Posted on 08/06/2006 6:04:24 AM PDT by Wolfie
Reefer is Worth Getting Mad About
Vienna -- Supporters of the legalization of cannabis would have us believe that it is a gentle, harmless substance that gives you little more than a sense of mellow euphoria.
Sellers of the world's most popular illicit drug know better. Trawl through websites offering cannabis seeds for sale and you will find brand names such as Armageddon, AK-47 and White Widow. "This will put you in pieces, then reduce you to rubble -- maybe quicksand if you go too far," one seller boasts. This is much closer to the truth.
In Canada, as in most parts of the world, cannabis is by far the drug of choice. An estimated 4 per cent of the world's adult population -- that's about 162 million people -- consume cannabis at least once a year, more than all other illicit drugs combined.
Does that matter? I firmly believe it does, because the cannabis now in circulation (like Canada's BC Bud) is many times more powerful than the weed that today's aging baby boomers smoked in college. The characteristics of cannabis are no longer that different from those of other plant-based drugs, such as cocaine and heroin.
Evidence of the damage to mental health caused by cannabis use -- from loss of concentration to paranoia, aggressiveness and outright psychosis -- is mounting and cannot be ignored. Emergency room admissions involving cannabis are rising, as is demand for rehabilitation treatment. These health problems are increasingly being seen in young people.
North America is the world's largest cannabis market and most of its cannabis is homegrown. The U.S. market alone has been valued at more than $10-billion. As Canadians are starting to discover, a market that size inevitably attracts organized crime. So cannabis is a security threat as well as a health risk.
Amid all the libertarian talk about the right of the individual to engage in dangerous practices, provided no one else gets hurt, certain key facts are easily forgotten.
Firstly, cannabis is a dangerous drug, not just to the individuals who use it. People who drive under the influence of cannabis put others at risk. Would even the most ardent supporter of legalization want to fly in an aircraft whose pilot used cannabis?
Secondly, drug control works. More than a century of universally accepted restrictions on heroin and cocaine have prevented what would otherwise have been a pandemic. Global levels of drug addiction -- think of the opium dens of the 19th century -- have dropped dramatically in the past 100 years. In the past 10 years or so, they have remained stable.
Cannabis is the weakest link in the international effort to contain the global drugs problem. In theory, it's a controlled substance. In practice, it's running rampant. It grows under the most varied conditions in many countries, a high-yielding plant that can be grown indoors. This makes supply control difficult.
But we can tackle demand, particularly among the young. That need not mean sending them to jail. Young people caught in possession of cannabis could be treated in much the same way as those arrested for drunk driving: fined, required to attend classes on the dangers of drug use and threatened with loss of their driving licence for repeat offences. Prison would be a last resort. Schools and universities should apply zero tolerance.
National policies on cannabis vary and sometimes change from one year to the next. The experience of countries that were more tolerant of cannabis use is ambiguous and not persuasive. The distinction between "soft" and "hard" drugs is, at best, artificial, especially with such a damaging psycho-active substance as modern-day cannabis. Even some advocates of cannabis as a "soft" drug are now reconsidering as they observe the devastating health consequences of abuse.
Canada was a pioneer in introducing systematic anti-smoking policies, which are now being copied around the world. Their success demonstrates that preventive measures can help to change attitudes. Similar policies are needed to prevent cannabis use getting completely out of control.
Let's draw the right conclusions. Cannabis is dangerous. We ignore it at our peril.
Antonio Maria Costa is executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
What characteristic of cannabis that was different from cocaine or heroin is now the same?
And that if one were to look at both statements, the truth would be found closer to the G12 Skunk ad.
You just demolished her argument, and it didn't take you too many words to do it. Common sense is much less common these days. Thanks.
That's always a good point on most any subject. People tend to think in absolute terms when they should be thinking in relative terms, i.e. would we have "more or less" of something, not, do we "have or not have" something.
None that I'm aware of.
Now, if you really meant to ask, "What characteristic of cannabis that was different from cocaine or heroin is now no longer that different, the author said today's marijuana is many times more powerful than it used to be.
Did you miss that part?
Yes but has anyone ever died from operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of the strongest marijuana? Be honest! Thousands have over the years.
And then there are the unexplored consequences like does pot use by parents lead to Attention Deficit Disorder in their children, we all know that Pot tends to influence a person's ability to concentrate on tasks, isn't it possible then that the effects are causing a whole generation of children that suffer from ADD?
