Cannabis 'worse for mental health'

[Guest niall]

That's close Niall.

 

What we see is the public in the middle, made up of those strongly for and strongly against cannabis and many who don't care either way. All of us governed by the strongly against side and made watch, read or listen to their propaganda, constantly. And all of us must fund the strongly against side, while they move forward on vested interests in government and philanthropic trust grants, their companies with patents for thc, etc.

 

I mostly agree with you mate, but these figures are certainly worth taking into account:

 

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0...from=public_rss

 

"The nationwide survey found overwhelming support for legalising cannabis for medical reasons, backed by nearly 70 per cent, while approval of clinical trials for cannabis approached 75 per cent."

 

 

Ok, expand on how we change the rules please mate, lets into it.

 

By not playing into their hands - they want us to argue for vs. against, keep the debate polarised over he said, she said. Research can be used to prove either position, so it's a never-ending cycle with the public increasingly fed up and alienated - they see both sides are zealots who are spinning the facts in their favour. If we refuse to play this game, then we're changing the rules. Specific examples include a common-sense, middleground PR campaign; changing our tactics from 'cannabis is good for this' to 'experience in legal markets shows little to no harm'; turn scrutiny away from the plant and its uses/harms but instead look at the cost and harm of prohibition, the unintended consequences throughout society; looking at this issue from an economic viewpoint - huge savings from failing enforcement and huge potential for reasonable tax revenue, billions in black market profit diverted to licensed operators and regulatory bodies; from a political viewpoint - no more convenient football at election time, greater focus on real issues; from a public health viewpoint - quality control, labels, controlled distribution; but my back is on fire and I cna't think of any more right now.

 

Basically we need to change this from a debate about cannabis and into a debate about prohibition. What is the total cost (great paper signed by hundreds of respected economists a few years back), what harm does prohibition itself cause throughout society - are we getting our money's worth? The public needs to be asking themselves "Is prohibition worse than regulation?"

 

EDIT: almost forgot - cannabis is now legal in many places around the world, are all of these hysterical claims true or does the realworld experience of a legal, regulated market tell a different story? Let's look there, get the public focused on what success or failure has been experienced in this area, and get them thinking about whether there is a better way. We need to truly reach the public, not be some soundbite easily dismissed as "another crazy hippy stoner" - the very stereotypes our opponents have reinforced to deliberately polarise this debate and distract the public from the real issue: prohibition.