Reclassified in the UK to class C

[qwerty]

By Kate Holton

 

LONDON (Reuters) - The British Medical Association (BMA) has attacked the government`s decision to downgrade the legal status of cannabis, saying that regular use of the drug can kill.

 

Cannabis will be reclassified as a low risk, category C drug next week, making discreet possession of small amounts of it or smoking it in private a non-arrestable offence.

 

The downgrade, while maintaining the drug as illegal, will put cannabis in the same category as anabolic steroids and growth hormones.

 

The BMA said on Wednesday the reclassification would mislead the public into thinking the drug was safe.

 

"Cannabis is a drug that can kill," Dr Peter Maguire, deputy chairman of the BMA`s board of science told Reuters. "People are making the conclusion that it is safe where in fact it is actually more dangerous than tobacco.

 

"People tend to start smoking joints in their youthful years... and they don`t appreciate the damage it can cause to their chest, their heart and all the other organs in later life."

 

A cannabis joint without tobacco contains a third more tar than a normal cigarette, Maguire said, while the blood of someone who smoked a cannabis joint contained five times more carbon monoxide than that of a person who smoked a normal cigarette.

 

Mental health charity Rethink have also called for more health warnings to be issued over the link between developing schizophrenia and cannabis use.

 

Britain has an estimated five million cannabis users and government figures suggest that its use has grown sharply in the last 20 years.

 

On Tuesday, a coroner recorded that a British man had died as a direct result of smoking the drug. Lee Maisey, 36, smoked up to six cannabis joints a day and is thought to be the first Briton to die as a direct result.

 

Home Secretary David Blunkett introduced the reclassification, saying the government`s priority was tackling the most serious Class A drugs which wrecked people`s lives.

 

The government will launch a campaign on Thursday aiming to highlight the damage caused by cannabis and the fact that it remains illegal.

 

British media, senior police chiefs and the United Nations have criticised the reclassification, saying it will lead to widespread confusion.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Edited January 21, 2004 by qwerty

[Gruntus]

Can anyone source any opposing points of view to this article? Are there any? I've looked at www.marijuana.com but it's a touch too US-centric. I'm interested on account of what I started over at this thread : Advertiser/Daily Mail ... Seriously, if they're reclassing cannabis their must be some good reason for it - I'm only reading arguments against it.

[Luke Skywalker]

On Tuesday, a coroner recorded that a British man had died as a direct result of smoking the drug. Lee Maisey, 36, smoked up to six cannabis joints a day and is thought to be the first Briton to die as a direct result.

 

huh? More information please? What the hell?

[Guest BridesNightie]

I assume it's this (copied from UK420.com):

 

Tuesday Jan 20 2004

 

 

`First Brit' to die of dope poisoning

 

By Richard Smith

 

 

 

A YOUNG man has died from cannabis poisoning after smoking around 23,000 joints.

 

Experts believe Lee Maisey, 36, is the first Briton to die as a direct result of taking the drug.

 

Cannabis will be downgraded from a class B to a class C illegal drug by the Government on January 29. The move meansmost small-scale users will be let off with a warning.

 

Leesmoked around six joints aday for 11 years, aninquest heard. A pal found him dead last August on the living room floor of the house they shared.

 

Lee had complained of a headache the day before. But coroner Michael Howells said hewas free from disease.

 

The cause of Lee's death was listed as ''cannabis toxicity'' after a post mortem revealed high levels in his blood. The inquest recorded a verdict of death by misadventure because of his illegal drug use.

 

Experts warned after the case in Pembroke, Wales that cannabis can be much more powerful than users think.

 

Dr Philip Guy, an addictions expert at Hull University, said yesterday: ''Cannabis is not the nice hippy drug it used to be. It is a lot stronger nowadays.''

 

Dr Guy added that people who ate the drug rather than smoked it were more at risk.

 

''If you eat a large amount of cannabis it can be deadly, '' he said. ''I would not be surprised if in this case the deceased had ingested a fatal amount.''

 

Cannabis has been linked to suicides and fatal accidents. But Lee's case is the first where it has been listed as a direct cause of death.

 

The Government has always insisted that cannabis is harmful and should not be used.

 

But Home Secretary David Blunkett says he is downgrading it to class C to help police focus on more dangerous drugs like heroin and crack cocaine.

 

Blunkett said this week: ''I want to get people off trying cannabis, but I want the education message to be clear: Don't pretend cannabis and crack are the same. They are not.''

 

Bongme

[Luke Skywalker]

Jeesus. Anyone think this is the real thing? Or did the guy really die from something else? I've never, ever heard of something like this before. Is it possible his supply was contaminated?

 

Thanks for that BN... I mean tam... I mean bubbles... I mean Brides Nightie...

[pipeman]

Luke the guy may have died of lung cancer or something and instead of listing cause of death smoking the dickhead probably wrote it up as pot.

 

The fool is probably just wanting some publicity.

 

I'd like to find the ignorant fuck and shove a bong up his ass.

[qwerty]

But it appears that cannabis toxicity is now a recognised cause of death...... According to the National Health Service ..... Edited January 22, 2004 by qwerty

[qwerty]

Update...........

 

 

 

By Kate Holton

 

LONDON (Reuters) - The government has launched a one million pound campaign to warn people of the dangers of taking cannabis, a week before it downgrades the legal status of the recreational drug.

 

Young people will be targeted by radio adverts and leaflets to remind them that cannabis is still illegal.

 

Cannabis will be reclassified as a low risk, category C drug next week, making discreet possession of small amounts of it or smoking it in private a non-arrestable offence.

 

The downgrade, while maintaining the drug as illegal, will put cannabis in the same category as anabolic steroids and growth hormones.

 

Opposition Conservative leader Michael Howard on Thursday called the downgrade "absurd" and said he would reverse the decision if his party entered office.

 

"After thinking about this very carefully we have come to the view that the government`s decision is misconceived," Howard told the Independent.

 

Howard`s concern followed warnings this week by the British Medical Association (BMA) who criticised the decision, saying young people would be misled into thinking the drug was safe.

 

"Cannabis is a drug that can kill," Dr Peter Maguire, deputy chairman of the BMA`s board of science told Reuters. "People are making the conclusion that it is safe where in fact it is actually more dangerous than tobacco.

 

A cannabis joint without tobacco contains a third more tar than a normal cigarette, Maguire said, while the blood of someone who smoked a cannabis joint contained five times more carbon monoxide than that of a person who smoked a normal cigarette.

 

Mental health charities have also highlighted the link between cannabis and schizophrenia.

 

Home Secretary David Blunkett introduced the reclassification to give police more time to tackle the most serious Class A drugs.

 

"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," Blunkett told BBC Radio.

 

Radio adverts will play on national and regional radio stations across England and similar campaigns will run in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

 

Britain has an estimated five million cannabis users and government figures suggest that its use has grown sharply in the last 20 years.

[Guest pilk]

cannabis doesnt kill people, people kill people

 

 

 

 

 

he

pilk

[BlackBeauty]

Amen to that pilk :angry: