Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category
This Man Isn’t A Scientist. He’s A Prohibition Propagandist.
Sitting alongside him at his press conference “Cannabis Can Hasten Psychosis”, who did Dr Large have to lend him support?
Cannabis Preventer
Jan Copeland, the director of the Australian National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre.
What does that tell you?
This isn’t anything to do with science. It’s about advancing the prohibitionist agenda – and, of course, is closely connected to Dr Large’s future funding and career path. See here for the unedited rushes from this little conspiracy.
His big pitch was “The results of this study confirm the need for a renewed public health warning about the potential for cannabis use to bring on psychotic illness.”
Absolute rot. The study confirmed nothing of the sort. All it consisted of was a recalculation of data from 83 previous studies. It’s all correlation and association. There’s no evidence of causation whatsoever. There was absolutely nothing new in it at all and to claim there is, is simply a lie. Of course, the mindless, desperate and eager comics like the Daily Mail have almost wet themselves with excitement over it.
This is a very typical example of the misinformation, propaganda and distortion of science put out by the prohibitionists. It is important to understand the way they work. They have been doing this now for nearly 100 years, using the latest propaganda techniques every time.
In this “meta-analysis”, as Dr Large pretentiously calls it, what he doesn’t tell you is that all the subjects already had a predisposition towards psychosis (usually by genetics) and included tobacco and “other psychoactive substance users”. That means any of the approximately 600 ingredients found in cigarettes such as ammonia, various ethyls, and any of dozens of acids and carcinogens could have distorted the findings. Similarly, and not addressed by the study’s authors, is the fact that the cannabis users, in many cases, were also cocaine, heroine, amphetamine or other drug users.
The study claims that “…schizophrenia caused by cannabis starts earlier than schizophrenia with other causes.” but it fails to consider how many of the subjects were in fact, self-medicating. The authors don’t even consider whether cannabis causes mental illness or if people with mental illness have a higher rate of using cannabis. Other evidence shows that self-medicating with cannabis is widespread and that over 90% of diagnosed schizophrenics smoke cigarettes – but nobody is claiming tobacco causes schizophrenia.
It’s hogwash.
Bringing Cannabis Back Into The Medicine Cabinet
Professor Les Iversen delivers the Inaugural President’s Public Lecture during the BPS Winter Meeting, London 2010.
Prof. Iversen is the current chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs and a founder council member of the British Medicinal Cannabis Register. He is also the author of many publications and books on cannabis. He is famous for his article in The Times headlined “Cannabis. Why It’s Safe” and for saying that cannabis is “one of the safer recreational drugs”.
He walks a courageous and tricky tightrope between science and his ACMD role. He is the government’s chief drug adviser so at least we know they are getting good advice even if they don’t act on it.
You can watch the lecture here.
Professor Iversen has also provided me with a copy of his Powerpoint presentation from the lecture which you can download here.
This Vile Punk Needs To Be Stripped Of His Arrogance, His Dignity And His Title!
“Tory Peer: Bus Drivers And Waitresses ‘Unimportant'”, The Daily Telegraph, 9th February 2011
Oaf
A senior Government adviser employed to monitor former ministers working in business has claimed bus drivers, waitresses and people in other “unimportant” jobs would be unfit to join his panel.
Lord Lang, the Conservative peer, said people in ordinary jobs were not sufficiently qualified to pass judgement on the employment of former ministers in the private sector.
The Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Business appointments has come under pressure to dilute the “Establishment” make-up of his panel, which comprises four peers, two knights and a dame.
But he defended the composition of his committee, despite accusations the arrangement was too “cosy”.
Lord Lang told MPs he would be prepared to accept a “lay member”, but added that is should be someone “who had experience and proven success in a relatively important profession or trade – somebody who had achieved distinction – rather than a waitress or bus driver.”
The Commons Public Administration Committee, which is looking into the employment of former ministers in big business, did not receive his comments well.
