cannabisnews.com: NORML's Weekly News Bulletin - October 2, 2008





NORML's Weekly News Bulletin - October 2, 2008
Posted by CN Staff on October 02, 2008 at 16:28:43 PT
Weekly Press Release
Source: NORML
California: Governor Permits Employment Discrimination Of Medi-Pot Patients October 2, 2008 - Sacramento, CASacramento, CA: Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation this week that sought to protect Californians from being fired from their jobs for their state-licensed medical cannabis use outside of the workplace.
As approved by the legislature, Assembly Bill 2279 would have declared it “unlawful for an employer to discriminate against” persons who are authorized under state law to use medical cannabis. The measure sought to reverse a January 2008 California Supreme Court ruling that held that an employer may fire someone solely on the basis of their therapeutic cannabis use during non-work hours.“This bill attempts to shield qualified medical marijuana patients employed in non safety-sensitive positions from employment discrimination. However, I am concerned with interference in employment decisions as they relate to marijuana use,” Schwarzenegger declared in his veto message. “Employment protection was not a goal of the initiative as passed by voters in 1996.” California NORML Coordinator Dale Gieringer criticized the Governor's veto, stating, “The goal of Proposition 215 was to treat marijuana like other legal pharmaceutical drugs.”For more information, please contact Dale Gieringer, California NORML Coordinator, at (415) 563-5858, or Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director. DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7715Michigan: Two Out Of Three Voters Back Medical Marijuana Measure October 2, 2008 - Detroit, MIDetroit, MI: Two out of three Michigan voters support a statewide ballot initiative that seeks to legalize the medical use of cannabis for qualified patients, according to a Detroit Free Press/Local 4 news poll of 602 likely voters Sixty-six percent of respondents said that they would vote "yes" on the November ballot measure (Proposition 1). Twenty-five percent opposed the proposal. Nine percent were undecided.Since 2004, five Michigan cities - Ann Arbor, Detroit, Ferndale, Flint, and Traverse City - have each enacted municipal initiatives endorsing the medical use of marijuana. If enacted, Michigan will become the thirteenth state since 1996 to authorize the legal use of medical cannabis, and the ninth state to do so by voter initiative.For more information, please contact NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre at (202) 483-5500, or visit. - http://stoparrestingpatients.org/DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7714NORML Affiliates Celebrate Fall 'Harvest' Festivals  October 2, 2008 - Washington, DCWashington, DC: NORML chapters around the nation will be holding a series of 'protestivals' in the coming weeks in support of ending the criminal prohibition of cannabis.Madison NORML will hold the 38th Annual Great Midwest Harvest Festival at the Library Mall in Madison, Wisconsin on Saturday, October 4 and Sunday, October 5. The event is one of the longest-running marijuana law reform gathering in the United States.Madison NORML and Is My Medicine Legal Yet (IMMLY) will also be holding an awards banquet on Friday night, October 3. Additional information on the Festival and banquet is available online.North Ohio NORML will be holding the 2nd Annual NORML Harvest Fest at the Chippewa Valley Campground in Seville, Ohio on Friday, October 3 through Sunday, October 5. Information on Festival speakers, musical acts, and events is available online.New York NORML will be holding the 14th Annual New York Harvest Festival and Freedom Fair in at Camp Minglewood in Hancock, New York on Friday, October 10 through Sunday, October 13. Scheduled speakers include Jack Herer and Ed Rosenthal. Musical guest include Murphy's Law, Chris Barron and the Time Bandits, and DJ Logic.Additional information is available online. For more information, please see NORML.DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7716 Medical Journal Touts 17,000 Pot-Related StudiesOctober 2, 2008 - Jerusalem, IsraelJerusalem, Israel: Cannabis is one of the most studied plants on the planet, according to a review published in the September issue of the journal Medicinal Research Reviews. "Research on the chemistry and pharmacology of cannabinoids and endocannabinoids has reached enormous proportions," the journal states. "[A]pproximately 15,000 articles on Cannabis sativa L. and cannabinoids and over 2,000 articles on endocannabinoids" are available in the scientific literature.Commenting on the review NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said, "Opponents of marijuana law reform - including those who oppose the therapeutic use of cannabis - are fond of claiming that further study of marijuana is necessary before we can amend current law. Yet in reality, cannabis is arguably the most investigated plant on Earth. It's clear that it's politics, not science, that is driving the criminal prohibition of cannabis and unfortunately the publication of another dozen - or even a thousand - studies is not going to change this reality."For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director. Full text of the study, "Pharmacological and therapeutic secrets of plant and brain (Endo)cannabinoids," appears in the journal Medicinal Research Reviews.DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7713Source: NORML Foundation (DC)Published: October 2, 2008Copyright: 2008 NORML Contact: norml norml.org Website: http://www.norml.org/CannabisNews NORML Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/NORML.shtml 
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Comment #38 posted by Hope on October 05, 2008 at 06:47:26 PT
Personal canine
Don't have one right now. One of the few times in my life that I've been without a personal animal companion. I'm letting the neighbor's dog bark at things and I'm enjoying the loving companionship and animal friendship of my many canine and feline "Nieces, nephews, grandkids, brothers, and sisters" of my friends', neighbors', and relatives' many animals. (My sister insists I am her dog's aunt... so I might as well go with it.)I have got a plant right now that requires the attention one might usually have to devote to a puppy.It's always telling me something...."Mist me"... "Water me"... "The light is not right"... "Help me".:0)(That probably set the prohibitionists off. "She thinks a plant is speaking to her!" Argg. They just have no imagination.)
