4 Corners Mon 8.30

[Infinitee]

i couldn't believe it after seeing this show, what a load of shit.

 

I'd been talking to people saying it should be interesting coz 4 corners is pretty unbiased and shows both sides but waht the fuck was that?

 

I don't know how it can be legal, or if it's worse that people believe that shit!!

 

"According to the federal Potency Monitoring Project, the average potency of marijuana has increased very little since the 1980s."

Here's an excerpt from the Quarterly Report #76, Nov. 9, 2001-Feb. 8, 2002, Table 3, p. 8, University of Mississippi Potency Monitoring Project (Oxford, MS: National Center for the Development of Natural Products, Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2002), Mahmoud A. ElSohly, PhD, Director, NIDA Marijuana Project (NIDA Contract #N01DA-0-7707).

Now why doesn't that dude shut the fuck up!!

 

You know what cracked me up? When that dude said that it was his "gut feeling" that pot fucked up people. Since when has an "informative docco" been based on "gut feelings" and assumptions with no evidence, research or valid back-up!!

 

God-damn that pisses me off. If anyone can find an e-mail address or forum i can rant and complain at, please send me the damn link!!

 

PEace out y'all

~Infinitee

:yingyang

*Off to smoke a big-ass joint to forget how much i hate 4 corners*

[SoDrysBro]

the wankers plan on showing it a 2nd time they thought it was so good...

"Messing With Heads" will be screened on ABC TV’s Four Corners at 8.30 pm on Monday 7 March.

Please note: this program will be repeated at the later date of Wednesday 23rd March, 11pm.

 

 

:thumbdown

[LoveMeBucket]

When you buy cannabis your $25 just buys you pure seeds, which is where this poison resides

 

didnt ya know if u try to smoke seeds they explode in ya face?? :: ::

[Luke Skywalker]

http://www2b.abc.net.au/4corners/forum/default.htm

 

There ya go infinitee.

 

You know what cracked me up? When that dude said that it was his "gut feeling" that pot fucked up people. Since when has an "informative docco" been based on "gut feelings" and assumptions with no evidence, research or valid back-up!!

 

Yeah, I saw the thing fairly similarly to that, it's pretty much a psychologist saying he "reckons it's harmful to kids." DUH. But compare it to alcohol. You don't hear the same psychologist suggesting that alcohol use by teens, which is far, far more prevalent amongst youth and dangerous both mentally and physically, is something we should be rallying against to "fight the scourge of drugs"....

 

The fact that this psychologist doesn't know the difference between a "poison" and "psychoactive drug" is disturbing. His basic lack of information regarding the plant is scary too.

 

Reminds me of Rev. Lovejoy's wife in an episode of the Simpsons.... "Won't somebody think of the children!?!?!"

 

The forum is closed btw, but you can still see the msgs.

 

Goddamn it. I think it's time for some Letters to the Editor from the members of OS about this one eh? We know this is utter bullshit. Anyone who's ever had anything to do with pot in their lives, (about 30% of the adult population having tried at least once) knows it's utter bullshit, but unfortunately those who are insulated from the real world have been fed said bullshit for so long they think it's caviar. Caviar which saves children.

 

I still can't see an argument for prohibition here though, note that there was no distinct statements regarding this in the interview/show? Perhaps cause their arguments fall down when you realise that prohibition itself is causing the social situations/paradigm that leave children able to obtain and use pot...

[garywmeyerhoff]

The NT News couldn't resist this opportunity to have a dig at the ABC. They actually published the following in today's NT and Beyond column:

 

Aunty slammed

 

The Darwin-based Network Against Prohibition (NAP) has slammed the ABC over a documentary on the dangers of pot smoking.

 

NAP spokesperson Gary Meyerhoff said working for the ABC is a lot like smoking dope.

 

"The harder you suck, the higher you get," he said.

 

The NAP is having its first smoke-in for 2005 on Saturday at Darwin's Raintree Park.