Paul Flynn, a Labour MP who formerly worked as a bus driver, said: “Speaking as a bus driver of long standing who married a waitress, could you explain why neither I nor my wife have any contribution to make to your committee?”
Lord Lang, who was himself a trade secretary and now has sizeable business interests, said a committee made up of people who “knew nothing at all about the issues involved” would make the wrong decisions.
See the full story by Nick Collins here.
Banking Cancer
Rare Integrity
We need radical surgery. The corrupt and avaricious arrogance of the bankers is beyond belief. Project Merlin (see here) is a confidence trick and our weak, pathetic government is knowingly complicit in it.
Bob Diamond of Barclays, Stephen Hester of RBS and Eric Daniels of Lloyds are all rogues, thieves and charlatans. The excuse of “I was only following orders” was thrown out at Nuremberg. These men are even worse than the Nazi war criminals because their motivation is the most base and venal of all. They cannot even claim the excuse of some sort of perverted political philosophy. Their only concern is selfish greed. They are parasites and a scourge on our society. They should be rotting in jail rather than heaving their replusive, corpulent frames into another disgustingly expensive dinner or self-indulgent debauchery.
Banking is one of the greatest evils in our world. It takes over our society with insidious, insistent and poisonous infection. It produces corrupt and distorted growth that is entirely false, only a deception for the immediate and personal gain of the individuals in charge. These people are pirates and their adventures destroy decent people, honest businesses and the whole basis of our economy and society.
We must cut them out and we must cut deeply to ensure that every last vestige of the putrification is gone. It will hurt. It will even endanger our existence but there is no other option. To continue as we are is to buy into their corrupt plan, to feed them even more obscene amounts of money while the poor, vulnerable and needy in our society suffer.
There is no other option. We must inflict this huge damage on ourselves in order to be rid of the cancer. Recovery will be long and difficult but at least it will be honest and healthy.
The only man with any integrity left in parliament was Lord Oakeshott and he has now resigned. Cameron, his poodle, Dr Cable and babyface Georgy Porgy are carcinogenic agents. We must take the knife to them without mercy.
PM MP
Originally Published In Homegrown Outlaw's Blog
By Jason Reed
To all that support change in current policy, I invite you to take part in: PM MP.
What is PM MP? Well, I am hosting a letter that I am encouraging as many people as possible to post one copy to the Prime Minister, and one copy to your MP. It is through weight and numbers that points are grasped and policy changed.
It is also worth sending to the Home Secretary – Theresa May, and James Brokenshire – Minister for Crime Prevention at the Home Office.
If you would like to add your name and address so as to receive a reply, all the better. If you wish to remain anonymous, then that’s also fine, but please do take the time to send just two letters to the Prime Minister and your MP at this address:
Prime Minister,
10 Downing Street,
London, SW1A 2AA
Your MP can be found here:
And your MP’s address will be:
MP’s NAME, or James Brokenshire, or The Home Secretary Theresa May
House of Commons,
London SW1A OAA
Below you can find the template letter that has been created to address the current law & policy that surrounds cannabis in Britain. It is with a great deal of thanks to the Drug Equality Alliance for directing the wording to address this issue correctly.
Please do support this; please send the letters. Fellow bloggers, please also host the letter and send forth.
Either copy & paste the below text into a letter, or I have provided downloadable links at the end of this blog post. Thank you all. Jason.
Dear
I am writing to state my view that continuing prohibition of all private interests in cannabis is not in the best interest of society or the individual. Current policy is in many regards counter-productive and a drain on the country’s resources. The administration of Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 is mandated to be under constant review & evidence based; it’s concern is solely to reduce social harm caused by drug misuse. I submit that there can be no justification in law for the blanket ban on accessing a substance that many persons use responsibly, and many use to experience the amelioration of symptoms caused by various medical disorders.
