"Veery interesting."
Posted on 10/20/2006 3:57:35 AM PDT by ActionNewsBill
Use of marijuana in England and Wales has fallen in the three years since penalties on the drug were eased, the Independent reported Oct. 14. The trend defied predictions that use of the drug would rise as a result of the change.
Marijuana was downgraded from a Class B drug to a Class C drug in 2004. Britain's Home Office reported that use of most Class A drugs has remained flat since then, but that cocaine use has risen.
In 2006, 8.7 percent of residents of England and Wales were marijuana users, the Home Office reported, the lowest level in 10 years. The downward trend also applied to 16- to 24-year-olds. Still, marijuana remains the most popular illicit drug in the U.K.
Since 2004, police have treated marijuana possession as a non-arrest offense. "The fact that cannabis use has continued to fall to its lowest level in nearly 10 years is further evidence that the decision to reclassify the drug to Class C was sound," said Martin Barnes, chief executive of the charity DrugScope. "Some warned that the change would lead to an increase in cannabis use, yet the reverse has happened, possibly because there is more awareness of the possible harms.
"The fact that cannabis has been linked with triggering mental conditions could have changed people's attitude towards the drug. Another possible explanation is the rise in binge drinking, which some people may be doing instead of taking cannabis."
The report is Drug Misuse Declared: Findings from the British Crime Survey 2005-06 (for PDF, click here).
Ping.
"Veery interesting."
Whoa! 8.7%? And that's down?
Marijuana use in the U.S. is 6.1% and that's UP from 4.7% ten years ago.
Heh heh heh.
Too stoned to remember to smoke it.
Verrrrrry interesting. I am not fully satisfied by the explanations provided in the article however, especially the idea that smoking pot has been replaced as a popular fad by "binge drinking" as if the two experiences are ready substitutes for one another.
The notion that it "triggers mental conditions" (not sure what that means, presumably a study released that says it causes permanent mental debilitation of some kind) is more plausible as a cause. People sometimes do behave rationally, and if they believed with good evidence that pot caused permanent damage they would consume less of it.
hah! same reaction! Artie Johnson ping!!
That's makes no sense. What does drug awareness have to do with changing the classification?
They don't know. They sound like those Wall Street analysts trying to explain why the Dow went up or down -- if they really knew, they'd be billionaires rather than some pathetic "analyst".
If the trends in the UK are any indication, legalizing marijuana would cause the use of it to go down here as well.
Contrary to your predictions.
They could be.
The UK has had a problem with binge drinking -- it was double the US. I don't know what the ratio is now. Apparently, people would rather get drunk than smoke pot. That's why it's difficult to compare drug use between different cultures.
"The fact that cannabis has been linked with triggering mental conditions could have changed people's attitude towards the drug. Another possible explanation is the rise in binge drinking, which some people may be doing instead of taking cannabis."
Linked with triggering mental conditions? Give me a break, sounds like the chicken or the egg conundrum. Binge drinking? Who knows. I do suspect that the use of "more trendy" drugs may have increased as marijuana use was demystified. But then I don't do much better than Wall Street "analysts" either.
Actually, they "eased penalties", not legalized.
Over the last ten years in the U.S. some states have eased penalties with decriminalization. Some states have "legalized" medical marijuana. Some cities have made marijuana arrests the "lowest priority".
According to my chart above, marijuana use over the last ten years in the U.S. has increased, not decreased. Now honestly, wouldn't you expect that to happen?
Pesky facts.
Studies have shown that smoking marijuana triggers some mental conditions in those who are susceptible to those mental conditions. Not that it necessarily "causes" those mental conditions. Those studies have been posted and discussed on FR.
The problem is that marijuana has never been fully researched. That fact, however, doesn't stop some from proclaiming that it's safe for recreational AND even medical use.
They sound like those Wall Street analysts trying to explain why the Dow went up or down -- if they really knew, they'd be billionaires rather than some pathetic "analyst".
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You must have missed the news the other day. The average wall street salary is nearly 300,000 a year. Maybe not billionaires, but they're doing quite well for themselves, wouldn't you say. Hardly "pathetic", at least in my frame of reference, how 'bout yours?
HOw could this be? So many on here told me that use would go up if you legalized drugs. GASP! It must be a polling error where they over sampled labor members.
I imagine many drugs in common use might trigger mental conditions in those who are suseptible. You are correct, marijuana has never been "fully" researched (like many drugs) which does not stop many from proclaiming that it is dangerous for recreational AND even medical use. Got any stockmarket predictions? Should I buy or sell before the election? ;-)
$300,000 is not a lot of money for NYC when you take prices, especially housing, into account. I have some friends who are investment bankers and the hours they put in are completely insane and they have no job security. Plus, they are paying taxes through the nose, like the AMT. It's a good salary but it comes at a very high price. That's why I hate those kind of stories -- it's the media's way of engaging in class warfare. They make it sound like anyone making over $100,000 is doing very well without taking anything else into account.
Well, if you're saying that salary is an indication of believability, then WGN Chicago meteorologist, Tom Skilling, making seven figures per year, should be able to tell me if it's going to rain tomorrow, doncha think?
He can't -- not any more than my $36,000/yr. weatherman.
Well, what should we do? Proclaim a drug safe until it's proven dangerous or proclaim it dangerous until proven safe?
Your call.
if they really knew, they'd be billionaires rather than some pathetic "analyst".
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Well if you keeping moving the target, of course you'll always be right, Robert. I was responding to the comment above that you made in post #8.
You called them pathetic. The market is at its highest level ever. The average (you know, the guys in the middle) are earning 300K. If that's pathetic, I'm flipping pondscum, and no, you would not be the first to so suggest.
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