|
Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
|
|
Let's talk about drugs Leader Evening Press, York Tuesday 02 Sep 2003 ANYONE undertaking a sober assessment of our drug and alcohol laws would=20 conclude that they are thoroughly inconsistent. One intoxicant is=20 championed, another condemned. The drinker is cheered, the drug-taker=20 criminalised. So we are grateful for the intervention of Steve Clements. By standing as=20 the Legalise Cannabis candidate at the next York elections he will at least= =20 engender a debate about an issue which mainstream politics strives to avoid. As our street survey confirmed, people are split on whether Britain should= =20 liberalise its drug laws. But the pros and cons are rarely discussed. One of the central tenets of the pro-cannabis campaign is that its effects= =20 are far less harmful than that State-sanctioned drug, alcohol. Drink and=20 violence undoubtedly go together, as the Evening Press tonight, and almost= =20 every night, confirms. Cannabis, meanwhile, has some medicinal benefits. York Hospital is to offer= =20 the drug to surgical patients to test its pain-relieving properties. Moreover, it is clear that the use of cannabis is widespread and accepted=20 by a significant sector of the population. Earlier this year a research=20 firm suggested that the "cannabis economy" was worth =A311 billion a year. Our present laws have criminalised countless numbers of otherwise=20 law-abiding citizens, Mr Clements argues. The police seem to agree, and now= =20 appear to turn a blind eye to an individual's personal use of the drug. Pitted against these arguments is research linking long-term cannabis use=20 to mental health problems including psychosis and schizophrenia. And there= =20 are fears that cannabis acts as a first step to deadly heroin. This Government, frightened of being seen as soft on the drugs trade, does= =20 not know what to do. The Home Office plans to downgrade the classification= =20 of cannabis on the one hand, and introduce tough penalties against people=20 who allow cannabis to be smoked at parties on the other. Confusion reigns. What we need is a clear-headed, adult debate on our drugs laws. Mr Clements= =20 has made a start. More contributions are required.
After you have finished reading this article you can click here to go back.
|
This page was created by the Cannabis Campaigners' Guide.
Feel free to link to this page!