Posts Tagged ‘Britain’
“Outrageous Scaremongering” Over Cannabis
Last October, 36-year old Julie Ryan was found dead in bed by her three children, now aged 14, 13 and 8. At a coroner’s inquest in Oldham last week, pathologist Dr Sami Titi said “The direct cause of her death was cardiac arrest because of a history of smoking cannabis”.
Dr Sami Titi
Julie’s family claims that this is not true, that Julie’s cannabis use has been blamed because the Royal Oldham hospital failed to treat her properly. In Britain, there has only been one previous occasion when a death has been attributed to cannabis. In 2004, Lee Maisey, 36 of Pembrokeshire, who smoked half a dozen “joints” a day, was found dead on his living room floor after complaining of a headache.
At the inquest in Oldham, the coroner, Simon Nelson, was said to be surprised at the pathologist’s story and questioned him closely. Dr Titi insisted that “smoking of cannabis is well known to have a negative impact on the heart and can cause heart attacks in young people”. The coroner said that in 15 years he had never heard a pathologist so confident that cannabis could be fatal. He recorded a narrative verdict of “death from cardiovascular complications induced by cannabis smoking”.
Coroner Simon Nelson
Julie’s brother, Kevin Ryan, says that the pathologist’s remarks are “outrageous scaremongering”. Her mother, Linda, is bewildered by events. As planned, Julie’s children had stayed with her while the inquest was taking place. Now they have returned home to the furore of this extraordinary verdict and are extremely distressed.
Julie had visited the Royal Oldham hospital several times complaining of chest pains but been sent away with a diagnosis of heartburn. The post mortem examination revealed she had a severely enlarged heart and had suffered a previous heart attack which had not been diagnosed. Family sources said “It’s a cover up. Cannabis doesn’t kill. They made a big mistake.” Mary Burrows, Julie’s cousin, who was very close to her, said she preferred to smoke cannabis rather than have a drink and that “she was a wonderful mother and her kids miss her so much”.
Dr Mark Eckersley, a local Manchester doctor, said “More and more pressure is being piled on medical professionals to propagate this type of untruth by the powers that be.” He said doctors need to maintain credibility with the community and that “this type of nonsense makes my blood boil”.
A spokesman for the Royal Oldham hospital said “Miss Ryan died from a heart attack and cardiovascular problems. Our thoughts and sympathy go to her family.”
On 2nd November in California, Proposition 19 is expected to permit the personal use of cannabis for the state’s 28 million adults. As a result, new tax revenues of $1.4 billion are anticipated, up to 110,000 new jobs and a boost of up to $18 billion to the state’s economy from spin-offs such as coffee shops and tourism.
In America, any health concerns about the plant are far outweighed by health benefits. Medical cannabis is already regulated in 14 states with another 12 in the planning stage. In Britain, Sativex, a whole plant extract of cannabis, was recently authorised as a treatment for MS. It costs about eight times what medical cannabis costs in America, Holland, Spain, Israel and very shortly Germany, where there is a fully regulated supply chain. In Britain, despite a House Of Lords Scientific Committee recommendation, the government refuses to consider such a move. Many patients whose doctors have prescribed Sativex have been denied funding from their health authority. In some of these cases, criminal prosecutions have been brought against them for cultivating their own plants.
A spokesman for GW Pharmaceuticals, developers of Sativex, said “The therapeutic ratio for cannabis is so high that it is virtually impossible to ingest a fatal dose”.
Prof. David Nutt
Professor David Nutt was sacked as chairman of the Home Office’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs last year after claiming that cannabis was less harmful than alcohol and tobacco. His successor, Professor Les Iversen, also maintains that cannabis has been “incorrectly” called dangerous and says it is one of the “safer recreational drugs”.
On Friday, Professor Nutt said cannabis “seems to cause much less harm than alcohol and that banning the plant is “unjust and therefore undemocratic”. He added: “The previous government’s policy to deter cannabis use by forceful policing increased convictions for cannabis possession from 88,000 in 2004 to 160,000 in 2008. As well as ruining many lives through getting a criminal record, this added massive costs to taxpayers in extra policing and prison costs.”
Prof. Les Iversen
Dr Sami Titi, the pathologist, was unavailable for comment and did not respond to emails. It has not been possible to identify any scientific support for his conclusions.