The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 seeks to regulate human action re any harmful drug, it does not provide a mandate for prohibition, indeed when one examines the obligations of the ACMD one can see that the law seeks to make arrangements for the supply of controlled drugs. The legislative aim is to control responsible human action and property interests through the regulation of the production, distribution and possession of any harmful drug; this being proportionate and targeted to address the mischief of social harm occasioned by misuse. I note that the law does not prohibit the use of cannabis at all, and this often ignored fact was Parliament’s way of opening the door to facilitate a suitable and rational regulatory structure. I place it on record that I wish the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 to be used properly, and neutrally; specifically; (under Section 1) – “(2) (a) for restricting the availability of such drugs or supervising the arrangements for their supply.”
The prohibition of all private interests in cannabis & the denial of the possibility of responsible use has failed:
- The estimated expenditure of £19 billion on the judicial ‘controls’ over UK drug policy is a large sum that cannot be justified in the current fiscal climate. I do not believe it can be proven to be a valid policy even if the nation could easily afford it; it has a high price on liberty, and a paradoxical effect upon the health of all drug users – it has proved futile in almost every way, save for the government’s blind adherence to the international treaties it chooses to fetter it’s discretion to.
- There is an estimated street value of £5 billion profit going directly to gangs and cartels, and this in turn funds organised crime, human trafficking, and all manner of hard-line criminality.
- Children have easy & ready access to cannabis. Children are dealing cannabis and using cannabis with relative ease.
- There is an estimated 165 million responsible and non-problematic cannabis users worldwide. There is anything from 2 – 10 million adult users in the UK. There is no societal benefit to criminalising such a large portion of society, these are generally law-abiding persons who wish to use a substance that is comparatively safer than many drugs that government choose to exclude users of from the operation of the MoDA 1971 (despite the Act being neutral as to what drug misusers are controlled, the most harmful drugs such as alcohol and tobacco are excluded by policy, but this is not reflected in the Act itself).
- Under prohibition, as in 1920’s America, quality control has suffered giving way to hastily harvested cannabis which acts as the modern day equivalent of the infamous Moonshine & Hooch. The UK media terms this bad product simply as “Skunk”. Cannabis is now being cut with harmful drugs, glass, metal fillings, and chemicals to give false potency, and to add weight for profit motivations.
- To criminalise personal actions that do not harm others within the confines of privately owned property is at best draconian, and at worst futile & irresponsible.
I wish to encourage the adoption of a regulatory system that provides:
- An age-check system to prevent the young and vulnerable from obtaining cannabis with the ease they currently have.
- The partial saving from the £19 billion drug enforcement budget, alongside the estimated street worth of £5 billion potentially collected from cannabis. This would be a considerable sum in aiding the country in fiscal crisis.
- Quality control that can be accorded to cannabis production and sale, thus ensuring that there are no dangerous impurities and that the correct balance of cannabinoids are present (according to the needs of the user) to minimise potential harms.
- Potency & harm reduction information can be provided to adults, ensuring education is the forefront of the regulatory model.
- A restriction on marketing and the creation of designated discreet outlets. As seen in many countries, given a place of legitimacy, the cache of cannabis is lessened in favour of responsibility.
- The freedoms and rights for non-problematic users to be respected.
I do hope that you will give this matter the urgent attention it warrants.
Yours
This Absurd Waste Of Police Time And Resources
The spectacle of police officers breaking down doors all over the country is ridiculous. It is the most disgraceful waste of police time and resources. Last year the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) said the total number of “commercial cannabis factories” found in 2009/10 was 6,886 – more than double the 3,032 discovered two years ago, and more than eight times the annual average between 2004 and 2007.
What does this cost? What does it achieve?
The prohibition of cannabis is a major error in government policy. It is prohibition that has made cannabis-growing so attractive to organised crime and with that has come violence and human trafficking. It is the law that puts police officers in harm’s way, that creates violence on our streets. It is the same stupid law that sends the same police officers using the same tactics into the homes of responsible citizens. People who are growing a few plants for themselves, who have real medical need, are treated as if they are violent criminals.