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Comment #37 posted by FoM on October 04, 2008 at 06:40:33 PT
EJ and Hope
I think dogs are the best. They love you when it seems no one else does. Hope, do you still have your dog? EJ, big dogs with long tails can clear a coffee table with one swoosh! LOL!
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Comment #36 posted by Hope on October 04, 2008 at 05:17:05 PT
Animals are so amazing.
A few years ago, an adult lab I adopted figured out a way pretty quickly that he could get my undivided attention. If I was at the computer and ignored him, he would appear at my side, smiling, eyes sparkling, tail wagging... with my package of cigarettes in his mouth.He was delighted with how well it worked and did it often.
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Comment #35 posted by E_Johnson on October 04, 2008 at 01:13:38 PT
FoM
She's about 90 lb, with a wavy black coat.She's got the house organized. If she wants our attention, she wags her tail and makes it bang against the venetian blinds.
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Comment #34 posted by FoM on October 03, 2008 at 19:37:37 PT
Hope
Thank you. I'm glad we got Sassy. Kaptin and Sassy are good friends. When one of them passes away I will go to the pound and save another one. Dogs need a companion. They live in packs in the wild and I think it makes them happier.PS: I hope the groundhog finds a companion too. 
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Comment #33 posted by Hope on October 03, 2008 at 19:24:05 PT
Kaptin and Sassy
They're fine looking dogs, FoM.
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Comment #32 posted by FoM on October 03, 2008 at 19:05:17 PT
Hope
I found a picture of Sassy that was taken at the pound where we got her. She's filled out and looks like she could be a sled dog up in Palin territory! LOL!http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/sassy.jpg
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Comment #31 posted by FoM on October 03, 2008 at 19:01:44 PT
Hope
I found a picture of Kaptin from a couple years ago. He is going blind now and has arthritis but he's still kickin.http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/kaptin.jpg
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Comment #30 posted by Hope on October 03, 2008 at 18:35:07 PT
She must be a very large dog.
From the sound of her, I imagine she knows how to be, when she wants to be, just a whisp of smoke passing by that a bear probably wouldn't even notice.
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Comment #29 posted by FoM on October 03, 2008 at 09:34:03 PT
EJ a Question
That sounds like a really cool cross. How big is your dog? Is it black with a wavy coat?
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Comment #28 posted by E_Johnson on October 03, 2008 at 09:12:51 PT
Hope yes I do
She has a very dominant personality but she seems to understand when personality just isn't enough. My husband was kind of amazed. Well, he thought she just didn't notice the bear. If she can notice a squirrel in the bushes across the yard, I think she can notice a bear five feet away from her on a trail. She just knows when it's better to pretend she didn't see a thing. She's half black lab, half Irish wolfhound. She's black with silver highlights on her face. I think some of the wild genes that got separated into labs and wolfhounds by breeders got recombined in her.
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Comment #27 posted by Hope on October 03, 2008 at 06:20:07 PT
 EJ
You have a smart dog!
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Comment #26 posted by FoM on October 02, 2008 at 22:17:03 PT
Groundhog
We have a groundhog ( had two ) living in a utility shed and I can see him or her out eating in the morning from my kitchen window. My dogs killed the one this summer when it wandered into the dogs yard. I feel bad for the groundhog and I hope he or she won't be alone long. We take vegetable scraps over to the shed for him to eat. He's so fat and shiny.
