Survey on quitting cannabis

[freddie]

Good to see KRudds evidence based policy has created the creature that is the NCPIC

Rudd did not create the NCPIC. It was the Howard govt.

[entheofarm]

krudd is supplying the funding freddie

 

perhaps he did not create it but he allows it to exist

 

the NCPIC even touts "evidence based information on cannabis and related harms"

 

from the sounds of that thier first priority should be to end prohibition to prevent further harm

[chuffer]

has anyone asked Rudd to stop funding NCPIC? worded the right way he might do that

[MongyMan]

has anyone asked Rudd to stop funding NCPIC? worded the right way he might do that

 

 

[Reverend]

I'm with MM.

[luciddreaming]

Me too.

 

Smokin' Moose I also have e-mailed that moron. She told me the survey I pointed her too was just a conference LMFAO

I sent her a list of about 20 studies which show Cannabis does not cause lung cancer and she just didn't reply.

[freddie]

Found this old editorial blog from last year. Some interesting points.

Monday, September 29, 2008

NCPIC spouts more junk science

The Sydney Morning Herald continues its poor journalism on the topic of drugs by printing without balance or comment yet another AAP story regurgitating propaganda from NCPIC (the National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre, where I hear the staff are already getting mightily annoyed with its highly paid Director Jan Copeland's focus on demonising cannabis at the expense of balance or truth).

 

The whole story, showing "links" between cannabis and depression is a transparent beat-up of the kind exposed elsewhere on this blog so I won't analyse the whole thing.

 

But simply take the lie in the last paragraph which claims that cannabis smoking "leads to brain shrinkage", referring no doubt to the study discussed in the hyperlink above which in reality showed only a tenuous link to brain shrinkage and could equally have shown that unemployment is the cause (and it ignores a larger study which showed no shrinkage, both views backed up in a New Scientist report).

 

Again in the present case, the sample who mention cannabis to doctors came from atypical minorities, just like the 'brain shrinkage' and the 'cannabis causes violence' furphies spouted by NCIPC and published in The SMH. "Users were more likely to be male, young, unemployed or on a low income and indigenous", says the SMH story. So the study could equally have concluded that being a young unemployed Aboriginal is likely to lead to depression and dope smoking. That's not on NCPIC's agenda though.

 

They even go so far as to infer that this study shows cannabis is more harmful than amphetamines. This is not only bizarre, it's dangerous if it leads to a reallocation of resources away from the hard drug to the soft drug. Frontline social workers in Kings Cross I speak to are flabbergasted by this tripe.

 

There is another giveaway in the story, which: "...also revealed that mentioning cannabis use to a doctor was very rare". Jan Copeland is "disturbed" by this, another unscientific assertion about data that could equally show that very few of the 750,000 weekly users in Australia see it as a problem.

 

It's just like the junk studies that showed that 90% or so of cocaine users had smoked cannabis and concluded that pot led to coke use. But a simple re-examination of the stats demonstrated that only a small minority of regular pot smokers used coke, refuting the first conclusion. Be careful what you believe, dear reader, it's all smoke and mirrors (to use an apt analogy!)

 

For "balance" the story includes an ideological comment from the AMA's Dr Rod Pearce who essentially argues that cannabis causes harms under prohibition therefore we need more prohibition. THINK about it!

 

And if I am right about NCPIC, what a colossal waste of taxpayers' money!

 

PS: Even NCPIC's own mission statement is nonsensical:

 

"The NCPIC mission is to reduce the use of cannabis in Australia by preventing uptake and harms associated with its use in the Australian community."

 

In other words, "The NCPIC mission is to reduce the use of cannabis in Australia by reducing the use of cannabis and reducing the harms associated with its use in Australia". Huh?

http://kingscrosstimes.blogspot.com/2008/0...nk-science.html

has anyone asked Rudd to stop funding NCPIC? worded the right way he might do that

I think you make a good argument to at least change the focus and mission statement of the NCPIC. It clearly isn't presenting a balanced, evidence based viewpoint. There is no info about harm minimisation or medical marijuana.

[Smokin Moose]

Me too.

 

Smokin' Moose I also have e-mailed that moron. She told me the survey I pointed her too was just a conference LMFAO

I sent her a list of about 20 studies which show Cannabis does not cause lung cancer and she just didn't reply.

I also just emailed Sally with a bunch of science based articles on cannabis tinctures.

[Smokin Moose]

The National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre (NCPIC) is conducting a study on the strategies people use to quit cannabis. We are looking for people who smoked cannabis regularly (more than once a week) for at least a year, but haven’t used any cannabis in the last year OR people who currently smoke cannabis more than once a week and have made at least one unsuccessful attempt to quit. As compensation for your time, you will receive a $20 gift voucher. If you are 18 or older and have access to the Internet, please contact Sally or Desiree on Quitters@med.unsw.edu.au

 

Thanks,

Sally

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c236/dpamaregoodtome/DeadHorse2.jpg

[GIY]

hahaha what a read.

 

Im not eligible to take the survey but was surprised when i read that others stopped cause the stuff they grew ran out and couldnt be bothered sourcing more. Im in the same boat. I love smoking but when i moved house recently i had no where suitable to set up a grow so i just slowly smoked what i had, then ran out, and thats it havn't smoked for 3 months. Sometimes i miss it after a stressful day at work, i miss the relaxing feeling lighting up after dinner watching TV then having an awesome sleep.

 

peace