[Press Release from Canna Zine

 >http://pr.cannazine.co.uk/content/view/705/1/ ]

October 2 2008

“Cannabis Prohibition” Causes More Harm Than Cannabis: Report

Of particular note are the crippling social harms arising from arrest and imprisonment.

The report concludes “Policies that control cannabis, whether draconian or liberal, appear to have little impact on the prevalence of consumption.”

The authors suggest there is evidence that “the current system of cannabis regulation is not working, and … there needs to be a serious rethink if we are to minimise the harms caused by cannabis use,” which would back up former ACMD Chairman Professor Sir Michael Rawlins and the recommendations he gave at the request of the Home Secretary back in March 2008.

According to the report, there are now more than 160 million users of the drug worldwide and at face value that would seem to be enough proof that cannabis is not a fraction of the social issue which comes as a by-product of alcohol abuse.

Which suggests perhaps the further criminalisation of responsible adults who choose to consume cannabis in the privacy of their own homes, is a needless and senseless move on the part of the Home Office?

According to a joint poll run in conjunction with the United Nations and the World Health Organisation (WHO) recently, almost half the population of the United States (41%) admits experimenting with cannabis, and yet psychosis statistics in the US run close to those in the UK at around 1% of the population. which disproves the Home Office and its primary reason for upping the classification of cannabis.

“Although cannabis can have a negative impact on health, including mental health, in terms of relative harms it is considerably less harmful than alcohol or tobacco.” A conclusion reached recently by respected medical journal “The Lancet”, which found nicotine and alcohol to be far more of a social issue in terms of real harms caused, than cannabis, heroin or cocaine.

“Historically, there have only been two deaths worldwide attributed to cannabis(citation needed), whereas alcohol and tobacco together are responsible for an estimated 150,000 deaths per annum in the UK alone,” and this according to governments own figures.

In the United States currently, which is the undoubted world benchmark when it comes to cannabis abuse, 1 in 99 US citizens is in prison for a cannabis charge of some sort, adding weight to the argument against draconian laws against cannabis and its users.

*Do you agree with the reclassification of cannabis? Or do you disagree?

Vernon Coaker was one of the first Cabinet ministers to admit his own cannabis experimentations as a student, and yet today he is a prime mover in the government’s attempts to get cannabis reclassified to a class B drug which brings with it more court appearances, higher fines, and longer prison sentences simply for having a small amount of cannabis in your possession.

Have your say on new Canna Zine cannabis forums

On his website, Mr Coaker is asking whether you agree with the reclassification of cannabis, or whether you disagree. You can leave your answer by visiting [HERE

 >http://www.vernon-coaker-mp.co.uk/polls?PollId=e2bacc28-0f8e-9e94-511a-cf09b78cfb80]

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