cannabisnews.com: Cannabis Not Risk Free, Says Adviser 





Cannabis Not Risk Free, Says Adviser 
Posted by CN Staff on January 28, 2004 at 19:18:24 PT
By James Meikle, Health Correspondent
Source: Guardian Unlimited UK
The government adviser who recommended today's downgrading of cannabis in the hierarchy of dangerous illegal drugs has repeated his warning that it is still harmful to health. Sir Michael Rawlins said he had no regrets about the advice which persuaded the home secretary, David Blunkett, to end 30 years of drugs laws which put cannabis on the same footing as amphetamines, with the threat of five years jail for possession.
But he rejected any suggestion that he and his colleagues on the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), which he chairs, had underplayed the health dangers from heavy use. Robin Murray, professor of psychiatry at the Maudsley hospital, south London, has recently given several media interviews, including to the Guardian, outlining evidence that cannabis exacerbates the symptoms of schizophrenia-like psychosis, and the British Medical Association feared that the reclassification of cannabis might send the wrong messages about its harmful effects. Sir Michael said much of what Prof Murray had said had "already been available for a long period of time ... That which is new does not really show that cannabis consumption is a cause of schizophrenia in somebody who is not predisposed." He added: "We made it very clear that people with mental health problems were at risk from very serious and unpleasant reactions if they took cannabis. We made no bones about it." And Prof Murray was not against reclassification. "Robin has slightly overegged the pudding", said Sir Michael, professor of pharmacology at Newcastle University, who said he had never tried cannabis, "never been offered it ... such a dull life." The BMA, he said, "seems to have come out rather late in the day and rather ignorantly about it all, too". The association warned that chronic cannabis smoking increased the risk of heart disease, lung cancer, bronchitis and emphysema: a warning similar to that given by the ACMD itself in its advice to Mr Blunkett to move the drug from class B to C. But the ACMD said there were factors that might mitigate the risk, and it was these that Sir Michael focused on. "The carcinogenicity in cannabis is terribly complicated but it is intimately wrapped up in smoking. That is how most people take cannabis. "The interesting phenomenon is actually cannabis smokers tend to smoke less tobacco than ordinary smokers." He also questioned whether the cannabis smoked today was far stronger and more toxic than that filling spliffs 30 years ago. "The police, whom one relies on for this sort of data, say that actually it is so variable you just can't tell." Sir Michael said the ACMD had been unable to establish whether the change in classification would increase the consumption of cannabis, which is thought to have at least been tried by half the 20 to 24-year-olds in 2000. Nor did it recommend the changes in penalties that accompanied its move down the ladder to class C. He said: "This is an attempt to make the punishment fit the crime. Under the current arrangements anybody who has done all right on cannabis would think they might do all right on other class B drugs - that the whole thing was a sort of plot by the establishment to stop them enjoying themselves. "The other class B drugs are significantly more harmful than cannabis. At least this brings some logic and sense into what was a pretty silly arrangement in the past. "It will stop the migration of cannabis smokers into other class B drugs on the grounds they might be just as harmless." In an interview with the Guardian earlier this week Sir Michael revealed that the ACMD was reviewing the classification system, which grades drugs by degree of harm into A, B and C. Members want a more "objective" system to avoid inappropriate penalties or police powers. Note: As Blunkett adopts softer line on possession, medical experts seem divided on the dangers to mental health of heavy users of the drug.Special Report: Drugs in Britain: http://www.guardian.co.uk/drugs/0,2759,178206,00.htmlSource: Guardian Unlimited, The (UK) Author: James Meikle, Health CorrespondentPublished: Thursday, January 29, 2004Copyright: 2004 Guardian Newspapers LimitedContact: letters guardian.co.ukWebsite: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Related Articles & Web Site:Advisory Council On The Misuse of Drugshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/reschedule.pdf Leak Caused Labour To Get Cold Feet http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18250.shtmlThe Case for Small Home Growers http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18249.shtml
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Comment #10 posted by Patrick on January 29, 2004 at 07:14:41 PT
Raise your hand if you…
…double-checked the classification of cannabis before you ever tried it!Raise your hand if you checked the government's classification of anything before you tried it the first time. Heck, the first time I tried pot I knew it was "against the law" but I had no idea it was scheduled as anything.British Medical Association feared that the reclassification of cannabis might send the wrong messages about its harmful effects.I can picture all the British "drug addicts" running to the library today to verify that in fact they changed marijuana's classification. Probably 80-90% of all pot smokers will now quit smoking it since it is no longer classified as a B drug. You know the type…hey dude I only do class B or better. C drugs are for wimps man!Seriously though, way to go Brits! You are at the least stepping in the right direction.
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Comment #9 posted by mayan on January 29, 2004 at 07:04:15 PT
Another One...
Tory AM's support for cannabis therapy:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/3441215.stm
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Comment #8 posted by yippierevolutionary on January 29, 2004 at 06:32:44 PT
Dr Newcombe is absolutely right
about soap bar hash. Which is exactly why he should read the article A case for small home growers.