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Comment #25 posted by E_Johnson on October 02, 2008 at 22:01:45 PT
What I don't like
When my dog catches a squirrel. Yick. I don't like seeing that side of my dog in action.Oh hey -- Moose and Squirrel. Hehehe. Reminds me of Rocky and Bullwinkle.Wonder what my dog would do if she saw a moose. Probably the same thing she did when she saw a bear -- look the other way, walk away carefully, and pretend she didn't see a thing.
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Comment #24 posted by FoM on October 02, 2008 at 21:59:58 PT
DCP 
I am a person who loves animals and hunting is something that I wouldn't want to do. My husband doesn't hunt. My father didn't hunt. I've really never been around people who do hunt except my one nephew and it's for food for his family.
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Comment #23 posted by DCP on October 02, 2008 at 21:51:26 PT
Moose Kill
She shot Bullwinkle?
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Comment #22 posted by FoM on October 02, 2008 at 21:48:26 PT
Hope
If I had to shoot an animal for food I would have to be starving to death first. I would just eat vegetables. Heck I don't like eggs because I think of baby chickens. LOL!
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Comment #21 posted by FoM on October 02, 2008 at 21:39:58 PT
EJ, I Found This
Life history: Cow moose generally breed at 28 months, though some may breed as young as 16 months. Calves are born any time from mid- May to early June after a gestation period of about 230 days. Cows give birth to twins 15 to 75 percent of the time, and triplets may occur once in every 1,000 births. The incidence of twinning is directly related to range conditions. A cow moose defends her newborn calf vigorously.http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/pubs/notebook/biggame/moose.php
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Comment #20 posted by E_Johnson on October 02, 2008 at 21:33:55 PT
Being hunted keeps a deer a deer
Many of the beautiful attributes of a deer that we know and love -- the grace, the speed, the sleek body, the slender yet strong legs, the pointed snout and the huge eyes and nose -- evolved the help the deer escape from its natural predators.The hunter shapes the hunted. The beauty of the deer comes about because a sleek aerodynamic design coupled with strong, fast legs, good eyesight and a sensitive nose help the deer evade its predators.If it's not going to be hunted, the deer doesn't need to be graceful or sleek or fast or strong or have big eyes and a big nose and a pointed face. It could just devolve into a big old cow. A farm animal that couldn't escape a wolf to save its life.It's funny how nature works. We feel sad when a wolf kills a deer, because the deer is so beautiful. But the deer's beauty that we admire was created by the wolf.
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Comment #19 posted by E_Johnson on October 02, 2008 at 21:20:37 PT
Oops I meant planes
Not helicopters.
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Comment #18 posted by E_Johnson on October 02, 2008 at 21:19:26 PT
Hope and FoM
I think hunting wolves from a helicopter is just cowardly. On the other hand, deer are precious beautiful creatures, but without any natural predators, they breed like rabbits and overcrowd their food supply. They evolved to exist in balance with their predators. If they have no predators, their lives go out of balance and they end up in a worse place than being hunted.I don't know if there's the same population issue with moose that there is with deer. I don't know how fast moose breed. Does anyone know? Is there moose overcrowding that makes it necessary to hunt them like there is with deer?
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Comment #17 posted by Hope on October 02, 2008 at 21:16:36 PT
Shooting wolves from planes
seems wrong to me, too.I used to like to hunt some when I was younger and frog gig and fish. I'd rather just listen to frogs now. I don't even like to fish anymore and I liked to fish rather a lot from time to time in my life. The last time I went fishing, a couple or three years ago, and the first time I had to kill or hurt a fish because it swallowed the hook, I said, "That's it." "No more fish killing for me. It's not the big ones that you eat that bother me. It's the little ones that are too little to eat but get hooked badly.
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Comment #16 posted by FoM on October 02, 2008 at 20:55:07 PT
Hope
I think because a moose is so cute it bothered me. They look like you could kiss them on the nose and smile. What did bother me was shooting wolves from planes. That's not fair. If a person wants to hunt for their own food that doesn't bother me but they should give the animal a chance. My nephew hunts and when he told me he was going rabbit hunting I said run bunny run. He laughed.
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Comment #15 posted by Hope on October 02, 2008 at 20:49:51 PT
I don't know if I'm ready for a vice president
with that much blush on.
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Comment #14 posted by Hope on October 02, 2008 at 20:48:33 PT
Folksy
She sounded like Tina Fey, too. By "Eating" moose... I meant, FoM, in reference to you mentioning once your abhorrence of her talking about killing and field dressing a moose. I'm sure she probably ate it, too.I can't really say much about that. I have eaten venison. I helped my dad "dress" it, too, which is a nice way of saying "clean" or "butcher". It was welcome meat for the family. Deer are precious beautiful creatures, though. I think cows often are, too.I have trouble with killing and eating animals. I do eat the meat and use the by products. I prefer someone else to do the dirty work though.