 

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org

Pubdate: Wed, 09 March 2005

Source: Northern Territory News (Australia)

Copyright: 2005 Northern Territory News

Contact: ntnmail@ntn.newsltd.com.au

Website: http://ntnews.news.com.au/

Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/283

[garywmeyerhoff]

The following is an extract from issue no. 50 of the napnt digest which was released today. If you would like to receive our digests, just go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/napnt/ and follow the links to join.

 

Excerpt follows:

 

4 Corners (4 Walls)

 

Just what are the ABC up to? The 4 Corners report on Monday night, ‘Messing with heads’ has attracted much criticism. Many ABC viewers have contacted NAPHQ in shock after the program. Biased, uninformative, drivel. That’s the only way to describe it.

 

You can’t let them get away with this. Send in a complaint to:

comments (a) your.abc.net.au (send a copy to Patricia Drum from Media Watch… her email address is drum.patricia (a) abc.net.au and always send a copy to NAPHQ:

naphq (a) bigpond.net.au.

 

It’s not only 4 corners either. See this rubbish:

 

Sat, 05 Mar 2005, Australian Broadcasting Corporation

 

Modern pot more addictive, damaging

 

Modern strains of marijuana are having a more addictive effect on users than has previously been associated with the drug, according to a Victorian drug counsellor.

 

Clinicians have told ABC TV's Four Corners program that cannabis use is increasingly triggering anxiety disorders and depression in teenagers.

 

The director of the Youth Substance Abuse Service in Victoria, David Murray, says stronger strains of cannabis are having a detrimental effect on the mental state of young people.

 

"I think they are coming to it earlier than perhaps was the case with our generation and they're also smoking a lot more over the course of a day and smoking and smoking every day," Mr Murray said.

 

"They're taking in an enormous amount of cannabis, so their pattern of drug use becomes chronic and addictive rather than recreational."

 

Psychiatrist Andrew Campbell, who specialises in treating psychoses and also sits on the Mental Health Review Board, says the younger people are when they begin smoking pot, the greater the risk of mental illness.

 

Dr Campbell says the modern marijuana plant is a super-strength variety.

 

"When you buy $25 worth of cannabis these days you're mainly getting heads, you don't get the leaf, which is much lower in concentrations of cannabis," he said.

 

******************

And this rubbish from the ABC in the NT. In this one they are reporting that the number of Aboriginal men in Arnhem Land that smoke dope has dropped by 10%. No mention of the ongoing police offensive in that region which is responsible for a climbing jail population in the NT (we’re up there with Texas, more than 500 people incarcerated per 100,000. The Australian national average is well below 200). This police offensive is striking fear into the heart of remote communities… of course there not going to tell the government bloke from Darwin that they smoke dope.

 

Maybe the 10% reduction just indicates the amount of Aboriginal men who have been incarcerated over the past 12 months…

 

Aboriginal men in Arnhem Land decrease cannabis use

http://www.napnt.org/2005/03/aboriginal-me...d-decrease.html

 

Hopefully the following will inspire you with your complaints.

 

******************

Posted on Darwin Indymedia at: http://darwin.indymedia.org/?action=newswire&parentview=3671

 

Four Walls: Messing with your intellect

by Janine Cohen and Just Us 8th March 2005

 

One does wonder what this story was really all about? And if you ask me THIS IS a story about MENTAL ILLNESS on top of consumerism and as we all know consumerism is ripe!

 

Four Walls: "Imagine taking every single emotion, memory, experience, tablet all into one... and those fighting each other to see who is the victor." - Danny, 22.

 

"It just f... with your head. I had to sleep with a knife under my bed 'cos I used to think people were going to come in and bash me during the night or something. Just for me mull or something, yeah." - Danni, 17. "

 

But obviously Danny has a mental problem most likely paranoid schizophrenia a problem that insidiously had been there long before he took up smoking?

