Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make  you mad.                                      Aldous Huxley

As I think Jackie makes clear, she don’t have time to research an article, As we all know, to get to the fact’s takes a tad longer.

However. MANY THANKS to Jackie for sparing the time to respond.

She has kindly given us a copy of the Article upon which she has based her opinion (and set the opinions of how many people ?)

From Addiction Today magazine, issue 67 (Nov/Dec 2000). T. The choice is
yours.

We need a campaign of information
Should cannabis be decriminalised or not? Should a policy of zero tolerance be applied to it?

The debates dominating the media are irrelevant, argues Deirdre Boyd, while they are entrenched in misinformation and disinformation
 

The most noticeable factor in October's ongoing debate splitting government ministers, the police, the media and the public about whether cannabis should be   decriminalised or a zero-tolerance policing stance adopted is the vast foundation of ignorance on which people are basing the most emotive, entrenched arguments.The fewer  facts people have, the more heated they seem
to be. Only extremes look viable.

 This country needs a strategy of health information about cannabis which is as available and comprehensive as that eventually offered by anti-tobacco   campaigners."Shock poll: public say “legalise pot," screamed the front page of the The Mail on Sunday newspaper. Nicotine smokers in the 1940s and 1950s would have  probably voted the same way about their weed.  But cigarette smoking was not reduced because of legislation: it fell because people were - after a battle spanning decades  -given the facts about its risks.

Whereas, with Cannabis, a collection of Global Business have spent the last 70 years suppressing the truth about it’s benefits.

Cannabis smokers also deserve the truth so that they can make informed decisions about their own health and that of their families.For example, are the  people - including  government ministers who argue that they took pot in the 1960s and 1970s without any harm coming to them aware that the pot/marijuana/cannabis of today is not the same  substance that they took back  then? Like every other profitable product, cannabis has been refined over the decades so that it is now four to 12 times more potent than  it was 20 years ago. No it isn’t.The samples used were 20 years old , had been stored incorrectly and had degraded.So, for the moment, let's put to one side the legal and  criminal ramifications and look at what studies show about the effects of cannabis on  health.Identifiable symptoms.

When asked by a teacher suspicious of wide swings in academic performance in some of his students what symptoms could help to identify a pupil using
>cannabis, Dr  James West of the Betty Ford Center (who has a vested interest in Cannabis Remaining Illegal)gave the  following answer."Cannabis affects the cerebral,  cardiovascular, pulmonary and neuroregulatory systems. Acute or chronic use leads to: euphoria,(“oh no ,not the comfy chair”) decreased mental functioning, faster pulse, decreased pulmonary  function,  exacerbation of asthma, conjunctival infection(bollocks its a vaso dilator, this is why it is so useful for Gluacoma)(red eyes), pharyngitis (sore throat)(so does oral  sex),bronchitis, stuffy nose, dry mouth, sinusitis, perceptual delusions,paranoia, mood shifts, sleepiness, sexual arousal, anxiety/panic, lethargy and lack of  ambition,  plus angina in a pre-existing heart disease. "

The symptoms of overdose are very rapid pulse, very high blood pressure,delusions, hallucinations, seizures in epileptics and acute mental changes including  psychosis.  There are also withdrawal signs for regular users who quit abruptly: irritability, restlessness, insomnia, mild tremors/bouts of chills, and sometimes a low-grade fever."(But only if your also packing in Tobacco)

Cancer.  report by the British Medical Association found that smoking a cannabis cigarette leads to three times more tar inhalation than from a  tobacco cigarette  - and long-term use can lead to lung cancer.

Dr West states that cannabis contains four to five times the lung-cancer-producing hydrocarbons as does tobacco.Bronchitis and other respiratory disorders  linked with  smoking can also be caused by long-term use. It is unclear if there is more risk of these disorders than with tobacco. But cannabis users tend to inhale more deeply and the  drug does contain more  tar."Cannabis irritates the respiratory system and obstructs smaller airways with a form of bronchitis-emphysema," explains DrWest

Use a bong or put the Kettle on.!!

