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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Ulster Arthritis Sufferers Visit Dutch Cannabis Cafes
Michael McHugh Belfast Telegraph
Monday 09 Jan 2006 Arthritis sufferers from Northern Ireland are taking part in controversial trips to Amsterdam drug cafes, where they can smoke cannabis legally, to help ease the pain in their joints, a Co Antrim council has heard. Ulster Unionist James Currie, a member of Ballymena Borough Council, told council colleagues about the flights to the Netherlands as the debate about reclassifying drugs continues. The Government wants to withdraw concessions made to users which would return the drug to Class B status. Penalties attached to using the plant were downgraded in 2004 to make most possession cases non-arrestable but decision- makers are citing new evidence of possible brain damage as a reason for the expected U-turn. During a council meeting, Mr Currie said: "There are people from this area who have arthritis and they go to Holland for the weekend and get their cannabis. They can afford it and the poor stay at home and suffer." He was speaking during a debate when the Council called on the Government to reclassify cannabis as a Class B drug instead of the current Class C. A Government advisory committee on drugs suggests that the classification of cannabis be returned to Class B. Home Secretary Charles Clarke has indicated that he may look favourably on the change despite his predecessor David Blunkett's landmark decision two years ago to downgrade sanctions for possession. Mr Clarke said last week that many people didn't understand the legal and health impact of using cannabis. He added that many people had changed their mind on relaxation of restrictions due to further research. A study by New Zealand researchers published last year concluded that smoking cannabis virtually doubles the risk of developing mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. Separate research highlighted evidence that smoking cannabis as a teenager increases the odds of developing schizophrenia as an adult. The mental health charity Mind reported that psychiatrists in the UK had seen a rise in numbers of people being hospitalised with psychotic episodes linked to cannabis use since its downgrading. Many sufferers of chronic diseases, including MS, are known to benefit from the pain relieving properties of cannabis - and there have been calls for the drug to be completely legalised for medical use.
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