 

Four Walls: "A whole generation of Australians has grown up believing that smoking pot is a harmless pastime."

 

That's because smoking pot is harmless to most Australians except for those who have some mental problems about 1 per cent of the population.

 

Four Walls: "They need to think again? The view of cannabis as a benign drug is under challenge - not from conservative family or religious groups but from the science and medical community. Clinicians now believe that modern strains of super-strength cannabis are increasingly triggering psychoses, depression and anxiety disorders in teenagers."

 

They need to think again if they have a mental problem like schizophrenia, because pot which is only a herb can make you more paranoid when you first start smoking it, but after a while that diminishes when the other well know benefits are felt. That is if you haven't got a mental illness.

 

Four Walls: "Many young people begin smoking cannabis before they have even hit their teens? - And experts are warning that the younger the smoker, the greater the risk of mental illness."

 

What else did they begin consuming? And like if your mother gives it to you when you're a baby then the experts warning makes sense? For instance what would petrol sniffing do to young people?

 

Four Walls: "About half the young people who seek help for psychosis have a cannabis problem."

 

So how many have an alcohol problem? How many of those had a mental illness before they had a cannabis problem?

 

For instance everybody has a shit as well but not all people who have a shit have a mental problem, so the dear doctor's diagnosis is flawed and pro-government?

 

Four Walls: "According to doctors the proportion of cannabis users among these young patients has doubled in 20 years?

 

"For some teenagers there is no second chance. Ten to 15 per cent of young people with serious mental illnesses commit suicide or die from other causes within a few years of diagnosis."?

 

But mental health has its own problems that are yet to be diagnosed and treated because of lack of funding?

 

Of course cannabis is popular. The proportion of cannabis users with mental illness merely points out that it is a popular herb, taken by a large section of the population some with mental illness.

 

Perhaps the consumer should understand what works and what doesn't when they have a mental illness? A mental illness, which does not agree with the herb and should not be taken with a mental illness.

 

Four Walls: "Even for those who do recover, only half return to meaningful work or study?"

 

What with a mental illness? Makes lots of sense like disability, only half of them return to meaningful work or study!

______________________

 

Four walls:

 

Q: "And Jake how old were you when you started smoking?"

A: "Twelve."

Q: "And when did it become a problem for you, how old were you?"

A: "About 14 I started smoking regularly." - Jake, 18.

Q: "Where would you be if you never smoked pot?"

A: "Still be at school. I.... didn't even pass year eight." - Sam, 16."

___________________

 

Common Sense

 

Q: And Bud how old were you when you started smoking?

A: Seventeen

Q: And when did it become a problem for you, how old were you?

A: It never became a problem and I am 47 years old and I don't have a mental illness. What about that!

Q: Where would you be if you never smoked pot?

A: That's a hypothetical question. How long is a piece of string?

 

Four Walls: "So what accounts for this new concern about cannabis and youth psychoses?"

 

Beats me it's probably pro-government spin because if look into the statistics of how many of our youth are affected by alcohol and what that drug does to people you wouldn't be so concerned about cannabis which is at best a herb!

 

Four Walls: "About half the young people who seek help for psychosis have a cannabis problem."

 

What about alcohol? What proportions of the mentally ill patients who seek help for psychosis have an alcohol problem? Strange how the fact that they also had a shit and most likely had taken alcohol, but those figures were not realised in the promotion of the Four Walls segment.

 

One does wonder what this story was really all about? And if you ask me THIS IS a story about MENTAL ILLNESS on top of consumerism and as we all know consumerism is ripe! So what has the story got to do with smoking herbs?

 

High strains of the herb as suggested - Clinicians now believe that modern strains of super-strength cannabis are increasingly triggering psychoses, depression and anxiety disorders in teenagers.

 

But what a load of rubbish. Smokers of the high strains don't suffer adversely unless as I have said they already have a mental illness. Add anything to a mental illness and obviously you're in trouble.

