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Cannabis laws cause harm: Aussie expert


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Many harms associated with cannabis use result from prohibition rather than the drug itself, an Australian academic has told a United Nations review of drug policy.

 

Professor Robin Room, a sociologist at the University of Melbourne's School of Population Health has spent much of the past week telling meetings in Vienna that international conventions on cannabis are out of touch and do little to influence the number of users.

 

Prof Room said while penalties were generally low for cannabis use and possession globally, young people and minorities were more likely than other groups to become caught up in the legal system.

 

Arrests caused significant suffering, such as personal and family humiliation, as did convictions, which often excluded people from certain jobs and activities.

 

"A lot of young people's lives get messed up because of arrests over something that is almost impossible to overdose with and where its possible harm is of medium seriousness," Prof Room said.

 

"This is a system that doesn't really make much sense in terms of the modern world.

 

"Minorities are more likely to get caught up in being arrested in comparison with the patterns of use. The patterns of use aren't so different between kids from poor minorities and middle class kids."

 

Substantial government resources are also spent on enforcing prohibition.

 

The findings are part of a report, commissioned by the UK-based Beckley Foundation, a charitable trust which advocates an evidence-based approach to minimising the harms associated with drug use.

 

Prof Room was one of five authors on the report, which brought together a range of experts to present an overview of scientific evidence on cannabis and policies controlling it.

 

The aim was to offer policy makers options for change and make recommendations for international law reform on the fringes of the UN's review in Austria of its strategy on narcotics since 1988.

 

"We're laying out the options for the political process to consider," Prof Room said.

 

"If you were starting to build a system now with what current knowledge there is about different substances, you would be much more likely to have alcohol and tobacco included in the prohibition regime in terms of harm."

 

Prof Room said the degree of control on cannabis was disproportionate to the harm associated with its use.

 

"If you compare it with other substances, both legal and illegal, it's relatively low down the order of how much harm there is from the substance," he said.

 

"Yes, there are health problems from cannabis and probably the ones most to worry about are, it's not a good idea to drive a car when you're high on cannabis, and to some extent the problems from people becoming dependent on it."

 

Prof Room said changing cannabis laws globally would be "a hard slog".

 

One of the reasons was that governments often saw using the drug as a passing phase, as illustrated when several UK cabinet ministers in 2007 admitted to smoking it in their youth.

 

"The reaction around cannabis depends on the country and the circumstances," Prof Room said.

 

"There's often a `ho-ho' response, `we were all young once'."

 

Politicians were often also concerned about sending out "the wrong message" if they called for decriminalisation or state regulation.

 

"What we've found is they don't need to worry because the young people aren't paying attention," Prof Room said.

 

"There's almost no relationship between what the policy is and how many people are using it."

 

Any countries wanting to reform cannabis laws to the point of regulating the industry would have to break UN conventions which say they must prohibit production and supply.

 

Author: Valkerie Mangnall

Date: March 18, 2009

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Copyright: 2009 AAP

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all very valid points, but all of which would fall on deaf ears with the australian government... if they cant tax it, its illegal.. and thats the bottom line...

 

all the government is about is making more and more money,, and considering the 44 billion its just blown on a "stimulous package" which after the bribing and buying votes from cabinet members, were left with enough to maybe pay a few bills, and have KFC or Hungry Jacks for dinner after some cones!

 

no wonder magority dont abide by the cannabis law.. its a stupid attemt to fine more people..

i do agree with fining people growing 100`s apon hundreds of plants, only to sell the lot and make some cash, but who cares if ya caught with a 50, or an ounce for that reason, my friend not the other day couldnt pass an ounce as personal use, and got done for possesion with the intent to sell, seriously, how hard is it to smoke an ounce?

 

i guess all in all.. its good to hope that weed would be de-criminalised.. but it wont happen with this government, and any other government for that matter

 

there all 90+ oldies with nothing better to do with there time. we need a younger government who can run the country as it is today, not the same as the 1940`s

 

 

my rant..

boof!

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Prohibition has also handed the cultivation of cannabis to criminals (for the most part lol), who act without anykind of regulations. They pump weed full of chemical fertilizers, weight increasing agents, and hormones, and many dont bother to do anykind of flush before harvest.

This I believe is the major contributing factor for the increase in reports of cannabis-related psychosis.

Many argue the cause is the increase in potency, yet entire cultures have used hash for centuries without such problems.

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Prohibition has also handed the cultivation of cannabis to criminals (for the most part tongue.gif), who act without anykind of regulations. They pump weed full of chemical fertilizers, weight increasing agents, and hormones, and many dont bother to do anykind of flush before harvest.

This I believe is the major contributing factor for the increase in reports of cannabis-related psychosis.

You make an excellent point about crime and the production of pot but I really don't think there's any evidence that fertilizers or any thing else you mention might be linked to mental health. Unless you eat strictly organic food then most of us have been eating food that has been produced using these exact same fertilizers. All hydroponic fertilizers are liquid mixes of traditional fertilizers (and trace elements) that have been used for at least 50 years, probably longer. Its a bit misleading and emotive to refer to them as "chemical" fertilizers. Much of the food we now eat has been hydroponically produced. I don't see an awful lot of lettuce induced psychosis sufferers.

 

I'm also not convinced that the increased reports of cannabis mental health problems are due to cannabis at all. The jury is still out on that one. There is no evidence of schizophrenia increasing, for instance. I believe people working in mental health have to deal with many pot smokers and because of this they assume a causal link which has really not been proven yet, although some studies do suggest a causal link. It's the chicken and egg argument. It's quite possible that people with mental health problems are simply more likely to use substances as a way of dealing with their problems. Maybe pot is causing problems for some people. I'm not sure. People with mental health problems are also more likely to use tobacco and alcohol too yet this is rarely blamed for starting their problems.

 

This is just my opinion and if you suffer from mental health problems don't take this as gospel. Get professional help.

Many argue the cause is the increase in potency, yet entire cultures have used hash for centuries without such problems.

Thats very true. When I first started smoking cannabis I used to get what ever i could but I soon worked out that the best value for my money came from buying the most potent weed I could find. Once I met the right people I rarely smoked low potency pot again. The point I make is that if you knew the right people, then the pot of 30 years ago was as potent as what you can get today. The main difference (if any) I see now are that pot has been selected to grow indoors (indicas rule) and that pot breeders have concentrated on producing high THC varieties possibly to the detriment of other cannabinoids (if I'm getting my terms correct). This is only a hunch and I could easily be wrong. Harvesting methods are much better too and leaf is never smoked now.

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. The point I make is that if you knew the right people, then the pot of 30 years ago was as potent as what you can get today. The main difference (if any) I see now are that pot has been selected to grow indoors (indicas rule) and that pot breeders have concentrated on producing high THC varieties possibly to the detriment of other cannabinoids (if I'm getting my terms correct). This is only a hunch and I could easily be wrong. Harvesting methods are much better too and leaf is never smoked now.

 

 

very true freddie

i also believe the dutch have wrecked alot of good pot

with high thc taking tha place of cbd cbn etc

for me my next hasplant is from no dutch stock

hoping to find the strain alive with higher levels of the cannabanoids

very valid point mate

keep up the good work

thanks for tha post grace

bil

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