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LATEST ON CANNABIS > http://news.independent.co.uk click to connect
"Zero tolerance on cannabis
Police yesterday ordered a zero tolerance policy on cannabis ahead of an expected decision by Gordon Brown to reclassify the drug. Officers said they would no longer give out controversial "cannabis warnings" which do not even carry a criminal record.
Instead those caught in possession of even small amounts of the drug will recieve at least a formal caution or face prosecution.
The move pre-empts an expected announcement by the Prime Minister that cannabis should be moved back to class B, scrapping the softly, softly approach of his predecessor Tony Blair.
Whitehall sources said that Mr Brown wants to send out a message to teenagers that smoking the drug is wrong and dangerous.
Since Labour downgraded cannabis to class C in 2004, those in posssession no longer automatically face even arrest. Instead, officers can simply give out a formal warning for cannabis on the street - of which 66,000 were issued last year.
The new zero-tolerance approach is to be tested in Battersea, the area of London most plagued by cannabis smokers".
MARIJUANA RESEARCH REVIEW and Related Issues P.O.Box 409 - LA Center WA 98629 - PH:360-263-3336 - FX: 360-262-2628
Beware of (addiction to) Buprenorphine (Subutex, Suboxone)
I read Dr Peter Rostenberg's recent piece about buprenorphine with both relief and concern (Buprenorphone Can Save Lives, Guest Editorial, July 15, 2007. p 12.) Buprenorphone (also known as Buprenex, Subtutex and Suboxone) recently became fashionable for opiate detoxification. But clinical researchers have been seeing more and more people becoming addicted to buprenorphine. Because buprenorphine-dependent people can have a harder time withdrawing than methadone or oxycodone (OxyContin) addicts, clinicians might be wiser to use other methods - such as gabapentin plus venlafaxine or duloxetine, with clonidine, naproxen and prochlorperazine as needed - when two or three detoxifications using bupronorphine end in relapse. James Cocores, M.D. Boca Raton, Fla.
Cannabis is safe man - NOT!
What a nerve! by Mary Brett
100,000 billion nerve cells (neurons) may have up to 10,000 connections to other neurons in the vast brain network. Messages pass along the nerve fibres as electrical impulses, then cross the gap between the neurons (the synapse) in the form of chemicals - neurotransmitters - the brain's natural drugs. Each neurotransmitter molecule has a particular shape to fit into its receptor site on the next neuron as a key fits into a lock. Mind altering drugs like cannabis or more specifically THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the ingredient that gives the "high" mimic the shape of these neurotransmitters, so the brain is "fooled". Cannabis mimics anandamide and also interferes with the transmission of the other neurotransmitters because THC dissolves in the fatty cell membranes and persists. Fifty per cent of the THC is still there after a week and ten per cent a month later. Traces are still detectable in hair and urine for weeks after that. Immediate effects Taken for euphoria, usually smoked with or without tobacco or eaten as "hash" cakes, but enhances the mood you are in, so you may well feel worse. It is an intoxicant like alcohol so people should not be driving. Airline pilots on flight simulators could not land their planes properly even 24 hours and more after a joint and had no idea that anything was amiss. One 20mg joint has the same effect as being just over the legal alcohol-driving limit. The combination of cannabis and alcohol is 16 times more dangerous when driving than taking either drug alone. Long term effects Just one joint a week or even once a month will ensure a premanent presence of THC. Since the other neurotransmitters are affected, new nerve connections cannot be made properly. Concentration, learning and memory are all badly affected. school grades fall, some students miss out on university places. A cannabis personality develops. Users become inflexible, can't plan their day properly, can't take criticism and struggle to express themselves. They feel lonely, miserable and misunderstood. Apathy, amotivation and dropping out are all common. Few children, using cannabis even occasionally, will achieve their full potential. Dependence Psychological addiction - the craving for cannabis is very strong. Physical addiction - As more and more THC is consumed. more receptor sites are made, tolerance builds as more THC is needed to get the same effect. All the receptor sites need to be satisfied. Withdrawal symptoms are not so dramatic as they are for heroin as THC persists in the body. Mental health Cannabis psychosis has been reported in scientific papers for decades. Cannabis causes far more mental illness than drugs like heroin. The increased risk factors for psychosis, anxiety and depression range from 3 to 5. Schizophrenia is triggered or worsened by its use and may even be caused by it. The amount of the neurotransmitter, dopamine, is increased in the brain. This is the opposite of Parkinson's Disease where sufferers have too little dopamine. One in four people carry a faulty gene which can be triggered by cannabis controlling the release of dopamine. Violence and suicide were reported in a Swedish study among pot users - more suicides and more violence compared with other drugs. Studies from Dunedin report that young male cannabis users were nearly five times more likely to be violent than non users. Violence seemed to occure with the psychosis or during withdrawal. Other effects of the body The smoke from cannabis contains more cancer producing substances than tobacco and deposits three times as much tar in the lungs and airways. Cases of lung cancer, bronchitis and emphysema have been reported. Head and neck cancers, now found in young cannabis users, have an average age of 64 in tobacco smokers. The immune system is damaged and fewer white blood cells are produced and because people cannot fight off infections they are vulnerable to disease, their illness is more severe and they stay sick longer. Sperm production is decreased and infertility and even impotence have been reported. Babies born to cannabis smoking mothers and smaller, hyperactive, have behavioural and learning problems and are 10 times more likely to develop leukaemia. THC interferes with the production of new cells in the body and as a result may hasten cell death. Blood pressure and heart rates rise to the level of real stress and heart attacks have been reported. Two teenagers had strokes and died after bingeing on cannabis, another was left paralysed. The medical argument Medicines, by law, have to be pure substances so that their actions are predictable and controllable - eg: heroin and cocaine. Cannabis contains around 400 chemicals. Synthetic purified THC, Nabilone, is already available on hospital prescription bus has many side effects and is not popular among doctors. The pro-legalisers Many pro-legalisers are users or their children are. Others are libertarians who think we should be able to do what we like with our bodies - fine provided it does not interfere with anyone else. But stoned drivers do kill other people. Addicts and the mentally ill need treatment at the tax payers expense, stoned workers are inefficient and unproductive and passive smoking does occur. Cannabis - gateway drug? Tobacco, alcohol and cannabis can all act as gateway drugs. Weekly cannabis users are 60 times more likely to progress to "harder" drugs. New research suggests that cannabis can "prime" the brain for the use of other drugs. Relaxing the law Holland turned a blind eye to cannabis in 1987 and is now the crime capital of Europe. The country is awash with dealers and it is a major producer of drugs, especially ecstacy. Health and social problems have escalated and the amount allowed for personal possession has been reduced from 30g to 5 g. The present Dutch government wants to close all the coffee shops, Many have gone. Since down classification in 2001 in the UK, regular cannabis use is still rising among 11 to 12 year old boys - older teens seem to have progressed to cocaine. Strength Since the sixties and seventies the strength of herbal cannabis has risen from 0.5 -1% to 9 - 27% as in today's special bred varieties such as skunk and nederweed, that are now commonly grown in Britain and account of 60% of all cannabis consumed here. Cannabis resin, previously the most common type used, has always been around and has a strength of 4 to 6% and always had. Now its use is only 40%. Drug Testing More and more employers are testing for drugs in the workplace - cannabis will show up for weeks and a conviction would prevent someone from getting a visa from USA Cannabis is safe? You decide now! Mary Brett, former Head of Health Education, Dr Challoner's Grammar School (boys) Bucks. UK spokesperson for EURAD
CANNABIS
Daily Mail Sept 11th 2007, from James Slack. "Going soft on cannabis has Mary Brett. |
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