Introduction, The Politics of Dishonesty & the Government Ball Game


Once again, the political debate on a possible connection between cannabis and psychosis has raised its head - this time, by Charles Walker (Broxbourne, Conservative) in the UK House of Commons, concerning psychosis in young people. [1]

There has been much debate and assertions that modern day "skunk" cannabis is much stronger than the cannabis of the 1960's and 1970's. The problem with this debate is that there is no evidence that actually shows what the THC level was at that time. There are some people who actually believe that "skunk" cannabis was deliberately introduced into Britain [2]

The initial molecular research of THC was accomplished in 1964, by Yehiel Gaoni and Raphael Mechoulam. [3]  Mechoulam later commented "I was surprised to find that the active componentís) of cannabis had never been isolated in a pure form and its structure was known only in a general way. A few cannabinoids had been reported but the structure of only one, the psychotropically inactive cannabinol, had been fully elucidated." [4]

As early as 1969, when cannabis was medically researched as a causal factor towards psychosis, NO EVIDENCE was found:

"There is no evidence that this activity is ... producing in otherwise normal people conditions of dependence or psychosis requiring medical treatment" [5]

The Politics of Dishonesty

Since 1969, all medical reports concerning cannabis use and psychosis and schizophrenia that have not matched up to or agreed with the government's prohibitionist agenda have been ignored. They only want to pay attention to documents that agree with their prohibitionist attitude and agenda - the rest are put aside. If these reports did not exist, then one could say that the government was ignorant (in the true sense of the word.) The fact that such reports DO exist thus shows the dishonest attitudes of successive intransigent governments who seek to make continued false medical claims against cannabis, for the simple reason of keeping the raw cannabis plant in prohibition - for medical users, for recreational users, for all users.

THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WE VOTE INTO POWER. I suggest that we no longer vote for any politician who does not believe that cannabis should be legalised and is not prepared to work to do something about it. WHY DO WE WANT, OR NEED, TO VOTE FOR A POLITICAL CANDIDATE WHOSE POLICIES WILL CONTINUE TO CRIMINALISE CANNABIS USERS?

The Government Ball Game

Politicians are determined to keep cannabis law reform workers in the defensive position of contradicting false government health assertions with medical links which show that cannabis is not a harmful drug. They come with the hype of reefer madness and we come with the answers. This is the ball game that they want the cannabis law reform movement to play with them.

AND WHY?

See Article Index at bottom of page

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References, Links and Further Reading:

[1] "Cannabis and Psychosis (Young People)"
House of Commons debates, 9 June 2011, 6:00 pm   (Hansard record of debate beginning at 6pm)

[2] "Treating Yourself - Meet Dr. Frankenbeanstein" by Jo Pietri

[3] "Isolation, Structure, and Partial Synthesis of an Active Constituent of Hashish" by Y. Gaoni, R. Mechoulam, April 1964

[4]  "Marihuana chemistry." Science 168:1159-66, 1970. Mechoulam R. [Laboratory of Natural Products, Pharmacy School, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel]

[5]  "The Wootton Report" January 1969, Page 21


Part 01: Introduction, The Politics of Dishonesty & the Government Ball Game
Part 02: Enter the Trojan Horse
Part 03: The Legal Origins of the Trojan Horse
Part 04: UK Gov Not Towing the American Line? & UK Government Denies the Benefits of Smoked Cannabis
Part 05: Pushing out the Trojan Horse & The Reasonable Working Alternative to Cannabis Prohibition
Part 06: Will the Trojan Horse Succeed?
Part 07: The Cannabis Legalisation Campaign is Being Railroaded
Part 08: How the FDA Works & The Reason for Repression of MMJ Folk in the USA
Part 09: Are We Getting Sick of This Trojan Horse Yet? A Strong Argument for General Cannabis Legalisation
Part 10: A Word in Ending...
Further Reading
Updates


Article researched and written by Jayelle Farmer
Founder, Legalise Cannabis International
http://www.legaliseinternational.com
Researched Tuesday June 14 - Friday June 17 2011
Published: Saturday June 18, 2011

The author wishes to make clear that any individual named in this article may not necessarily agree with any or all of the content of this article.

Copyright © Jayelle Farmer 2011