 

So this story is really about MENTAL ILLNESS!

 

Alcohol abuse:

 

Alcoholism, also known as alcohol dependence, is a disease. Alcoholism is a chronic, often progressive disease with symptoms that include a strong need to drink despite negative consequences, such as serious job, relationships, or health problems.

 

Like many other diseases, it has a generally predictable course, has recognized symptoms, and is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors that are being increasingly well defined.

 

About prevalence and incidence statistics:

 

The term 'prevalence' of Alcohol abuse usually refers to the estimated population of people who are managing Alcohol abuse at any given time.

 

The term 'incidence' of Alcohol abuse refers to the annual diagnosis rate, or the number of new cases of Alcohol abuse diagnosed each year. Hence, these two statistics types can differ: a short-lived disease like flu can have high annual incidence but low prevalence, but a life-long disease like diabetes has a low annual incidence but high prevalence.

 

Prevalence of alcohol use in 1999

 

Experience with alcohol was high amongst secondary students, with use becoming more common as age increased. By the age of 14 around 90% of students had tried alcohol and by the age of 17 over 70% of students had drunk alcohol in the month prior to the survey.

 

The proportion of students drinking in the week prior to the survey (defined here as current drinkers) increased with age from around 22% of 13-year-olds to reach a peak of 55% among 17-year-olds.

 

Hazardous drinking was defined as having eight or more drinks in one day for boys and six or more drinks in one day for girls. Of current drinkers aged between 12 and 15 years, 12% of boys and 13% of girls had engaged in hazardous drinking in the previous week. Among 16-17-year-old current drinkers, 38% of boys and girls had drunk at a hazardous level in the preceding week.

 

Some type of spirit (eg vodka, scotch, rum) was the most common type of drink consumed by drinkers of all ages. Allowing for multiple responses, the most commonly consumed alcoholic drinks were spirits (47%), beer (33% ordinary beer; 5% low alcohol beer), alcoholic sodas (20%), wine (11%) and liqueurs (10%). While more girls than boys drank alcoholic soda, more boys than girls drank beer.

 

Across all age groups, 15% of boys and 12% of girls bought their last alcoholic drink.

 

Buying alcohol was related to age and increased from 5% of 14-year-old boys and girls to 42% of boys and 30% of girls aged 17.

 

Parents were the most common source of alcohol with 38% of boys and 32% of girls indicating their parents gave them their last drink?

 

The three main places for students to drink were the family home, a friend's home or a party. Over all age groups, 21% of students had not received any lessons about alcohol use in the previous school year, while 39% had received more than one lesson about this topic.

 

Four Walls: "Recent research shows that the human brain does not fully develop until a person reaches their twenties. Teenage brains, therefore, are more vulnerable than adults to cannabis."?

 

And what else? ALCOHOL

 

Modern technology multiplies the dangers. Hydroponically grown, genetically modified varieties of marijuana plants are believed to contain much greater concentrations of the chemical THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol. Cannabis is cheap, too, making it more easily available to today's teenagers than it was for their parents' generation.

 

And what else? ALOCOHOL

 

In this wake-up call to a disturbing new trend, young cannabis users in treatment for psychoses speak openly about their experiences to reporter Janine Cohen, while doctors and drug specialists explain what the new research means for young people's mental health.

 

Don't let them Mess With Your INTELLECT

 

1. ALCOHOL Background

 

Drinking alcohol by adults is both widely accepted and expected within the Australian community.

 

Correspondingly, alcohol is seen as a pleasant social beverage rather than a drug, with most people drinking in moderation and in a non-addictive manner. Because alcohol use is so accepted within the Australian community, limited use of alcohol by adolescents is often sanctioned by adults.

 

However, unsupervised and/or excessive use of alcohol by young people, while generally not sanctioned, is not uncommon.

