Peter Reynolds

Sir David Nutt

"I'm so stoned...I don't know what I'm doing..."

Nothing more clearly demonstrates the complete absence of integrity in this inane, corrupt government than the sacking of Sir David Nutt.   I had always admired Alan Johnson.  Now he shows himself to be just as stupid and dumb as any of Gordon’s cronies.

Cannabis is a benign, natural herb that has been used as a medicine and recreational relaxant for over 4,000 years until politicians took a dislike to it just over 100 years ago.  Since then, despite dozens of “studies” across the world, each one of which has been specifically tasked to condemn it as dangerous, no harm has been proven.  Nevertheless, from Richard Nixon to Gordon Brown, myopic, paranoid, self-serving, tabloid-worshipping politicians have imposed more and more severe penalties for its use.

In the 50s the argument was that it made white women promiscuous with black men.  The standard of discussion has barely improved since.  The recent government sponsored hysteria over psychosis in adolescents is now revealed as utter nonsense in the face of the facts.

So why do politicians continue to persecute those who use cannabis?  What’s in it for them?  After all there is overwhelming evidence to show that a properly regulated cannabis supply could be a huge source of new taxation revenue for government and that regulation would drastically reduce all the harm that is caused by prohibition.

Off His Head

It’s more difficult to accept this argument in respect of  heroin and cocaine because these are harmful substances but look at the evidence from Holland, Switzerland, Portugal and many other places.  There can be little doubt that if the supply and distribution of drugs was regulated rather than prohibited then the harm caused would be reduced enormously.  Furthermore, decriminalisation would drastically – and I mean DRASTICALLY – reduce crime at all levels.  Street crime is all about theft and robbery in order to fund the purchase of drugs.  International organised crime and terrorism is all about the drugs trade.  End prohibition, start regulation and you pull the rug from under criminals at all levels.  It would transform our society and save thousands of lives.

So I ask again – why?  What do politicians gain from such a fundamentally stupid policy?  At a stroke they could cut out the majority of both street and serious crime  and  massively reduce the funding of terrorism.

Cannabis was first demonised because hemp was an early rival to the oil industry.  Before diesel came biodiesel.  Rudolph Diesel designed his engine to run on peanut or hemp oil.  Henry Ford designed his Model T to run on bioethanol produced from hemp and planted hundreds of acres on his own farms for that purpose – then along came oil.  More importantly along came the early investors in the oil industry, specifically Randolph Hearst, owner and controller of the biggest propaganda and disinformation machine ever known to man.  He started the the “Reefer Madness” campaign and promoted the lie against cannabis.  Hemp was outlawed in favour of oil and we have since spent 100 years burning oil, becoming more and more reliant on its byproducts, destroying our planet and persecuting those who use cannabis.

Politicans are cowards.  They were bribed and cajoled by big money to turn against cannabis in the first place.  They do not have the vision or the common sense to see past the mess they have got themselves in over drugs policy.  In a very real way they are more responsible than anyone else for the misery, death and chaos casued by the drugs trade which they actually support through their stupidity.

This government might as well have a committee of tabloid newspaper editors advising it on drugs rather than scientists.  All over the world politicans have let us all down over drugs policy.  Why?  Because they are cowardly, self-serving and only interested in short term political expediency.