Could cannabis be legalised?

[CloudMaster]

"http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/cannabi ... story.html

By Plymouth Herald | Posted: October 30, 2014

Could cannabis be legalised? Government admits it is monitoring impact of legalisation in Uruguay and United States



THE Government says is will monitor the effects of the legalisation of cannabis in Uruguay and some states in the US, as a new official study on drugs is published.

But the Home Office said the Government had “absolutely no intention of decriminalising drugs”.

Treating drug possession as a health problem rather than a criminal matter has no impact on levels of substance misuse, the study found.

The Home Office report, which is likely to stoke tensions within the coalition Government, says drug use is not affected by the “toughness” of a country’s enforcement on possession of substances.

David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg have previously clashed over Britain’s war on drugs – with the Liberal Democrat leader challenging the Prime Minister to look at issues such as decriminalisation or legalisation of possession.

Danny Kushlick, founder of the Transform Drug Policy Foundation, said: “This is a historic moment in the development of UK drug policy.

“For the first time in over 40 years the Home Office has admitted that enforcing tough drug laws doesn’t necessarily reduce levels of drug use.

“It has also acknowledged that decriminalising the possession of drugs doesn’t increase levels of use.

“Even more, the department in charge of drugs prohibition says it will take account of the experiments in the legal regulation of cannabis in Washington, Colorado and Uruguay.”

Ministers are also expected to unveil proposals for a blanket ban on all brain-altering drugs in a bid to tackle an epidemic of so-called legal highs.

The Government is to look at legislation introduced in Ireland four years ago that bans the sale of all 'psychoactive' substances and then exempts some, such as alcohol and tobacco.

In an international comparators study, the Home Office looked at different approaches to drugs policy and treatment in a number of countries, including some that have harsh criminal sanctions for users and some that have effectively decriminalised possession of drugs.

The study found no evidence that levels of drug use were affected by how “tough” or “soft” a government’s response is, suggesting criminal sanctions have little impact.

The report also found positive health outcomes in Portugal, where possession of drugs is treated as a health matter rather a criminal issue, and no increase in use.

Worse health outcomes were found in the Czech Republic after drug possession was criminalised, while no evidence of lower use was discovered.

The report is likely to add to calls from Liberal Democrats to scrap jail terms for possession of drugs for personal use.

The Deputy Prime Minister earlier this year pledged to abolish prison sentences for the possession of drugs for personal use – including Class A substances like heroin and cocaine.

Mr Clegg has challenged David Cameron to look at issues such as decriminalisation or legalisation of drugs, despite the Prime Minister previously rejecting calls for a Royal Commission to consider the contentious issue.

A Home Office spokesman said: “This Government has absolutely no intention of decriminalising drugs.

"Our drugs strategy is working and there is a long-term downward trend in drug misuse in the UK.

“It is right that we look at drugs policies in other countries and today’s report summarises a number of these international approaches.”

A separate report calls for a blanket ban on supply of so-called legal highs.

Currently, when a legal high is outlawed, illegal-drug chemists are getting around the law by tweaking the chemical compound and creating a new substance.

Home Office officials are to launch a feasibility study looking at the Irish model, which has effectively eliminated all so-called head shops that sell legal highs.

Crime prevention minister Norman Baker said: “From today we will start looking into the feasibility of a blanket ban on new psychoactive substances across the whole of the UK, clamping down on the suppliers and head shops rather than the users.

“This approach had a dramatic impact on the availability of ‘legal’ highs when introduced in Ireland, but we must ensure it would work here too.”

Recently released figures showed there were 60 deaths related to legal highs in 2013 – up from 52 in 2012 and 29 in 2011.

Number 10 said there was "no chance" that "reckless" calls for decriminalisation would be entertained.

“This report provides no support whatsoever for the Lib Dem’s policy of decriminalisation. In fact, it clearly states that it would be inappropriate to draw those kind of conclusions,” they said.

“The Lib Dem policy would see drug dealers getting off scot-free and send an incredibly dangerous message to young people about the risks of taking drugs.

“As the report makes very clear, the Government’s approach already provides a good balance between enforcement and treatment, drug use is plummeting as a result and there is simply no chance that we will entertain such a reckless change of course.”

[treetop]

Cue Daily Mail coming in with a story to rubbish the report.

[CloudMaster]

Just for your Treetop...........

"http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... -warn.html

Mail Online - By BEN SPENCER, SCIENCE REPORTER FOR THE DAILY MAIL - PUBLISHED: 20:00, 10 November 2014 | UPDATED: 20:38, 10 November 2014

Smoking cannabis every day 'warps your brain and shrinks grey matter', scientists warn
* Scientists at the universities of Texas and New Mexico found the drug does warp key structures in the brain
* Regular use shrank 'grey matter' - the cells that process information
* 'White matter' that connects different parts of the brain, grows to compensate but also breaks down impairing ability to
react to information

Smoking cannabis every day warps key structures of the brain, a scientific study suggests.

Regular use of the drug seems to shrink the brain’s ‘grey matter’ - the cells that crunch information - according to head scans of heavy drug users.

The wiring of the brain – the ‘white matter’ that connects different parts - grows to compensate for the loss of the vital cells, scientists found.

But eventually that also breaks down, impairing a drug users’ ability to use and react to information.


Regular cannabis use appears to shrink the brain's 'grey matter' - the cells that crunch information - according to scientists at the universities of Texas and New Mexico

The brain scan study is one of the first to investigate the drug’s long-term neurological impact in living people.
The findings add to a growing weight of evidence that suggests cannabis is more harmful than legalisation campaigners would have us believe.

