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Tom Mooney wrote, in reference to the newspaper article quoted below, >What a load of fertilizer... > >peace, >Tom Indeed. This article repeats all the lies about cannabis that were disproved years ago, but are still being fed to U.S. television viewers by the "Partnership For A Drug-Free America", an organization funded by alcohol, tobacco, and pharmaceutical companies! Cannabis doesn't cause depression, but depressed people do sometimes smoke it, because it makes them -- like everyone else -- feel better. It does not make people drill holes in their head with a power drill (but it may make them eat an entire bag of chocolate chip cookies). Cannabis, in reasonable doses, does not cause major impairment of driving ability (although one should *not* drive while under its influence), but people who smoke it test positive for it for a month or more, so the claim that "XX% of reckless drivers test positive for marijuana" does not imply any cause-and-effect relationship -- they may have smoked it weeks ago. The potency of high-quality marijuana has increased only by a factor of two since the '60s, but it doesn't matter anyhow, because people "titrate to effect", i.e., smoke the amount that gives them the effect they want. So with higher potency pot, they just smoke less. And it does not have "ravaging effects on the brain", according to scientific studies of the brains of monkeys that were given large doses of the drug. But it *does* have ravaging effects on the ability of the ruling elite to keep the population in a state of permanent hypnosis where they will passively do what they're told and not object to endless wars and being robbed of almost all the value of the goods and services their labor produces. The major "War on Drugs" was begun in America after the elite realized that cannabis played a major part in people waking up and protesting the Vietnam War. This was very troubling to the rulers, who were forced to end their war after killing only 4,000,000 people. These web pages debunk the lies, and have references to the scientific literature: http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_myth.shtml http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_info14.shtml http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_flyer1.shtml http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_myth17.shtml On Sun, Nov 02, 2003 at 06:58:09AM -0800, Tom Mooney wrote: >Cannabis Use Causes >'Hundreds Of Deaths A Year' >By Julie Henry >Education Correspondent >The Telegraph - UK >11-2-3 > >Britain's most senior coroner is warning that hundreds of young >people are dying in accidents caused by their prolonged use of >cannabis. > >Hamish Turner, the president of the Coroners' Society, said that >the drug, which is often portrayed as harmless, has increasingly >been behind deaths that have been recorded as accidents or suicides. > >In the past year, he estimated that cannabis was a significant >contributory factor in about 10 per cent of the 100 cases that he >had dealt with in south Devon, where he works. > >Conversations with his colleagues led him to believe that the scale >of the problem elsewhere in the country was equally bad. "Cannabis >is as dangerous as any other drug and people must understand that >it kills," said Mr Turner. > >"From my long experience I can say that it is a very dangerous >substance. Increasingly it is mentioned not only as the first drug >taken by people who overdose, but also in suicides and accidental >deaths. > >"It is an awful waste of young lives. People are trying the drug >at a very young age. Many go on to harder drugs and I am dealing >with more and more heroin overdoses. People can also suffer severe >consequences from the cannabis alone, however. > >"Bereaved parents say to me, 'We didn't realise how dangerous >it was until it was too late, if only we had done something'. It >is heartbreaking." > >Recent examples of the dangers of the drug cited by Mr Turner >include the case of James Taylor, a 31-year-old, who was found >hanged in his Torquay flat. The inquest heard that he had started >smoking cannabis when he was about 15 and was a habitual user. The >drug was blamed for the depression and mental health problems that >later plagued him and which led to his death. > >Mary Taylor, his mother, said that there was no doubt in her mind >that cannabis had killed her son. "The cannabis made him paranoid >from the word go. He went from a good-looking, artistic, talented >chap to someone who did not trust anyone, not even his sister, >who he was very close to. > >"Because of the damage the drug did to him he became more isolated, >more lonely and more depressed. The loveliest boy was destroyed >by this drug. I would never have believed that James would have >acted as he did when he took his own life. > >"People who insist that cannabis is harmless are talking rubbish. We >had years of hell when James was on cannabis, and that was all he >was taking. Now he is dead and our family life has been devastated." > >Cannabis also contributed to the death of Dragan Radoslavjevic, >42, from Paignton, Devon. He died earlier this year after using >a power tool to drill a hole in his head. An inquest in Torquay >heard that he suffered from depression and relied on drugs such >as cannabis and heroin. > >Mr Turner said that stronger varieties of cannabis - up to 10 >times more potent than those used in the 1960s - were now common, >leading to physical and mental problems in young people living in >rural areas as well as in cities. > >The drug robbed young people of their appetite for life, the coroner >warned, with regular and prolonged use leading to panic attacks, >paranoia, psychosis, racing heart, agitation, an increased risk >of heart attacks and strokes, and even a tendency to violence. > >"Cannabis is a mind-altering drug which has ravaging effects on >the brain," he added. > >In another case, Ralph Hamilton, 27, from Torquay, died when the >car he was driving hit a bus in Totnes. Witnesses reported that he >"looked almost comatose" as he drove directly into the front of >the open-topped bus. Blood tests showed that Mr Hamilton had been >taking cannabis and the inquest heard that he was a regular user. > >Other coroners also expressed concern about cannabis. Michael >Gwynne, the coroner for Telford and Wrekin, said that he feared >that deaths would spiral if the Government decriminalised >the drug. "There is clearly some evidence that cannabis is a >contributory factor in drug-related traffic accident deaths but, >because of the problems with toxicology, we are unable to state >its full impact," he said. > >"What the Government should not do is become more tolerant of the >drug; that would involve setting legal limits, and risk cannabis >becoming a major cause of road traffic deaths." > >Veronica Hamilton-Deely, the Brighton and Hove coroner, said that >national figures supplied by coroners' offices showed that illicit >drugs, particularly cannabis, were increasingly present in victims >of road traffic fatalities. These statistics showed that in 2000, >12 per cent of the 3,400 people killed in road accidents showed >traces of cannabis: a sixfold increase on a decade earlier. > >The dangers of cannabis were highlighted in research published >last month, which showed a sharp increase in drug-related >deaths. According to the European Centre for Addiction Studies at >St George's Hospital Medical School in London, in 2002, British >coroners cited cannabis as the major cause of death in 18 out of >853 drug-related deaths. The drug was also implicated in a further >31 out of 1,579 deaths involving a cocktail of drugs. > >The biggest killers were heroin, which was the major cause of >death in 712 cases, and cocaine, which was the principal factor >in 147 deaths. > >© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2003. > >http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml >=/news/2003/11/02/npot02.xml&sSheet=/news/2003 >/11/02/ixhome.html www.ctrl.org DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