Prohibition is the most inane, discredited, intellectually redundant idea there ever was! Yet our poodle politicians whimper along behind it without the courage to grasp the nettle and undertake the reform that is desperately needed.
This is no minor issue. It should be high in priority because, aside from the cost to human life and liberty, in Britain it means that £19 billion per annum is being recklessly and uselessly discarded every year. Police officers are put in danger. Innocent citizens are terrorised. Organised crime profits. Ministers won’t even discuss it.
I remember last year I heard the story of a police officer involved in a raid who had both arms nearly severed by falling glass. What ludicrous system is it that puts citizen against citizen like this, and endangers life on all sides?
And so the crooked circle turns, around and around. There is no excuse. All the intellectual, moral, health and science arguments have been won. The government’s policy is manifestly wrong, fundamentally immoral and a huge waste of money.
This is a scandal of neglect, cowardice, wasted lives and wasted money that shames our nation.
Legalise Cannabis Alliance To Fight Barnsley By-Election
Following the resignation of Eric Illsley, a by-election will be called in the Barnsley Central parliamentary constituency.
The Legalise Cannabis Alliance has announced that it will be contesting the election. A candidate will be selected who can use the opportunity to put the cannabis issue back on the political agenda.
The LCA Leadership Election
The ballot papers have been mailed to members today. The candidates are Stuart Warwick and myself. Voting closes a week today. The result will be announced shortly afterwards.
Peter Reynolds
Dear LCA member,
I am seeking election as leader of the Legalise Cannabis Alliance.
I have been campaigning for an end to the prohibition of cannabis for more than 30 years.
If elected, I can promise you radical change in the way that LCA goes about its business. We will launch a new campaign based around the theme: REFORM, REGULATE and REALISE.
That is REFORM the law to end prohibition, REGULATE production and supply based on facts and evidence and REALISE the huge benefits of the plant both as medicine and as a £10 billion net contribution to the economy.
This will be a tightly focused campaign aiming for the urgent availability of cannabis for those who need it as medicine and a properly regulated supply chain for the millions of British citizens who use it recreationally. That means we will take the business out of the hands of criminals, allow commercial growers to produce the plant under properly regulated conditions and permit small scale personal cultivation of up to six plants.
We will advocate sales of cannabis through licensed outlets such as tobacconists and/or coffee shops to adults only. It would remain a criminal offence to supply cannabis to under 18s. We accept that cannabis should be taxed, partly to cover the costs of the regulatory system and a health advisory service but also so that the entire country will benefit from bringing this huge market out of the black economy. Based on research by the Independent Drug Monitoring Unit and the Transform Drug Policy Foundation we estimate that with reductions in law enforcement costs and new tax revenue, there will be a net contribution of approx £10 billion to the UK exchequer.
We will not be diverted by peripheral issues such as the many uses for industrial hemp, although we will be glad to see progress in that area. We will run a campaign focused on achieving practical change, not promoting a philosophy. That means that our main concern will be to educate and influence MPs and get our message across in the media. MPs are the only people who can change the law and it is through the media that we can influence voter opinion so we will deal with them on their terms, in Westminster, in newspapers and television studios. We will bring a new professionalism to this issue and demand the attention and respect that our proposals deserve.
The prohibition of cannabis is unjust, undemocratic and immoral. Most cannabis users are reasonable, responsible and respectable people and I will demand our right to be heard and treated fairly.
I shall stand for parliament in every by-election and in the next general election on this single issue. Being realistic, we do not expect to win a seat but we will put cannabis back on the political agenda and we will be taken seriously. No longer will we allow the Daily Mail or other media to publish lies and propaganda uinchallenged. No longer will we allow prohibitionists like Debra Bell and Peter Hitchens to misinform and promote scare stories without any balance.
I want to transform the LCA into a professional, effective campaign that will achieve results. I believe that I am the right man for this job. Please vote for me. Vote to REFORM, REGULATE and REALISE.
