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Whenever cannabis is discussed the argument normally put forward by the dope heads is that it does no harm or as much harm as cigs and alcohol and if that's the case then they should be classed the same to.......

Congratulations:

"Alcohol and cigarettes should be listed class B drugs because of the number of deaths they cause, MPs say. The demand comes in a report on the Government's drug policy, which is described as "riddled with anomalies" and "clearly not fit for purpose." They are calling for drugs to be classified on the basis of the harm a substance causes.

Currently, controlled drugs are listed in alphabetical categories with higher penalties for class A drugs such as heroin and lesser penalties to lower classes such as cannabis, which is class C.

But the Parliamentary Science and Technology Committee says a new scale needs to be introduced.

This should focus on the health and social risks associated with drug abuse and to remove the link with criminal penalties.

If the recommendations were taken up, both alcohol and cigarettes should be class B drugs, the MPs said.

The committee claimed police saw the classification system as of "little importance" at present, and urged a "decoupling" of penalties.

It criticised the Government's approach to classifications as "opaque" and said reviews seemed to be launched "as knee-jerk responses to media storms".


I think most people know that the classification system is of little importance to the Police but a decoupling of penalties concerns me and I don't drink or smoke.

I understand nicotine/tobacco being classed as a drug but I don't know how they're gonna classify alcohol as it's found in small quantities within the body, and in lots of food stuffs. Something tobacco, nicotine & cannabis cannot claim.

I'm not a dope head, and wouldn't like drugs to be legalised, but I can see that drugs is simular to region. The product itself isn't necessarily bad, it's just the people that abuse it that make it bad.

Sam Slater wrote:

> I understand nicotine/tobacco being classed as a drug but I
> don't know how they're gonna classify alcohol as it's found in
> small quantities within the body, and in lots of food stuffs.
> Something tobacco, nicotine & cannabis cannot claim.

Maybe, but various human hormones like adrenaline and melatonin are restricted drugs while they occur naturally in the body.

Every now and then some group of MPs or lords comes up with some sanity on the drugs situation, but they're naturally ignored by our political leaders, who take instruction from the DEA and CIA when they set drugs policy.

Though drunks are a pest, they're very easy to arrest. A guy high on adrenaline would be very dangerous indeed. I can't comment on the affects of excess adrenaline on the body, compared to alcohol but I guess it's not too good for the heart.

Sam Slater wrote:

> Though drunks are a pest, they're very easy to arrest.

Almost all drug-related violence is due to alcohol. The problems caused by all other drugs are tiny in comparison.

Hi Strictly,

Be careful that you don't use the language of the enemy by using the generalision "drugs." Some substances drug you,making you sleepy and drowsy,other substances wake you up and make you more alert.

For example, the ridiculous idea that magic mushrooms are "drugs" which are extremely dangerous like the true drug diamorphine and classed as A, is totally misleading . Perhaps the proposed spectrum of harm may eradicate these anomalies. In Northern Holland these mushrooms are used to make a traditional soup!

All the plants on the Earth are our birthright and have been used by humans for hundreds of thousands of year. The body is sovereign and what we consume should be no concern to others, except if we become violent without reason.

If people had more legal choice of psychoactive substance perhaps we would see less abuse of alcohol with all its social destructiveness.

Mike Freeman


Mike.

Keith,

I agree with what you say about alcohol, and many people abuse it instead of using it. However the experiences you descibe of cannabis are those of the novice. When one learns how to use it does not make one eat excessively nor talk nonsense, but the opposite. Some users get paranoid but we live in a paranoid world and most learn how to control adverse effects. Those that don't are mentally ill anyway.

Also it is a healing herb and a painkiller and the only cure for certain illnesses.

There are no problems with cannabis only its illegality. Prohibition leads to corruption.

Mike Freeman.

[quote]Almost all drug-related violence is due to alcohol. The problems caused by all other drugs are tiny in comparison.[/quote]

You maybe right there SB. My brother worked in Gambia about 2 years ago and the locals smoked cannabis all day. Even the coppers! Apparently cannabis was cheaper than alcohol over there but cannabis still caused mayhem. Policemen were known to sit on street corners with locals, smoking cannabis until they just fell asleep in the street. The workers refused to work as soon as no one was watching. Nobody could get anything done.
The kids used to play games where they would jump on a juvanile crocodiles back, and see who could ride it the longest, while their 'doped up' parents were watching, laughing their bollocks off!

Even cannabis -when abused, and in the wrong hands- causes shit, just like alcohol. It proves my point that drugs are just like religion: 'They're only bad because people abuse them.'