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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Letter: Enjoyable Pleasure - Not Addiction
Alun Buffry Evening News, Norwich
Friday 09 Oct 1998 Carl Clark, in his letter "Cannabis is a sad way to happiness" (Evening News October 2), seems to be confusing the repetition of something enjoyable with addiction. Mr Clark is correct when he says that "Cannabis helps you relax and is pleasurable". Much the same as a pleasant meal and a warm fire shared by loved ones. That is a long way from addiction. The true signs of addiction are the withdrawal symptoms from abstinence. Mr Clark should consult some of the "lot of people' whom he knows that have gone on to harder drugs, about addiction and withdrawal. Mr Clark said that many of his friends say they "can't wait until their next joint" - a commonly-used expression when one is looking forward to something pleasant. "I can't wait until the weekend". That is not addiction by any stretch of the imagination. The reality is that they do 'wait'. The difference is that they do not tremble and quake and go into the agonising pains experienced by heroin addicts or alcoholics. The psychological 'cravings' of cannabis smokers is nothing like the physical cravings suffered by smokers of that dreadfully dangerous legal plant - tobacco. Whilst it is clear that many cannabis smokers become dependent on cannabis to ease their sufferings, relieve their stress, or simply lift them up out of the 'sad' lives which Mr Clark attributes to them, that is a long-way from real addiction. It is certainly no reason to lock them up, or even to lock up the suppliers. Yours sincerely, A. Buffry
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