Only the potheads will survive...url posted below...
In U.S. Army tests, rats injected with Dexanabinol, a chemical substitute for hashish, were more than 70 percent less likely to suffer epileptic seizures or brain damage after exposure to sarin and other nerve gases

Organic Cannabis/Tobacco vs Chemical Cigarettes
http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionwhyitstimetolegalize.showMessage?topicID=310.topic

The flavoring chemicals, known as alkenylbenzenes, are found in tobacco additives used to enhance the taste of cigarette smoke. Until now, no one knew how much of the compounds entered cigarette smoke...

Cannabis is the best natural expectorant to clear the human lungs of smog, dust and the phlegm associated with tobacco use.

The PotHeads Will Survive
http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitioncannabisfoodfuelfiberfarmaceuticals.showMessage?topicID=45.topic

Maintaining Dysfunction
http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionstuff.showMessage?topicID=142.topic

Stepping Off Hard Drugs With Cannabis
http://www.potpride.com/steppingstone.htm

Eat, drink, smoke and be happy
Police are quietly hoping that rowdy supporters will be pacified by a few puffs on Dutch-made marijuana.
http://news6.thdo.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_784000/784433.stm

Related Article:
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread12207.shtml#3

Source: Calgary Sun
Author: Nova Pierson, Calgary Sun
Published: Tuesday, March 12, 2002
Copyright: 2002 Calgary Sun

Canada's doctors yesterday urged the government to decriminalize minor pot possession -- and treat addiction as a disease, not a crime.

And the heads of the Canadian Medical Association and the Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine also told a senate committee on illegal drug use that more has to be done to curb driving under the influence of marijuana.

"If you have a limited amount of money and it goes to crime prevention, then the dollars don't go to the treatment that can help," said Calgary's Dr. Bill Campbell, president of the CSAM. "I don't think we're winning the war right now. We can deal with this problem by not treating it as a war."

In their submission to the committee, Canada's doctors said criminal charges for minor marijuana possession can destroy people's employment chances and does nothing to address the disease of their addiction.

Campbell said like alcoholics, a certain amount of the population's genes makes them susceptible to marijuana addiction once they've tried the drug.

Brief to Senate committee

Source: National Post
Author: Tom Arnold, National Post
Published: March 12, 2002
Copyright: 2002 National Post Online

Dr. Henry Haddad says the medical association supports a fine for simple possession or personal use of marijuana.

Simple possession and personal use of marijuana should be removed from the Criminal Code and instead be punishable only by a fine, concludes a medical organization representing 52,000 doctors in Canada.

In a brief to a special Senate committee on illegal drugs, the Canadian Medical Association added decriminalization of marijuana "must be done so with the recognition that cannabis is an addictive substance and that addiction is a disease."

"The CMA believes that resources currently devoted to combatting simple marijuana possession through the criminal law could be diverted to public health strategies, particularly for youth," Dr. Henry Haddad, the association's president, told the panel.

He said having a criminal record limits employment prospects, resulting in a profound impact on health status. "Use of a civil violation, such as a fine, is a potential alternative," he added.

But he also said changes to the law affecting cannabis "must not promote normalization of its use, and must be tied to a national drug strategy that promotes awareness and prevention, and provides for comprehensive treatment."

The strategy, to include a National Cannabis Cessation Program, should be developed by the federal government with the provinces, he said. It would highlight the potential harm of cannabis use, including risk to pregnancy and people with mental illness as well as chronic respiratory problems, slower reaction times and impaired motor co-ordination. It would also examine increased heart rates and dilated blood vessels, two symptoms of cardiac disease.

The rate of cannabis offences has increased 34% since 1991, with cannabis possession rates generally steadily increasing, the CMA brief notes. About 86% of those charged with cannabis offences are younger than 25.

Of the 66,500 drug incidents in Canada in 1997, more than 70%, or 47,908, were cannabis-related. Of those, more than two-thirds, or 32,682, were for possession. About 2,000 Canadians go to jail annually for possession of marijuana, the medical brief states.

Dr. Haddad told the Senate committee the vast majority of financial resources are now dedicated to combating illegal drugs by law enforcement. "Government needs to re-balance this distribution and allocate a greater proportion of these resources to drug treatment, prevention and harm-reduction programs. Law enforcement activities should target the distribution and production of illegal drugs," he said.

Snipped

Alcoholics, who comprise only 10% of the U.S. population, are involved in as much as 80-90% of violent crime.

From:
http://www.tf.org/tf/alcohol/ariv/reviews/revsuic5.html

Suicide is the ninth leading cause of death in the U.S., and the third leading cause among 15-24 year olds (Centers for Disease Control 1998). Alcohol is associated with a high percentage of suicides–between 18% and 66% of suicide victims have alcohol in their blood at the time of death (Roizen 1988; Welte et al. 1988, Collier et al. 1986, Berkelman et al. 1985). From
http://www.cfdp.ca/general4.htm

      No Logic

      "It can be argued that there is no logic to the current pattern of illegality.  Some drugs (
      alcohol, nicotine ) are freely available despite very clear evidence of their harmful effects.
      Others such as cannabis are proscribed with their possession being subject to severe penalties,
      despite the fact that they are perceived by many medical scientists to be less harmful than
      alcohol.  The illogicality of this approach ( which seems to be based upon no more than
      historical accident ) leads many young people in particular to level charges of hypocrisy at
      `the establishment'.  This is a very difficult argument to counter".

      The Failure Of Prohibition

      "There is overwhelming evidence to show that the prohibition based policy in place in this
      country since 1971 has not been effective in controlling the availability or use of proscribed
      drugs.  If there is indeed a `war of drugs' it is not being won; drugs are demonstrably cheaper
      and more readily available than ever before.  It seems that the laws of supply and demand are
      operating in a textbook fashion ...

      Members may wish to ask themselves whether we have learned the lessons from alcohol
      prohibition in the United States in the 1920's, from Gandhi's civil disobedience campaign in
      India in the 1940's and from the Poll Tax here in the UK in the 1980's.  If a sufficiently large
      ( and apparently growing ) part of the population chooses to ignore the law for whatever
      reason, then that law becomes unenforceable.  A modern western democracy, based on
      policing by consent and the rule of law may find itself powerless to prevent illegal activity - in
      this case the importation and use of controlled drugs."

From
http://www.junkscience.com/jan00.htm

We could also change this to: Arguing against recreational use, Haddad said alcohol damages the liver, can be addictive in about five per cent of users, is associated with lower school marks and may result in lost life opportunities.