Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category
‘Skunk’ Drives Tabloids And Politicians Mad.
Tom Chivers, Ian Dunt and Jonathan Liebling expose the dreadful reporting of the latest cannabis harms study from the husband and wife team of Professor Sir Robin Murray and Dr Marta Di Forti.
The British tabloid press has long been engaged in the corruption of our society and successive governments’ ability to deal with drugs policy by its sensationalism, distortion and dishonesty.
In fact the worst offender now is the Daily Telegraph, a tabloid in everything except format. It now eclipses the Mail newspapers for inaccurate, misleading and distorted reporting on all aspects of drugs policy. Its science and medicine writers are either deliberately engaged in deception or utterly incompetent. Virtually every story it publishes on drugs these days has to be retracted but you never hear about it because it’s buried in a tiny, tiny correction.
Here’s what happened to its ridiculous claim recently “cannabis as addictive as heroin”
The Mail newspapers can’t resist the stories about the miraculous medicinal benefits of cannabis because they make such good sensationalism. So although they still publish hogwash, like this latest distortion, they’ve actually become more balanced almost by mistake.
Why is the British press so incompetent and/or malevolent on drugs? Is it anything to do with the £800 million pa that the alcohol industry spends on press advertising? I don’t know. Maybe it just likes to appeal to the fast dwindling band of bigots that actually buy newspapers these days.
We are a laughing stock across the world for the idiocy of our press and government, particularly in respect of cannabis. In Canada and Israel, hospitals provide elderly patients with cannabis vapourisers on trollies, so strong is the evidence for its beneficial effects on aging and dementia. Here of course we prefer to let them lie in their own excreta while feeding them with scaremongering nonsense, distortion and exaggeration of scientific studies.
Sugar, peanuts, hay fever remedies, aspirin, paracetamol and traffic fumes cause far more health harms than cannabis.
In Colorado, in 2014, $44 million in cannabis tax revenue was ringfenced for schools and hospitals. Since legalisation, crime and fatal traffic accidents are down 15%, murder is down 50%.
Far too sensible for Britain isn’t it? And it’s the work of our gutter press that prevents such progress here because politicians still give newspapers far too much respect.
CLEAR Medicinal Users Panel. Fourth Delegation To Parliament.
There is real momentum building in Parliament on the issue of medicinal cannabis. The first thing George Freeman said this week when he welcomed us to the Department of Health was: “There is a lot of discussion going on in government about this subject”.
This is extraordinary progress, unimaginable as recently as 2012. Undoubtedly, developments in the US have raised cannabis up the political agenda. Through 2014, CLEAR has been well received by the Home Affairs Select Committee, the Home Office, the Department of Health, the Health Select Committee and just before Christmas I met with Baroness Meacher and Lord Howarth in the House of Lords. They are chair and treasurer, respectively, of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Drug Policy Reform. They are determined to push reform through to make medicinal cannabis available and have briefed one of the UK’s leading psychopharmacologists to prepare a review of existing evidence on the subject. Armed with this they have a plan to meet with key individuals in both Houses of Parliament and I have no doubt that they will succeed in changing minds.
Also this week, I met with advisors to Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, in the very heart of government at the Cabinet Office. The Liberal Democrats are planning towards another coalition after the General Election and determined to see drugs policy form part of a new coalition agreement. Right at the front of their priorities is medicinal cannabis for which there is strong support from existing ministers, Lynne Featherstone at the Home Office and Norman Lamb at the Department of Health. Expect announcements in the run up to the election.
George Freeman is the Life Sciences Minister, responsible for medicines, NHS innovation, research, development, the MHRA and NICE. His role is as important as any other minister in achieving the reform we seek. He is another ally and has asked me to submit a paper setting out our proposals. Of particular importance is how medicinal cannabis could be regulated, either with a full Marketing Authorisation from the MHRA or possibly registration as a Tradional Herbal Medicine. The very fact that we are now discussing such detail is a measure of how far we have come.
So there is great cause for optimism at the start of 2015. We are closer than we have ever been before and this has been achieved by moving away from the old ‘protests’ and outdated campaigning ideas. I am confident that early in the new parliament we will see substantial progress.
Medicinal Cannabis AdVan Campaign in London.
Artist’s Impression
Join The Campaign For Medicinal Cannabis On A Doctor’s Prescription.