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Comment #7 posted by The GCW on January 29, 2004 at 06:15:17 PT
Ahhh, the art of being ignorant.
UK: Cannabis Worst Drug of Them AllCANNABIS is the most dangerous drug in Britain, according to a leading Liverpool academic. Dr Russell Newcombe, a national expert based at Liverpool John Moores University, claims dealers are cutting the drug with motor oil, dirt, glue, turpentine, disinfectant, ketamine, melted-down vinyl and animal faeces. http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n184/a10.html?397Pubdate: Thu, 29 Jan 2004
Source: Liverpool Daily Post (UK)(more like a: tabloid academic. Or epidemic.)
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Comment #6 posted by The GCW on January 29, 2004 at 06:07:00 PT
Don't, "overegged the pudding."
And quit killing humans for using a plant.This just came out on MAP.I think She is right.US OH: PUB LTE: Helriggle Case Deserves Another Lookhttp://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n183/a03.html?397Note: Clayton Helriggle was killed by police in a marijuana raid
 More backround is available... including here at C-news http://cannabisnews.com/news/14/thread14389.shtml
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Comment #5 posted by OverwhelmSam on January 29, 2004 at 06:02:15 PT:
Something's Missing
So where are the groups of students who go to Congress to support marijuana legalization and regulation to reduce drug use in schools?
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Comment #4 posted by mayan on January 29, 2004 at 05:58:31 PT
"Risk Free"
Life itself isn't risk free. Jail certainly isn't risk free! Prohibition isn't risk free...look what it's done to our world!The idea of any government or individual telling a human being what plants they can or can't grow out of the earth is absurd. The very concept of prohibiting a plant is absolutely insane! Today, Britain takes a small step in the right direction... Britain relaxes law on cannabis:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/01/29/cannabis.uk/index.htmlThe way out is the way in..."The Elephant in the Living Room" - Evidence of 9/11 Government Deception: 
http://www.911citizenswatch.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=41&mode=thread&order=0&thold=09/11 For The Truth - Mariani vs. Bush:   
http://www.911forthetruth.com/9/11 Prior Knowledge/Government Involvement Archive: 
http://www.propagandamatrix.com/archiveprior_knowledge
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Comment #3 posted by breeze on January 29, 2004 at 01:17:51 PT
If you click on a link today, be sure its this one
Maybe this will help change the way the media addresses our issue. Its a survey that asks what issues needs to be covered in the coming elections that have until now been ignored.http://www.spokesmanreview.com/survey/apme/
Associated press managing editors survey
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Comment #2 posted by The GCW on January 28, 2004 at 20:51:18 PT
Truth has nothing to do with it.
"Rickels said some photographs of a marijuana user's brain made a large impact on him. He said a speaker told the Iowa group that doctors said the damage was equal to that of someone who experienced multiple strokes." http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n182/a09.html?397US IA: Edu: Students Discuss Drugs With Washington Leaders
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on January 28, 2004 at 20:13:37 PT
News Brief from Reuters UK
Britain Relaxes Cannabis Law But Doctors Worry Wed January 28, 2004 By Jason Hopps LONDON (Reuters) - Britain relaxed its laws against cannabis on Thursday, but warned the country's estimated 3.5 million users the drug remained illegal and possession of even a small amount could still lead to arrest. The downgrade, criticized by the British Medical Association (BMA) but backed by DrugScope, the country's main independent drugs body, puts cannabis in the same "lower risk" C category as tranquilizers and anabolic steroids. In practice the new law means an adult aged over 17 caught smoking or in possession of a small amount of cannabis -- marijuana or hashish -- will be stopped and searched, but not necessarily arrested or fined. The maximum penalty for possession was lowered to two years from five. Users under age 17 will be arrested and penalties for growing and dealing in the drug have both been toughened to a maximum 14 years in prison. Home Secretary David Blunkett has defended the controversial reclassification, originally proposed in 2002, saying it would give police more time to tackle dealers and prosecute for the most serious Class A drugs, such as cocaine, ecstasy and heroin. "I don't want to actively end up chasing (cannabis smokers) rather than chasing the dealers and chasing the people who kill young people with crack and heroin," he told BBC radio last week. A recent study found that officers took an average 3 1/2 hours to deal with a cannabis offence from the time of arrest until they returned to the beat. Britons are among the biggest marijuana users in Europe with an estimated 20-25 percent of the adult population having used the drug. While most polls show a majority in favor of relaxing the cannabis laws, the British Medical Association has attacked the downgrade, saying that regular use of the pungent drug can kill. "People are making the conclusion that it is safe where in fact it is actually more dangerous than tobacco," said Dr Peter Maguire, deputy chairman of the BMA's board of science. The government's own warning campaign includes radio spots and large advertisements in national newspapers that shout "CANNABIS IS STILL ILLEGAL." Copyright: 2004 Reuters
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