The Cannabis Catastrophe (Pot softens brains: Stoners don't care)

The Daily Mail [UK] ^ | January 26 2003 | Melanie Phillips

[quidnunc]

As David Blunkett contemplates the chaos and fury triggered by his decision to downgrade the law on cannabis, he could do worse than consider the case of Dominique Lansdowne.

Eleven years ago, when she was 18, the former care assistant from Swindon started smoking cannabis once a week. ‘After a couple of weeks, I found it was addictive’, she said. ‘As soon as you start you get the feeling you’re completely relaxed and calm, but then you crave it. I used it more and more until I was smoking it every day. Then I couldn’t work because I was too stoned all the time. I was so paranoid I couldn’t leave the house.

‘I haven’t worked for the past six years. I lost all my friends and nearly lost my family. I couldn’t afford to pay my mortgage, my house was repossessed, I had to live in a hostel. I was in hospital three times, and couldn’t cope at all in the community. I had no social skills left. My life was in tatters. I didn’t stop completely until two years ago.

‘I still take anti-psychotics, antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs, and will probably have to take medication for the rest of my life. I’m positive cannabis was the cause; I became paranoid as soon as I started smoking it. I’ve known hundreds of people who smoke it; all of them have some kind of paranoia or a problem, whether they recognise it or not.’

All of which makes it truly extraordinary that this Thursday, cannabis will be downgraded from a class B to a class C drug.

The Home Secretary’s move has delighted the drug legalisers — but astonished and horrified those like Dominique, who know the truth about its effects.

Tory leader Michael Howard has boldly declared that a future Conservative government will reverse the policy. Yet Mr Blunkett’s so called ‘reform’ has already caused many people mistakenly to believe cannabis is now legal or safe to use.

Despite ministers’ desperate insistence that it remains illegal and dangerous, putting cannabis in the same category as slimming pills, painkillers, tranquillisers and anabolic steroids sends the inescapable signal that it is not very dangerous after all.

Dominique Lansdowne knows what nonsense this is. Before she used cannabis, she had not even smoked tobacco; afterwards she also tried speed, LSD and ecstasy. ‘I would never have touched hard drugs if I hadn’t taken cannabis. Reclassification is really dreadful and sad because the government is saying cannabis isn’t that bad and so people are going to take it thinking it’s not going to do them any harm.’

-snip-

[missyme]

Absoloutely!!!!!

[humblegunner]

Too bad I am not at home, or it might have been the dumbest article I have ever read on marijuana.

I'm home, and it's still dumb, both "about" and "on".

[missyme]

Billy Joel writes some of his best music when under the influence of Mari-ju-ana it does bring out your creative side considering you have one...

[little jeremiah]

Please quote stats for that. I've read the drug problem was reduced (at that time). At the very least, less drug addicts.

If people who want to be stoned and stupid can grow their own, just no selling, it takes the gangs and criminal element out. Same for opium. It's merciful to those who insist on wasting their precious human lives, and harsh to those who want to enrich themselves in the drug traffic. I say it's a good idea.

[Monty22]

Go look it up, google is your friend.

[missyme]

They don't smoke Pot I don't know where he got that from...

[Monty22]

Look up the origin of the word 'assasin'.

Also, they do to this day. duhhhh.. Can't people figure out basic searching skills?

[Huck]

Google is my friend. This is true. A quick, cursory search turned up nothing.

[Monty22]

Searched the web for islam + marijuana. Results 1 - 10 of about 73,500. Search took 0.37 seconds

[missyme]

It is true it has nothing to do with POT SMOKERS...Alcohol is much more damaging and between Nicotine and Alcohol the biggest killers in the USA...

I don't think any chemical should be abused, but I have also observed POT helping many people on chemotherapy.

POT is stereotyped.

[Map Kernow]

This article made me HUNGRY.

[Devil_Anse]

LOL. But your curtains and carpets and upholstery will REEK of horrid smoke... and OTHERS will be bothered by it when you have them over on succeeding nights....

Oh, what the heck. Hey--is Boone's Farm French?

[Monty22]

So you're openly inviting him for a pot party at your place?

Hey, will you share your wife at least, you won't mind anyway.

On second though, ick.

[Huck]

It was a joke. Btw, I searched google as you suggested. The first 3 pages yielded zero indication of islamists being pro-marijuana.

[Map Kernow]

While Satchmo could certainly blow a mean trumpet, I never heard his referred to as one of the great thinkers of the 20th Century.

Armstrong hit his peak with the Hot Fives and Hot Sevens in the late '20's. If he was toking down in his later years, it certainly didn't improve his playing.

Charlie Parker, arguably the greatest alto saxophonist in jazz, also once acknowledged that he didn't play as well on "tea." Sober is the way to go, even for a hep cat.

[Huck]

On second though, ick.

Ick is right. Share my wife? Go take a shower, bub.

[Monty22]

I didn't say 'islamists'. I said it has a long history of being used by them, in the culture overall. Check 'assasin' again.

[SkyRat]

I think you are mistaken linking assassins to MJ.

As far as the story goes, the guys who drank the drug, whatever it was, dozed off and were transported to some garden with the obligatory 72 virgins. Reading through the reports available it looks more like opium or something with similar effect. This would also fit into the times.

I haven't heard about MJ and Islam in some special way. But since the Islam prohibits alcohol consumption it would be likely that they use some other drug.

[Monty22]

Well, this is the quickest I've found, but I've seen lots of discussion on the subject.

http://www2.seasite.niu.edu/tagalogdiscuss/_disc1/00000f24.htm
the English word assasin is from the Arabic Hashishin.These people would use Hashish before they killed so that they would no remorse afterwards.

[Huck]

I didn't say 'islamists'. I said it has a long history of being used by them, in the culture overall.

Here is what you said:

uhhhh, islamics are very pro-pot and use it frequently.

Now that we have got THAT straightened out, maybe you can explain for me any significant semantic difference between "islamics" and "islamists". And while you're at it, you can explain how saying they are "por-pot" and "use it frequently" could possibly be interpreted to mean "it has a long history of being used by them, in the culture overall." Seems like a disconnect there somewhere, pardner. Short term memory loss???