Despite overwhelming evidence, the UK government insists that cannabis has “no medicinal value”. Present policy is deeply cruel and means that at least one million people in Britain are forced to become criminals in order to deal with their pain, suffering or disability.
We must change this dreadful and unjust policy. It’s time to help rather than persecute people who genuinely need cannabis to improve their health. DONATE HERE.
The AdVan Campaign.
CLEAR is the UK’s leading drugs policy reform group with more than 270,000 followers. We will run an AdVan for one week in central London during the busy pre-Christmas period. This will deliver the simple, direct message that you see above and it will be backed by a supporting PR campaign, lobbying of government ministers and MPs as well as further information on the CLEAR website.
Please donate whatever you can. Every pound makes a difference. We need to raise £3500 to run the AdVan for one week. If we raise more we will run it for longer. DONATE HERE.
Please Donate Now!
Our Simple And Reasonable Request To UK Government.
In 1998, GW Pharmaceuticals was granted a licence to grow cannabis and its cannabis oil medicine, Sativex, is now approved but doctors are prevented from prescribing it because it is so fantastically expensive.
The Dutch government approves a cannabis medicine called Bedrocan which provides exactly the same as Sativex at a tiny fraction of the price. Sativex costs between £375 – £560 per month. Bedrocan costs £35 – £95 per month.
All we ask is that if a doctor prescribes Bedrocan, the Home Office should issue an import licence. This is a narrow, tightly defined reform that will not encourage illicit use but will provide enormous help to some very poorly people. DONATE HERE.
Further Background.
Every year, thousands of medicinal cannabis users are prosecuted for possessing or growing cannabis. Often it is the only medicine that helps them with chronic pain, fibromyalgia, MS, Crohn’s disease, epilepsy, depression or many of the conditions related to aging. It is also used to mitigate the side effects of chemotherapy and HIV/Aids treatments.
In November 2014, the Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker resigned as a government minister because of the Conservatives’ refusal even to consider drugs policy reform. In July 2014 he met with members of CLEAR and publicly called for cannabis to be legalised for medicinal use. Other ministers are more concerned with stopping people getting high (which they are going to do anyway) than in helping those with severe medical conditions. DONATE HERE.
Other Ways You Can Help
Join CLEAR at http://clearmembers-uk.org
Visit and ‘like’ our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/ClearUK
Follow us on Twitter @CLEARUK
Great Shirt! Where Can I Get One? Can We Send these Spiteful Sheilas To Mars?
Matt Taylor. A Brilliant British Scientist With Great Taste In Shirts.
The mindboggling stupidity of the morons who took time to criticise this man shows that while some of us have evolved far enough to land a remote controlled vehicle on a comet, others should be sent back to Africa to live in caves until they develop a brain fit for the 21st century.
Will We Ever See Cheech, Chong And A Cannabis Dress On Strictly?
Tommy Chong has now reached the semi finals of ‘Dancing With The Stars’.
I’d love to see a Strictly girl in a skimpy little ‘weed’ dress and what sarcastic comment would Craig come up with?
While America Legalises, Back In Blighty It’s Prejudice, Bigotry, Anti-Evidence And Contempt For The Electorate.
Overnight, voters in Alaska, Oregon and Washington DC have voted to legalise cannabis for recreational use.
The US island territory of Guam approved a ballot to legalise medicinal cannabis and Florida also voted for medicinal cannabis by 58% but it failed as a 60% vote is required. All over the US, smaller jurisdictions, counties, cities and towns, have also passed legislation on medicinal cannabis and decrimnalisation.
Last week in Britain we saw the shameful spectacle of just 21 MPs turning up to debate drugs policy for the first time in a generation. David Cameron, Theresa May and the Westminster elite are arrogant, out of touch and detached both from scientific evidence and public opinion.
Authoritarian, Illiberal, Out Of Touch.
Nothing can excuse this failure of our democracy. Britain is a laughing stock both in Europe and to the Americans. We are regressing into a caricature of Dickensian history. Little more than an ‘Old Curiosity Shoppe’ for tourists and the nostalgic. Our government is concerned only with vested interests, politicians lining their own pockets and an increasingly authoritarian and illiberal regime. These developments are humiliating for all those who cherish what was once Great Britain. Surely, even those unconcerned or opposed to cannabis legalisation, must begin to realise that Westminster is destroying our country from within. On this, the anniversary of Guy Fawkes’ failed attempt to blow up Parliament, who can doubt that he had the right idea?