It comes after a review of 20 years of cannabis research, published last month by a professor at King’s College London, revealed that one in six teenagers who use cannabis become dependent on the drug, as do one in 10 adults.

That review also suggested that cannabis use in teenagers doubles the risk of developing psychotic disorders including schizophrenia.

The authors of the new study, from the universities of Texas and New Mexico, warn that people who take the drug in heavy quantities for prolonged periods are likely to suffer damaging effects.

Examining brain scans, the scientists found that chronic marijuana users - who smoked an average of three times a day - had smaller average volumes of grey matter in the orbitofrontal cortex, the part of the brain involved in mental processing and decision making.

The cannabis users were also seen to have more ‘white matter’ - the connections between cells which affect how the brain learns and functions.

The researchers suspect that those extra connections are forged as the brain tries to compensate for the lack of crucial grey matter.

But even those extra connections were seen to break up within six to eight years under prolonged cannabis abuse, they found.

Dr Sina Aslan from the University of Texas said: ‘What’s unique about this work is that it combines three different magnetic resonance imaging techniques to evaluate different brain characteristics.
‘The results suggest increases in connectivity, both structural and functional that may be compensating for grey matter losses. ‘Eventually, however, the structural connectivity or “wiring” of the brain starts degrading with prolonged marijuana use.’

The team studied MRI scans of the brains of 48 adult cannabis users aged 20 to 36 who were compared with a group of 62 non-users.

The orbitofrontal cortex region of the brain, where the biggest differences in cannabis users’ brains was seen, is strongly linked to empathy - the ability to sense other people’s feelings.

Neuroscientists believe damage to the orbitofrontal cortex may underpin many cases of personality disorder and psychopathy.

The researchers found that the effect differed markedly depending on the age they started smoking and the number of years they continued to abuse the drug.

The earlier someone started smoking cannabis, the greater the structural change to the brain and the larger the growth in white matter connections.

This may explain why some chronic cannabis users sometimes appear to be coping normally, effectively masking the damage to their brain, the scientists said.


Examining brain scans, the scientists found that chronic marijuana users - who smoked an average of three times a day - had smaller average volumes of grey matter, pictured on an MRI scan in light blue and green, in the orbitofrontal cortex, the part of the brain involved in mental processing and decision making

But after six to eight years of continually taking cannabis the increases in structural wiring declined, they found.

The scientists said that because their study represented a simple snapshot of users’ brains, and did not monitor them over time, they could not be certain that the damage was directly caused by the drug.

While the statistical picture they built up suggests that the drug abuse is linked to the structure of the brain, to be absolutely sure they more research is needed, they said.

Co-author Dr Francesca Filbey, also from Texas, said: ‘We have seen a steady increase in the incidence of marijuana use since 2007.

‘However, research on its long-term effects remains scarce - despite the changes in legislation surrounding marijuana and the continuing conversation surrounding this relevant public health topic.

‘While our study does not conclusively address whether any or all of the brain changes are a direct consequence of marijuana use, these effects do suggest that these changes are related to age of onset and duration of use.’

UK drugs law has been the subject of much debate in recent years.

The Labour government downgraded the drug to Class C in 2004 – meaning officers did not normally arrest those caught with the drug - but reversed their decision within five years, returning it to Class B status.

Celebrities including Russell Brand, Richard Branson and Sting have called for it to be decriminalised, as has Professor David Nutt, the government’s former drugs advisor.

DEFINITIVE 20-YEAR CANNABIS STUDY FINDS DRUG IS NOT SAFE
A definitive 20-year study into the effects of long-term cannabis use has demolished the argument that the drug is safe.

Cannabis is highly addictive, causes mental health problems and opens the door to hard drugs, the study found.

The paper by Professor Wayne Hall, a drugs advisor to the World Health Organisation, builds a compelling case against those who deny the devastation cannabis wreaks on the brain.

Professor Hall found:
* One in six teenagers who regularly smoke the drug become dependent on it
* Cannabis doubles the risk of developing psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia
* Cannabis users do worse at school. Heavy use in adolescence appears to impair intellectual development
* One in ten adults who regularly smoke the drug become dependent on it and those who use it are more likely to go on to
use harder drugs
* Driving after smoking cannabis doubles the risk of a car crash, a risk which increases substantially if the driver has also
had a drink
* Smoking it while pregnant reduces the baby's birth weight "

[Willjay]

Scientists do not know a thing about marijuana, they have never studied it, only the BS the prohibitionists what them to know and report on. When scientists can buy marijuana the way you can buy an aspirin, then let the studies begin, give it 70 years, and you will then have some science. Till then I'll believe the Hippies, growers, and stoner's before I'll believe in the "science of today"

[Uncle Ron]

Scientists do not know a thing about marijuana, they have never studied it, only the BS the prohibitionists what them to know and report on. When scientists can buy marijuana the way you can buy an aspirin, then let the studies begin, give it 70 years, and you will then have some science. Till then I'll believe the Hippies, growers, and stoner's before I'll believe in the "science of today"

Well, scientists do know quite a bit more now than a decade ago, but not nearly enough to make such profound statements.
Here is a story that sources the University of Texas, Dallas...http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014 ... tudy-texas
Carefully placed words such as believe, may, and appeared to be, aren't often used adjectives to describe scientific findings based on fact. These give scientists a way out if or when they prove themselves wrong, or someone else does it for them.
....and I tie it all together using this little gem... ""...Dr Francesca Filbey, also from the University of Texas. She added: “To date, existing studies on the long-term effects of marijuana on brain structures have been largely inconclusive due to limitations in methodologies.""
More science is needed, and people really should stop running their mouths, especially if they are scientists. Goes a long way to credibility, a very long way indeed.
Happy legal weed...
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