New job means new attitude

[Mushaman]

From The Australian :

 

New job means new attitude to cannabis

Adam Cresswell

November 10, 2005

 

A FORMER defender of cannabis decriminalisation has reversed his view and is now calling for more urgent action to tackle the threat.

 

Less than 12 months after taking over as head of the Queensland Government's Mental Health Review Tribunal, barrister Barry Thomas yesterday said he was now convinced the drug played a big role in mental illness and decriminalisation was not the answer.

 

The tribunal's main role is to protect the rights of people with mental illness who have been ordered to receive treatment even if it is against their wishes.

 

It also assesses whether patients who are facing criminal charges are fit to stand trial.

 

Mr Thomas told The Australian that before taking up his post in January he had acted as prosecutor and defence counsel in cannabis-related cases, "and more or less formed the view that for small offences we were criminalising our young folk for very little benefit".

 

"I would have leant to the South Australian model," he said, referring to its decriminalised system under which possession and use of up to 100g of cannabis, while still illegal, incurs an "expiation notice" for $150 plus a $10 levy, and does not carry a criminal record. "But since taking up this job ... it's obvious many clinicians are observing a real connection between cannabis use and mental illness."

 

Queensland has not decriminalised cannabis use or possession, and penalties can be steep. But for some first offences involving up to 50g of cannabis, police must offer an offender the option of going into the state's illicit drug diversion program.

 

Mr Thomas said many of the young patients who appeared before the Queensland tribunal had their first psychotic episode after using cannabis, but failed to see any link between their condition and use of the drug.

 

"The involvement of illicit drugs in the development or continuation of psychosis is a common theme in hearings and a worrying trend," he said.

 

But Mr Thomas said tougher penalties were not necessarily the answer either - instead he favoured improving education of children and young people.

 

"It probably needs a really visionary approach that ultimately will rely on kids being educated that their choices have consequences.

 

"When you bet your brain on having a good time, you might get it back in a damaged state."

 

ok .. so its possible i could change my view on this somewhat :confused:

[WantDaChronic]

what he forgot to mention was these people already had a family history of mental iless and their marijuana consumption was propbably started a few years after getting drunk every weekend

 

we all know that marijuana can bring out the mental inless in people that already have it or are at an extreme risk of getting it, but to my knowledge there hasnt been a straight pot phycosis case in history, its always been pot and this, pot and that, never pot alone

[mull]

Something else he couldn't mention, because he prolly didn't know, is that a lot of young kids blame their psychotic episode on cannabis, because it's a softer option in front of their parents.

Easier to say nah folks, I just smoked some weed and thats what happened to me.

What really happens, is the kids ping on biccys all night, maybe smoke some ice, and have a bender on alcohol of choice, then snap. Maybe the next day.

Soft option is to lay the blame on the ol herb - mum wont get as offended as if she heard about the drug cocktail.

I defintely know this happens. :thumbdown

[Gush]

It would be interesting to see what the percentages are between seasoned smokers developing mental illness, and newbs who havent really altered their consiousness before.... :scratchin

[WantDaChronic]

Soft option is to lay the blame on the ol herb - mum wont get as offended as if she heard about the drug cocktail.

 

thats so true, i used to know alot of idiots who would go out of a weekend, get totally wasted on every drug they could consume and eventually someone would have to get taken home due to spazzing out too hard or spewing their guts up....usually when they were asked what happened, the usual response is this "oh we were drinking and someone passed around what i thought was a ciggy but when i had a puff it tasted different and my head started spinning and thats all i can remember" :angry:

 

i gotta admit that i was once in their shoes (except for the fact i was only drinking and smoking, still stupid though ) and when i was brought home, my parents asked me what was wrong with me, i said i drunk a bottle of booze to myself at the same time as smoking this new pot i got from my dealer which was like 5x stronger than the last gear, it just fucked me up too much for me to handle....i told them exactly what happened, they told me not to go back to that dealer because they thought his weed was laced and he was trying to get us hooked.... they continued on to say that they used to drink lots of booze and smoke pot at the same time back in their day but had never seen anyone so wasted from such a small amount in comparison

[jabez]

I was talking to a drug and alcohol counselor the other day and he was telling me how Mental Health hospitals are full of people that start smoking when there young teenagers hit there early 20’s and go mental solely from weed, what I would like to know is when is the average age a person goes crazy from a mental illness when no drug is involved. Cause I know with depression it’s late teens to early 20’s, I think people just need something to blame like that women and her family on the four corners documentary (which was in another post in this forum) it just makes them feel better to think that something made her loopy and it wasn’t just her, like me and my dad don’t get along so he blames the dope but yet I get on better with my mum than any of my brothers, its human behavior everyone needs a excuse and if you blame Marijuana most people will believe you.