.Heart problems. The heart responds to cannabis by an increased heart rate proportional to the dose of the drug. Usually, after smoking pot, the heart rate  increases by  20 to 40 beats per minute, and rapid rates of 140 beats per minute are not unusual.Chronic use can lead to angina in people with pre-existing heart problems. Addiction.  Although infamous for
 recommending the decriminalisation of cannabis, the Runciman Report states that "the number of people seeking help from drug agencies for  problems with cannabis use has doubled from 1,400 in 1993 to 3,300 in  1998 (10% of the total seeking help)". This is only the people who identified cannabis as  their "main drug".Cannabis is addictive, concludes a survey by the US National Institute of Drug Abuse. It found  that 75% of people who gave up cannabis had  cravings for it, and 70% switched to tobacco in an attempt to stay off. Almost 50% said they became irritable and many were bored after giving up the drug (oh how terrible,  you want to try getting of the beer mate).And in recently publicised experiments, this time with monkeys, a NIDA team warned that cannabis   might be as addictive as heroin and cocaine

.A 1994 report from the Center on Addiction & Substance Abuse at Columbia University found that 60% of children who smoked pot before the age of 15 moved  on to  cocaine(so 6 out of 10 youngsters who come into contact with a Drug Dealer, end up being sold coke, or at least they say they have, Street Cred !!)  and 20% of those who  first smoked pot after age 17 then used cocaine.Relaxing qualities v demotivation and depression. Cannabis is best known as a relaxant. This can lead to lower blood  pressure,increased appetite, feelings of relaxation, mild intoxication and increased sociability. Smokers usually feel its effects in minutes and they can lastup to three  hours. The effect is delayed when eating or drinking, so that it lasts longer and can be harder to control. And the relaxing effect can go too far. Research shows that  cannabis affects almost every bodily system,slowing down reaction times, causing drowsiness and confusion.Memory loss.Because cannabis is absorbed into the brain cell wall, it  is considered more destructive to brain tissue than the opioids. Heavy use impairs general intellectual functioning such as memory and comprehension. Even in small doses, dope  smoking is known to cause short-term memory loss.Accidents. Even "casual use" of cannabis impairs psychomotor skills like those needed to drive a car. It increases  the chance of a traffic accident or accidents while operating machinery (so does CALPOL)

.Learning impairment. Studies show that regular heavy use can cause nerve damage and affect learning.Hallucinations and paranoid delusions can result from  even small  doses. Anxiety and panic are common.Coordination can also be affected by pot.Coma. High doses can cause coma. But there are no records of fatal overdose.Psychotic   illness. "It can have adverse psychic effects ranging from temporary distress, through transient psychosis, to the exacerbation of pre-existing mental illness," the  Runciman Report states about cannabis. Dr  Andrew Wilski, consultant psychiatrist and medical director at Pembury Hospital in Tunbridge Wells, backs this."I estimate  that 75% of the young people I see suffering psychotic illness have a history of cannabis  abuse”,he revealed.

The drug contains hundreds of active ingredients, most  importantly cannabinoids, which interfere with the chemical functioning of the brain. Its most serious effect seems to be depleting  neurotransmitters - such as dopamine,  which is linked with pleasure - and hindering electrical currents vital for brain function.People with personality disorders can succumb to amotivational syndrome.(aka  Adolesence) They lose motivation, drive and willpower, leading to depression. This can damage education, work prospects and relationships."There is also an unknown number  of people with a mental or chemical predisposition for psychotic illness," states Wilski. "In them, cannabis can trigger altered moods, confusion, delusions or  hallucinations. "Cannabis also has aprofoundly worrying effect on people with unspecific brain impairment or weakness, such as dyslexia. And it is no coincidence that  some ethnic communities, in which cannabis use is endemic, suffer hugely increased levels of psychosis: six to 20 times  greater than the norm

 Racist Bollocks, thought this was all had out in the Media not so long ago . British born  blacks are 16 times more likely to be diagnosed as schizophrenic tha  British born whites. A clear example of misdiagnosis due to lack of understanding of cultural behaviour.

 infertility  Abnormalities can occur in the reproductive systems of men and women. Cannabis can cause irregularities in the menstrual cycle.  And studies  of males have shown reduced sperm count and mobility as well as sperm of abnormal appearance. Sterility and infertility have occurred in users. Leukaemia in  children of  users. Smoking pot in pregnancy has been found to be linked to a form of leukaemia in infants.

Medicinal use. There is a case for prescribing cannabis for medical purposes. There is evidence that cannabis helps alleviate migraines, multiple sclerosis,  glaucoma and  even anorexia (stimulates appetite). This could reduce the National Health Service's dependence on more costly drugs. The facts are here