"Speaking as an aging baby boomer, I never thought I'd be nostalgic over a $20 baggie of Mexican."
You paid $20?? That's way too much. :)
"Sellers of the world's most popular illicit drug know better. Trawl through websites offering cannabis seeds for sale and you will find brand names such as Armageddon, AK-47 and White Widow. "This will put you in pieces, then reduce you to rubble -- maybe quicksand if you go too far," one seller boasts. This is much closer to the truth."
"Evidence of the damage to mental health caused by cannabis use -- from loss of concentration to paranoia, aggressiveness and outright psychosis -- is mounting and cannot be ignored."
They left out the part about it making your white daughters sleep with negros....
"Why is it that fanatic drug haters always ridicule themselves by showing an absolute lack of knowledge about the subject?"
It makes me wonder about their true motives. I don't think any of the drug warriors really give a damn whether "dopeheads" live or die so the incentive to interfere has to be religious, monetary or some kind of malicious authoritarianism.
For those with an hour to kill, 'Reefer Madness' is online as a Google video:
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-6696582420128930236&q=reefer+madness
Awright! Another pointless drug war thread.
Listen to the Drug Warriors (Armchair Division). Such experts. Never mind that drug control policy has never worked anywhere at any time. And never will. Drugs are more available than ever. Drug War policy is an utter failure. I believe that drugs, including many legal medical drugs, are a scourge, but what point is a useless enforcement policy? Except maybe to provide a second income for members of the Drug Squad (a subdivision of your local Police Squad).
I guess if we repeat these Drug War policies that we'll get different results this time, eh?
Good Morning, RP. I see you are back playing authoritarian again.
Have you ever smoked G12? Have you ever smoked marijuana? What are your criteria for criticizing the weed, other your personal prejudices against this demonic substance? What is this compulsion, that brings you to every thread about drugs?
But, probably the best question, is: "Do you really think anybody is going to be persuaded by your idiocentric ranting?" For that fact, do you really think we are responding because you make valid points, or maybe we respond to keep yanking your chain, to get another laugh...
"Why is it that fanatic drug haters always ridicule themselves by showing an absolute lack of knowledge about the subject?"
They're not going to convince anybody who already does have knowledge about the subject, and it's easy to scare people who don't know anything about pot themselves.
Did you miss that part?
I saw it, I just don't buy it. They got some engineered strains that produce higher THC concentrations, but they're so fragile they can only be grown hydroponically, and only constitutues a tiny percentage of the cannibis production. They're implying that this "superweed" is now the norm.
Beyond that, the comparison of cannabis to heroin or cocaine is flawed. If you processed the cannabis, extracting out just the active ingredients the way cocaine or heroin are produced the end result would be pure THC, and would be the same regardless of the cannabis plant you started with. It's a game of half-truths and tacit lies and you seem to want to help them with it.
You better build up a big stash of those Twinkies, cause since prohibition & the drug war, the morality police have moved on to confiscation of guns & knives (UK), control of your children, & smoking bans. So, Twinkie arrest can't be far behind. And say, doesn't your yard need mowing? Tall grass & weeds contribute to allergy problems, so get mowing or go to jail.
To the drug warriors out there:
Yes, they will pull the gun from your cold, dead hands - your kids, too. Aren't you proud of how you have helped grease this slippery slope. Enjoy your Twinkie, your guns, & your kids while you can.
The very same thing could be said of alcohol, which is legal to buy. If that's the first thing that comes to mind against the Libertarian point of view, your truly reaching. Unless you want to be intellectually honest and call for the ban of alcohol as well.
Been there, done that. It may not have been smart, but we were never in more danger than normal. It's a real hoot, when you stall, and go weightless! It really gets exciting in a crosswind.
But, everybody knows you can't concentrate or operate mechanical equipment when you're stoned, so it was probably just a pipe dream!
http://www.high-land.co.uk/acatalog/pukka-seeds.html
The definition of ignorance is not that of lacking an education, but of "ignoring" the opportunity to learn.
All you needed to do was copy the phrase and post it in a search engine.
While the phrase itself is pretty silly, it is a quote from the web page of a seed seller and is not "utter BS."
There's a difference between inventing news, like Reuters does, which is BS, and having a weak writing style.
If you apply the same reasoning to alcohol that's being used here, the existence of Everclear or Bacardi 151 would make the characteristics of liquor "not that much different than heroin or cocaine".
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