Kevin Vickers, Canada Parliament’s Sergeant-At-Arms, A Genuine Hero.
Kevin Vickers
It is the critical moment of the attack on the Canadian Parliament. Before any more lives could be taken by gunman Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, he is shot dead by House of Commons Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers.
Zehaf-Bibeau had exchanged gunshots with parliamentary security at the entrance of Centre Block and ran down the long Hall of Honour towards the doors to the Parliamentary Library.
As he ran down the hall, pursued by RCMP officers, he passed the barricaded doors on his left, behind which the prime minister and the Conservative MPs were meeting. On his right, the doors to another caucus room where NDP MPs were diving for cover.
He shot at both doors, with one bullet penetrating the outer doors to the NDP caucus room.
Zehaf-Bibeau continued down the hall toward the wooden doors of the Library of Parliament, where he lodged himself behind a stone pillar beside an alcove to the right of the library’s entrance.
Vickers’ office is around the corner, a few metres away.
Hearing gunshots, Vickers grabbed his side arm, a semi-automatic pistol, and immediately ran out. His security team, who had been chasing Bibeau, yelled to Vickers that the suspect was hiding in the alcove.
Vickers immediately ran behind the other side of the pillar. That put him an arm’s-length away from Bibeau.
According to guards, Vickers actually could see the barrel of Bibeau’s gun pointing out, a foot away.
Vickers did not hesitate.
In one motion, sources told CBC News he dove to the floor around the pillar, at the feet of Bibeau, turning on his back as he landed and simultaneously firing his weapon upwards at Bibeau.
Bibeau was hit multiple times and fell to the ground. Vickers kept firing, emptying his entire magazine.
As soon as Bibeau dropped, the rest of the security team sprinted forward and opened fire.
Several bullet holes in the walls in the alcove give a sense of the numbers of rounds fired, and many more hit Bibeau.
One bullet passed right through the wooden library doors, hitting the librarians’ desk deep inside.
But no one else was injured in that final exchange of gunfire.
According to sources, Vickers calmly got up after the firing was over and went back to his office to reload his gun in case a threat remained.
He then went to the Conservative caucus room where Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his MPs had barricaded the room’s doors with chairs.
After identifying himself to gain entry to the room, Vickers strode to the microphone at the front of the room and explained what had happened:
“I engaged the suspect and the suspect is deceased”, he said.
According to sources, the entire room erupted in cheers, as Vickers left to continue to secure the grounds.
Source: CBC News
Gang Abuse Of Individuals. Shame On Britain.
Lord Freud
This Time It’s Politicians, The Media AND The Twitterati.
It is like bees to honey, more like flies to a corpse. A reasonable proposal, taken out of context, not really even a slip of the tongue, just deliberate distortion by a nasty side of Britain that sickens me.
Lord Freud Has Nothing To Apologise For.
It is reasonable, intelligent and compassionate to suggest that disabled people might benefit from work in which they could not justify payment of the minimum wage but which the state could top-up to that level.
The abuse levelled at this man by attention-seeking politicians, opportunistic disability rights campaigners and other parasites is disgusting. It seems any excuse is good enough now to target individuals.
Jim Davidson, Dave Lee Travis, Brooks Newmark, Lord Freud – all far from perfect, unlike those who criticise them of course. All undeserving of such focused abuse.
This is an aggressive, spiteful side of Britain in 2014 which I really don’t like.
Another Pathetic And Embarrassing Display From The Stoners.
Exactly The Wrong Way To Represent Cannabis Law Reform.
As Demotix, the photojournalism website, captioned their gallery: “A small group of protestors gathered outside the BBC, calling for Ganja or cannabis to be legalised in the UK.”
How long will it take these idiots to learn that their behaviour sets back the cause of cannabis law reform?
Gratuitous lawbreaking, scruffy turnout, signs that look like they were made at playschool and an embarrassingly small attendance even on the weekend that The Observer publishes a survey showing that 52% of the UK population supports legalisation in Colorado and Washington.
Such irresponsible events have never had any positive impact and when they are as shabby, poorly attended and badly organised as this all they do is bring the whole cannabis campaign into disrepute.
Is there nobody associated with the organisers of these disastrous demos that can talk some sense into them? Or is it really just about the same excitement as naughty children feel when they are being deliberately out of line? That’s how the public sees it.