Julie Ryan’s family is left bemused and uncertain by this verdict. Three children are without a mother and confused about contradictory messages. The 13 year old has been posting on websites about her concerns. Meanwhile, the Public Accounts Committee and the National Audit Office have criticised the government for basing drugs policy on opinion rather than evidence. James Brokenshire, the Home Office Minister, in direct contradiction to his own advisers, continues with the story that cannabis is “extremely harmful”.
James Brokenshire
Both David Cameron and Nick Clegg are on record over the last 10 years as consistently calling for reform in drug policy. The Your Freedom website has been overwhelmed with requests for evidence based regulation of drugs and the legalisation of cannabis but the government is riding roughshod over this public outcry. A consultation document on a new drugs strategy was issued just over a week ago but it seems meaningless and dishonest as all the big decisions have already been taken. Cannabis campaigners, working on behalf of six million regular users in the UK, are outraged at what they see as hypocrisy, misinformation and regressive government action.
Dr Mark Eckersley, exasperated and concerned at the pathologist’s evidence said “This is simply not true. Hearing this story is more likely to cause a heart attack than the ingestion of any cannabinoid”.
Republicans Reveal True Colours To Brits
The story about the mosque being built at Ground Zero has been bubbling away for a few days. This evening, on BBC Radio 4’s “PM” programme an interview with Scott Wheeler of the National Republican Trust fired my interest. In fact, it made me explode with anger.
To start the interview Eddie Mair, the PM frontman, played a radio commercial opposing the construction of the mosque. The NRT has paid for its production and broadcast. It is outrageous. I think it would probably fall foul of the law here for “incitement to racial hatred”.
Here’s the TV version which uses the same audio track. Setting Brush Fires, a US blogger, found this for me.
I’ll repeat that name for you: Scott Wheeler, of the National Republican Trust. He’s the individual promoting these ideas. If the boot was on the other foot he would now be at 30,000 feet on his way to Guantanamo Bay.
I hope that US Republicans are going to tell me that I’m wrong, that he’s a bit of a nutter and he and his cronies are unrepresentative of the mainstream. I hope so because if this is what represents American free speech, for the first time ever, I’m not jealous of their written constitution.
These ideas are every bit as wicked as the preachings of Abu Hamza or Anjem Choudary, the Islamist extremists who have tried to influence Britain. Scott Wheeler is exactly the same but the opposite.
These are the scum of the earth.
The Red Arrows
Portland Harbour 2010
At five o’clock yesterday evening I stood on top of White Horse hill and watched the Red Arrows perform for Weymouth carnival.
From this perfect vantage point I could see them soar a mile high above me then swoop down five or six miles to my left (east), climb again and explode out of formation five or six miles to my right (west).
Portland Harbour 1940
They say the Red Arrows are the best recruiting sergeant that the RAF could possibly have. That is if we have the RAF for very much longer. It looks likely that soon we will have just one integrated service. That makes sense though. In modern times we need an integrated approach using land, sea and air.
Nothing can extinguish or outshine the honour of the RAF or the Army or the Navy, whatever the future holds. As we remember the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, the Red Arrows flew yesterday through the same skies that our young heroes did then in their Spitfires and Hurricanes. Nothing can ever repay our debt to those who enabled Britain to stand alone for more than a year against the Nazis. It is no exaggeration to say that through those dark days they and Britain saved the world. See brilliant BBC story here.
We shall honour them for ever.
The Centre For Social Cohesion – A Zionist Deception
On the BBC’s “Sunday Morning Live”, the director of “The Centre For Social Cohesion”, Douglas Murray, was wheeled out as an apologist for Israel.
The question was “David Cameron causes a stir by calling Gaza a “prison camp”. So is it time for a franker dialogue with the Jewish state? Or are we already too critical of Israel?”
Mad, Bad And Dangerous
Murray tried to defend Israel’s actions in Gaza, in particular coming out with the latest Zioinst propaganda about shopping malls and the “luxury” that Gaza’s inhabitants enjoy.
I agree with David Cameron’s words entirely. I would make just one slight correction. I would call Gaza a “concentration camp” just to make the similarity with the Nazis absolutely clear.
I can only assume that “The Centre For Social Cohesion” is Murray’s personal plaything. It surely cannot be a serious organisation. It is difficult to imagine anyone giving this joker any sort of responsible job. What more pompous and inaccurate title could there be for an organisation that he has anything to do with? He must have made it up himself.
Drivel
It styles itself as “a non-partisan think-tank that studies issues related to community cohesion in the UK. Committed to the promotion of human rights, it is the first think-tank in the UK to specialise in studying radicalisation and extremism within Britain”.
