cannabisnews.com: Drug Body Says Punishment Does Not Stop Drugs Use Drug Body Says Punishment Does Not Stop Drugs Use Posted by FoM on November 19, 2001 at 21:32:35 PT By Reuters - London Source: Reuters People should not face criminal charges for possessing small amounts of any illegal drug, a leading UK drugs research organization said on Tuesday. ``The evidence shows that criminal sanctions do not stop people using drugs,'' DrugScope Chief Executive Roger Howard said in a statement.He said taking people to court for possessing small amounts of any drug was not a proportionate response. Referring to cannabis, a spokesman for DrugScope said: ''Criminalization is more harmful than the drug itself.'' A representative of the organization, which provides input to policy development, was due to brief a British parliamentary committee to make the point on decriminalization.The comments come nearly a month after Home Secretary (interior minister) David Blunkett reclassified cannabis so that possession of small amounts is no longer deemed an arrestable offense. The ruling put the drug in the same category as steroids and anti-depressants.Mike Ashton, editor of the scientific journal Drug and Alcohol Findings, argued in a report commissioned by DrugScope that cannabis legislation has no effect on patterns of drug use.Ashton examined six legal frameworks ranging from total prohibition of cannabis to free availability, and evidence from changes in the law in Australia, parts of the United States and the Netherlands.He said the most harmful effects of the drug -- widespread use and high levels of personal use -- were unaffected by changes in the law.``It is clear that cannabis use has remained relatively unaffected by different legislative frameworks,'' Ashton said.The report said limited legal use of cannabis would remove it from the black market, sever the link with organized crime, create revenue through tax and prevent minors from using it.But Ashton did not advocate free availability of cannabis.``The changes we have seen so far are very, very short of legalization, even in the Netherlands,'' Ashton said. ``It is likely that the free availability option...would result in some increase in cannabis experimentation.''When addressing the parliamentary committee, DrugScope intended to raise the question of reclassifying all drugs and extending the prescription of drugs such as heroin.A spokesman said: ``Blunkett has already made significant steps in the right direction. We hope it will be the beginning and not the end of reform.'' Source: ReutersPublished: November 19, 2001Copyright: 2001 ReutersRelated Articles & Web Sites:Drugscopehttp://www.drugscope.org.uk/Ministers Advised To Legalise Cannabis Cafeshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11379.shtmlRoll Up at Britain's First Cafe for Dope Smokers http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11318.shtmlPolice Say: Sell The Drug in Shops and Pubs http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11317.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #4 posted by Sudaca on November 20, 2001 at 10:26:28 PT But Ashton did not advocate... ``The changes we have seen so far are very, very short of legalization, even in the Netherlands,'' Ashton said. ``It is likely that the free availability option...would result in some increase in cannabis experimentation.''This is absurd. The risk of some increase in cannabis experimentation is so intolerable that legalization can't be considered. Free availability sounds more like a free pot for the kindergardens than anything else.Has the rise of 'cannabis experimenation' in Holland, which is becoming a mantra of the antis , been out of line with the rise of world consumption of cannabis? Does Holland sport an 80% of young dopeheads out of work , boys with tits and old dopers unable to have children? Are the dutch people lining up to buy crack because of the 'rise of cannabis experimentation'?Why is it that the government people are horrified by the thought of someone getting high?We should re focus on what the point of this drug war is. People shouldn't get because _______? Are those really consequences of drug use? Are they consequences of prohibition? Was the world filled with drug induced misery back then when drugs were legal?Debate is stifled because the very subject of the discussion is rejected out of han.In the cannabis case, people who want to smoke pot are representing one side, and the other is composed by people who want anything but the others smoking pot. well, can sick people smoke pot? No because they can sell it to non sick people. Can doctors regulate pot? No, because if they do they're potheads not doctors. Can you grow hemp? No because children will smoke hemp to get high. Can you fuel cars with hemp oil? No because people will drink the fuel to get high. Can you eat hemp? No because then we won't be able to tell who smokes pot from who eats it.It's this absolute horror of me smoking pot that has them refusing to talk. WHY? [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by greenfox on November 20, 2001 at 06:21:14 PT Duh... ``The evidence shows that criminal sanctions do not stop people using drugs,'' or as norml says, prohibition STILL doesn't work! :P-gf [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by dddd on November 20, 2001 at 05:11:37 PT Oh,,,,I guess that might be right...... .....It's both wonderful,and painfully silly,,to see such an obvious realization finally hit the newstands!..but it's no longer funny when one realizes,that there are Thousands of people behind bars,for Marijuana related "offenses" ,,and at the same time,there are politicians,who have raped,sodomized,terrorized,and neglected the Constitution,,,in an undeniably criminal manner,who are untouchable by any enforcement of law,,who exsist in a fraudulent cult of hypocracy,,violating their oath of office,,,committing crimes of ignorant,and obvious treason against the people of America,,who wake up each morning,and pretend that they are patriots, and honest statesman who are "working",for "the American people",,while on that same morning,some innocent kid is getting brutalized once again,in some Amerikan warehouse prison,for being an "offender",in some absurd law that was made,while the politician shithead stood by,and watched the law that was responsible for locking up innocent citizens,pass into law......There are alot of "offenders",who are not in prison.........In a doomsday scenario,,,I'd trust a weed smoker,or even a crackhead,long before I'd trust a politician.......... ..if drugs and money were candy,,,weed would be like tic-tacs,,and money would be like Big Hunks,or Three Muskateers...exstacy would be like Mike 'n Ikes,and money would be like a king size Butterfinger.... (just to be fair,,meth,would be kinda like Milk Duds,,,and heroin might be like a Milky Way,,,but money would still be like an Abba-Zabba,which is far more harmful in a dental way).......most peculiar.. .................................................. .............indeedddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo MD on November 20, 2001 at 03:50:07 PT: Forward This Article to Every Politician Here is the original URL:http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=sciencenews&StoryID=387849Joyce Nalepka needs to know. Barry McCaffrey needs to know. Asa Hutchinson needs to know. Everyone needs to know:Criminalization of drugs creates more harm than the drugs themselves. Decriminalize and medicalize! [ Post Comment ] Post Comment