably stronger. Nothing has changed about cannabis. It isn't
particularly stronger than it used to be; strong strains of cannabis
have always been available.
Six million otherwise law-abiding people use cannabis in the UK,
prohibition does not work and creates more harm than cannabis itself.
The only sensible option is to legalise it and regulate its sale
properly to adults who can make their own choices.
Until then, I'm afraid that credible and accurate information regarding
it will continue to be skewed by a political agenda which has little to
do with protecting us and more to do with protecting the interests of
corporate paymasters. If you want credible info on cannabis, I suggest
you pay a visit to Holland.
Steve Clements, The Legalise Cannabis Alliance, Asquith Avenue, York.
http://www.thisisyork.co.uk/news/readersletters/display.var.1591194.0.control_cannabis.php
Source:
http://www.ukcia.org/news/shownewsarticle.php?articleid=12763
Author:
The York Press via UKCIA
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