What, with Douglas Murray as its director? How utterly, excruciatingly absurd. His attitudes are as far away from socially cohesive, non-partisan and promoting human rights as it is possible to imagine.
Can the name of this organisation or what it says about itself be covered by the Trades Descriptions Act?
What can right-thinking, honourable and truthful people do to defeat such deception?
Expose him and his organisation for the pariahs that they are. Complain to the BBC here and tell them that we are looking for truth on our televisions, not deception, propaganda and lies.
Obama From Britain
After Bush, to my knowledge, the worst US President ever, I was excited about the prospect of Hilary Clinton in the White House. The election of Barack Obama was simply stunning. For me, it rejuvenated the whole idea of America – the noble principles of the Constitution, the idea that anyone can rise to the very top based on merit alone. It updated that dream by transcending race, prejudice and history.
Ordinary And Extraordinary
As it happened, I watched his inauguration with my parents. I wept at Obama’s words, at the huge symbolism of his achievement, at Jesse Jackson’s overwhelming moment. My Mum & Dad said that it was like Kennedy was for their generation – the sense of new hope and optimism. The same idea that makes me think of Churchill’s “broad sunlit uplands”.
So what’s going on now? I ‘m sure I don’t understand a lot about American politics. I can only see it from my perspective. That means I get most of my news from the BBC. I balance that with a daily trawl through the blogs and online newspapers on the issues that interest me.
In some ways I think the BBC is more British than Britain. In fact, I trust the BBC more than I trust any politician. Its standards and independence preserve our national integrity better than any political leader.
Going online gives me a broader view, often composed of ridiculous extremes as well as mainstream media. There are so many highly literate, super clever bloggers who are completely deluded and beyond any reason. Going online provides an overall summary of all different points of view and sources of information.
I think Obama is a fundamentally decent man. There is a coterie of bloggers who believe he is a Chicago politician just the same as when Al Capone was in town. I think he is bigger than that.
There is also a sisterhood (men and women) of Democrats, bitter supporters of Hilary, who are determined to undermine him. Republicans say he is un-American and claim that he won the election through fraud.
I still have faith in the man. In the horribly murky world of American politics I don’t think he would have risen to the top unless he was very special. I detect authenticity.
The oil spill has been his greatest challenge. I feel that when he speaks for himself, from his heart, he speaks the truth. When he is confused and manipulated by those around him he fails. Many will say I am naive but how can anyone triumph without support? We need leaders who can inspire, who can make us believe in them.
From the very beginning Obama has “extended the hand of friendship” towards Iran but it becomes clearer every day now that the current regime must be condemned without reservation. He has stood up against Israel better than his predecessors and in the overall moral balance that was well overdue. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on the attempted kidnapping of Gary Mckinnon It’s probably not high enough in his priorities to have had his proper consideration yet.
No one was more critical of Gordon Brown and his foolhardy, self-serving government than me but the way that some Americans criticise their leader horrifies me. Some of the conspiracy theories and charges levelled against Obama are worse than those against Hitler or Mengele. There are are so many complete nutters in America I really do wonder what they put in the water.
After re-consideration, from my British perspective, I still have faith in this extraordinary man. I urge him to continue to have the courage of his convictions. I wish he could put aside short term political considerations. I think, almost whatever happens, he will win a second term so he can afford to look at least six years in advance and ignore his critics. I still believe in him.
Disgraceful Betrayal Of Gurkha Heroes
What shambolic, cowardly, civil servant-jobsworth, treacherous nonsense has come out of the Home Office today?
See here for the full story.
The disgusting conduct of Jacqui Smith’s department shames Britain and everyone of us who enjoys freedom won at the cost of Gurkha lives. While she fritters away her expenses and her downtrodden, frustrated husband amuses himself with porn (who can blame him?), these brave, honourable men who have already won their case in the High Court have been knocked back again after months of unnecessary delay.
Not only is the decision itself a disgrace but the way it has been handled is an example of the very worst of Britain. What are these fools in government up to? They really have lost touch with the people and with reality. Gordon’s YouTube cock-up on expenses – can you think of a more stupid idea? A budget based on fantasy, delusion and deceit. Crass stupidity is too generous a description. Gordon, Jacqui, Alistair, you are a laughing stock! You have demonstrated your incompetence and lack of integrity again and again and again. Please just go!
Peter Reynolds 