 

Excessive use of alcohol by adolescents has been associated with long-term ill health as well as immediate harm-related behaviours such as drunk driving, accidental injuries, risky sexual behaviour and violent behaviours.

 

The extent of harm associated with alcohol use among adolescents and young adults is reflected in recent health-related statistics showing that alcohol dependence and its harmful effects is one of the leading causes of disease and injury burden among people between the ages of 15 and 24 years.

 

Preventing the abuse of alcohol among adolescents has been identified as one way of reducing the human and financial costs associated with alcohol abuse.

 

Young people are therefore a major target group for policies and programs aimed at reducing excessive use of alcohol. Education programs to inform adolescents about the dangers of the excessive use of alcohol and the negative consequences of getting drunk have been conducted since the 1980s.

 

National prevalence surveys conducted triennially since 1984 suggested that the introduction of these programs was associated with a decrease in the prevalence of drinking among students.

 

However, this trend seemed to be reversed in the early 1990s with increases in the prevalence of alcohol use being found between 1990 and 1996.

 

Australia was not the only country for which an increase in the prevalence of alcohol use was found among adolescents. Canada also noted that the prevalence of alcohol use among students increased between 1993 and 1999 and that this was accompanied by an increase in the proportion of students drinking five or more drinks in a row.5 In the United States of America, the results of the Monitoring the Future studies suggested that while the proportion of Year 12 students using alcohol in the previous year decreased during the 1980s, usage levels remained stable in the early to mid 1990s and increased slightly between 1996 and 1999.

 

Understanding current trends in the prevalence of alcohol use among secondary students in Australia is essential for planning and implementing appropriate interventions and campaigns.

 

This report had two aims. The first was to describe the alcohol-drinking behaviours of Australian secondary students in 1999. The behaviours focused on were the prevalence of never drinking, drinking in the year, month and week preceding the survey, drinking at hazardous levels, types of drinks consumed, sources of alcohol and places where students drink. The second aim was to examine both short and long-term trends in the prevalence of alcohol use among Australian secondary students. For this the 1999 prevalence estimates were compared first with those from a similar survey of students conducted in 1996, and secondly with those from similar surveys conducted every three years since 1984.3,7,8,9,10,11

 

The 1999 survey was a collaborative project between state member organisations of the Australian Cancer Society, state health and education departments and the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care.

 

More: http://www7.health.gov.au/pubhlth/publicat...ment/mono45.pdf

 

http://www.geocities.com/nswac14/feature

[Luke Skywalker]

Hee hee, good one gary.

 

Keep up the good work... And all you Oz Stoners out there, write to your editors!

[quizywig]

when you think about the 2 kids on the show, one has a school principal and a uni professor for parents, how much stress/presure do you think he had growing up, the other an artist not that i want to offend any artists here but they are one a much different level to the rest of us and usually have some pretty big probs.

also dont tell me those kids havent also used speed, trips, alcohol, E and anything else they can get a buzz out off, Ive found very few young smokers who only use pot

[Luke Skywalker]

Yeah, it's like I mentioned earlier, you don't see them jumping up and down blaming alcohol, even though it's by and large the drug of choice for youth these days, with far larger use in comparison as well....

 

Ive found very few young smokers who only use pot

 

I dunno many young kids nowadays, but in my day it was pretty similar. That's another spin off of prohibition.

[F420]

when you think about the 2 kids on the show, one has a school principal and a uni professor for parents, how much stress/presure do you think he had growing up, the other an artist not that i want to offend any artists here but they are one a much different level to the rest of us and usually have some pretty big probs.

 

The kids with the School principal and uni professor for parents would be under an enormous amount of stress.

these kids are expected to be as intelligent etc as their parents and as such are expected to perform better than any normal kid would.

 

That sort of pressure would drive anyone to smoke or abuse alcohol.

 

On the otherhand yea the artists kids would be cruising drawing pics of their favourite cannabis plant being toked on my a tellytubby. ::