My website at http://www.peter-reynolds.co.uk contains a wealth of information about cannabis and many articles that I have written on the subject. If you want more detailed information about me and what I stand for, that is the place to look.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Peter Reynolds
Stuart Warwick
Dear Member,
As one of the candidates seeking election for leadership of the LCA, I’ve been asked to write a short letter outlining my plans for the direction and actions I’d like to see the LCA take.
As Leader I would not seek to limit our campaign to the medical and recreational issues only (although I believe this should be our focus) but use the plethora of other applications that cannabis has in industry to gain support from as wide a demographic as possible.
I intend to campaign for legalisation, regulation & taxation.
Legalisation, done properly would remove the cannabis market from the hands of criminals and terrorists and open it up to legitimate businesses & entrepreneurs, giving the substantial profit back to society.
Regulation will help prevent dangerous contamination, ensure good quality and be more effective at keeping it out of the hands of children.
Taxation to put some of the profit back into the country – everyone benefits.
I think licensed outlets and growers is what we should be aiming to achieve. Licensing should cover not only the supply of cannabis but should also cover growing set-ups to ensure electrical and fire safety as this is a known hazard with some badly fitted installations. This would allow local growers to provide more variety in outlets, allowing users to clearly identify the strain that suits their needs the best.
Licenses should be available to cover a wide range of grow sizes to encourage both local and national business opportunities.
I think fact-based policy is a must, with genuinely unbiased research. To base policy purely on knee jerk emotional and moral arguments while ignoring scientific research is unjust and unproductive.
We know there are people in power who understand this but are forced to repeat the same prohibition mantra.
We need to let people know that if they decide to make a stand against prohibition we will be there to back them up. They will not want to make a move unless they know that when they do, they are not left hanging, We just have to give them the nod and be ready when they do.
By standing for elections, I hope to challenge not only my local MP’s and the other candidates but also policy on a national level. As leader of the LCA I hope to unite all of the voices in our community to achieve just that.
I have 2 sites that I have used to promote my ideas so far. Feel free to visit them, although there are some very early attempts on there, so quality isn’t always great, sorry.
http://www.youtube.com/user/NovictimNocrime08
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hunar-for-Prime-Minister/238421977309
Thanks for your time – , this wasn’t as easy to write as I thought it would be!
Regards
Stuart Warwick.
Legalise Cannabis Alliance Votes To Return To Politics
Last week the LCA announced the result of its membership ballot – that it would re-register as a political party and elect a leader.
Stuart Warwick
Two candidates are standing for the leadership: Stuart Warwick and myself. Voting will close on 14th February 2011 and the result will be announced a few days later.
At a meeting last Sunday, a new management committee was formed consisting of:
Don Barnard, PR & Political Liaison
Alun Buffry, Treasurer & Coordinator
Mark Palmer, IT & Media Development
Peter Reynolds, Speaker
Janice Wells, Secretary
Two official spokespersons were appointed:
Chris Baldwin
Stuart Warwick
Alun Buffry, co-founder of the LCA, said:
“In 2006, LCA members voted to de-register as a political party in the mistaken belief that the Liberal Democrats and Greens would take up the complex issues surrounding the cannabis plant. Sadly that did not happen. Now, LCA members have voted to re-register as a political party. The LCA will once again offer voters a platform to register their discontent over the unjust prosecution of victimless users of cannabis.”
Don Barnard added:
“I am over the moon that the membership has voted to get politically active again. I look forward to raising concerns about the dubious reasons for complete prohibition of the cannabis plant with government and parliamentarians.”
For myself, I am excited to be involved in the management committee and the leadership election. Whatever the outcome, I will do my utmost to represent the LCA, its members and all cannabis users to the best of my ability. It is time that the discrimination against millions of British citizens who choose to use cannabis was put back on the political agenda. No longer can the misinformation and false propaganda put out by government ministers go unchallenged.
Peter Reynolds 