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on October 02, 2008 at 20:33:11 PT
BGreen
My first reaction when the debate started is that she was acting like she was speeding. It was contagious. It made me get up and go get firewood in and sweep up the wood stove dust. LOL!
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Comment #12 posted by BGreen on October 02, 2008 at 20:26:03 PT
Her folksy slandering of the English language
makes me want to vomit. We've already had a "folksy" buffoon as President who, by the way, also mispronounces the word nuclear as "nukular," and that just hasn't worked out too well.The way Palin drops the "g" off of words ending in "ing" makes her sound uneducated and ignorant. Yes, I'm guilty of being lazy and using slang and colloquialisms with friends and family, but not in a professional situation, especially if I wanted to be a (very old and weak) heartbeat away from the Presidency.How can anybody think Palin won when she didn't even answer most of the questions she was asked?The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on October 02, 2008 at 20:06:00 PT
Just a Comment
The Joe Sixpack comments are so strange to me. When I think of a Joe Sixpack it doesn't bring me good thoughts. I guess I am really living on my own planet. I don't know any hockey moms either. 
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on October 02, 2008 at 19:47:37 PT
Poll: Who Won The Debate?
So far the results are 77% Biden and 19% Palin.http://www.polls.newsvine.com/_question/2008/10/02/1948598-who-won-the-vice-presidential-debate
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on October 02, 2008 at 19:32:48 PT
Hope
I am watching the debate and I don't know what to say except my head is spinning.
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on October 02, 2008 at 19:31:32 PT
Want To Know Why Pot Is Still Illegal?
Want To Know Why Pot Is Still Illegal? Ask Your GovernorBy Paul Armentano, NORMLOctober 2, 2008URL: http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/101378
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Comment #7 posted by Hope on October 02, 2008 at 19:30:21 PT
FoM
I believe that woman eats moose.
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Comment #6 posted by Hope on October 02, 2008 at 19:23:03 PT
Discussions around "The kitchen table".
That strikes a chord with me.
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Comment #5 posted by HempWorld on October 02, 2008 at 19:02:41 PT
Lessons From Dutch Drug Policy, which is about
minimizing the harm associated with all drugs. In most other countries, it is more about making career at the expense of the marginalized drug user. Please read:JAN WIARDA - HEAD OF POLICE, THE HAGUE
&
BOB AINSWORTH - MINISTER IN CHARGE OF DRUGS
POLICY IN THE UK
Among the participants were Jan Wiarda and Bob Ainsworth who were kind enough
to give presentations as a supplement to the scheduled scientific program.
39
JAN WIARDA
HEAD OF POLICE, THE HAGUE
MAIN FEATURES OF THE DUTCH POLICY ON DRUGS
•In the Netherlands the possession of drugs is illegal, but the use of drugs is NOT.
•Dutch legislation is consistent with the provisions of all the international
agreements.
•The main aim of Dutch drugs policy is harm minimization – i.e., to minimize, if
not prevent, harm to users, the people around them, and the public in general.
•The Dutch policy aims to prevent, or at least limit, the risks associated with drug
use. The fact that users are not prosecuted, or stigmatized, makes it easier for them
to seek help.
•The Dutch experiment started in the 1960s. Initially it was resisted, but in time it
was accepted as people from all walks of life saw their children try cannabis and
observed that its use generally did not progress on to the use of hard drugs.
•There is hardly any problematic cannabis use, and no reported casualties related to
cannabis products. The long-term effects are less known at this stage.
•There is no evidence that the policy on soft drugs encourages the use of hard
drugs and only a very small percentage of soft drug users change to hard drugs.
An increase in the use of ecstasy parallels that seen in other countries and is
unrelated to Dutch policy on drugs.
•Coffee shops found selling hard drugs are closed down immediately.
•The one major ambiguity in the system is that the supply to the coffee shops is not
regulated and criminal organisations are still producing, transporting and
distributing marijuana products.
•Ideally there would exist an official, closely regulated, closed market supply in the
Netherlands. The revenue from taxes would go to pay inspectors to check quality
and prevent it from being exported. However, international obligations led by the
US do not allow it, so the ambiguity remains.
•Dutch policy on law enforcement and prosecution is set out in official guidelines,
so is very transparent. It encourages a lot of teamwork between the police, judicial
authorities, social work and the medical sector.
40
•Treatment has been found to be much more effective than detention, so it is
supported. Drug addicts who are offenders are encouraged to have treatment and
thereby suspend or waive their sentence.
•Addiction is considered a health problem. Needle-supply and exchange
programmes were introduced to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDs, and
methadone is prescribed as a heroin substitute to aid withdrawal.
•Since prevention is the main focus, preventive measures are targeted at young
people. Schools provide information on the risks of drugs, alcohol, tobacco and
gambling, and emphasise the dangers of driving while under the influence of
drugs and alcohol.
•Dutch policy on drugs has given local authorities more power to deal with drugrelated
disturbances; stepped up co-operation with neighbouring countries to curb
drug tourism; allowed tougher action to stop the production and traffic of drugs;
and provided more money for specialised care services for addicts.
Drug use Among the Population Aged 12 Years and Over
Netherlands United States of
America
Cannabis used at
least once
15.6% 32.9%
Tried cocaine 2.1% 10.5%
Using heroin
occasionally
0.3% 0.9%
Number of “Acute Drug-Related Deaths”
Country 1994 1999 ’99 per million pop*
Austria 173 128 8.1
Belgium 375 n.a. n.a.
Denmark 271 239 44.3
France 564 118 2.0
German 1624 1812 22.1
Greece 146 255 24.2
Ireland 19 97 25.7
Italy 867 1002 17.4
Luxemburg 29 18 40.9
The Netherlands 50 76 4.8
Portugal 143 369 36.9
Spain 367 258 6.5
Sweden 85 99 11.2
United Kingdom 2861 3485 58.4
*According to national definitions used to report.This is why things are so miserable all over the world with US-style drug policies that end up killing our kids!
On a mission from God!
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Comment #4 posted by Hope on October 02, 2008 at 18:21:00 PT
The fact that she looks exactly like Tina Fey
doesn't help.
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Comment #3 posted by Hope on October 02, 2008 at 18:10:38 PT
"A team of mavericks."
That's funny.
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Comment #2 posted by mykeyb420 on October 02, 2008 at 17:17:52 PT
I'm not John McCain
and I don't think he approves of this message.
he's old
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Comment #1 posted by HempWorld on October 02, 2008 at 16:45:54 PT
Bla, bla, bla (you can't have it) bla, bla, bla ..
Report urges regulated market for cannabis to replace prohibitionDuncan Campbell The Guardian, Thursday October 2 2008 Article historyA report on cannabis prepared for next year's UN drug policy review will suggest that a "regulated market" would cause less harm than the current international prohibition. The report, which is likely to reopen the debate about cannabis laws, suggests that controls such as taxation, minimum age requirements and labelling could be explored.The Global Cannabis Commission report, which will be launched today at a conference in the House of Lords, has reached conclusions which its authors suggest "challenge the received wisdom concerning cannabis". It was carried out for the Beckley foundation, a UN-accredited NGO, for the 2009 UN strategic drug policy review. There are, according to the report, now more than 160 million users of the drug worldwide. "Although cannabis can have a negative impact on health, including mental health, in terms of relative harms it is considerably less harmful than alcohol or tobacco," according to the report. "Historically, there have only been two deaths worldwide attributed to cannabis, whereas alcohol and tobacco together are responsible for an estimated 150,000 deaths per annum in the UK alone."The report, compiled by a group of scientists, academics and drug policy experts, suggests that much of the harm associated with cannabis use is "the result of prohibition itself, particularly the social harms arising from arrest and imprisonment." Policies that control cannabis, whether draconian or liberal, appear to have little impact on the prevalence of consumption, it concluded. "In an alternative system of regulated availability, market controls such as taxation, minimum age requirements, labelling and potency limits are available to minimise the harms associated with cannabis use," said the report. It claimed that only through a regulated market could young people be protected from the increasingly potent forms of cannabis, such as skunk. It is intended that the report will form a blueprint for nations seeking to develop a "more rational and effective approach to the control of cannabis".The authors suggest there is evidence that "the current system of cannabis regulation is not working, and ... there needs to be a serious rethink if we are to minimise the harms caused by cannabis use."Last night, the report was welcomed by drug law reform organisations. "The Beckley foundation are to be congratulated for the clarity of their call for cannabis supply to be brought within government control," said Danny Kushlick of Transform. "We look forward to the same analysis being applied to heroin and cocaine."The report is being launched at a two-day conference, which will be attended by leading figures in the drugs policy world. The conclusions are unlikely to be embraced by the government or the Conservative party, both of which are opposed to relaxing restrictions on cannabis use.
On a mission from God!
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