Individual,
I’m glad to know that you approve of medicinal cannabis.

“ANYthing is bad if used or produced out of proportion”
True. We all have to be aware of the quantity and quality of substances we put into our systems as much as possible.
Cannabis would be a safer drug to take when regulated and controlled by the government than by maffia-like underground dealers.

Even IF cannabis was a threat to our health in the same way as tobacco or alcohol, this is all the more reason to regulate it.

Moderate, recreational users of alcohol are able to function socially and in their work in the same way as moderate cannabis users are.
I personally know quite a few marijuana users with responsible occupations and who are successful, including a dentist, a robot engineer and a published, award-winning author.
For them, marijuana relaxes and reduces stress. It helps the author overcome ‘writers block’ and get creative juices flowing.

I view marijuana in the same way as I view alcohol- use it in moderation and there is no problem. Use it irresponsibly and over-indulge regularly and one can become dysfunctional.

Apparently, fundamental religion has created some nut cases as well, while the moderately religious function well.
We’d be wise also to not over-indulge in hype from the media about drugs or we lose our balanced view :)

Fractelle,
I have to admit that I was oblivious to the extent big businesses like oil companies have influenced the hemp industry. This certainly explains a few questions I had. Thanks for this article, it inspires me to do some more research on this.

Examinator,
There is no evidence that decriminalisation/legalisation of cannabis leads to increased use.

I’d agree if you said that there needs to be restrictions of our rights when we are under the influence of drugs like alcohol or cannabis- e.g. we need to give up the right to drive.
Taking a drug in itself should not be a crime as this harms nobody.
We need to be held responsible for our actions whether or not we’ve taken a drug.

I have no problem with using cannabis in a controlled manner when its use facilitates a prescribed medical course of treatment or procedure.

We do, after all, grow the opium poppy in Tasmania for the same purpose.

However, my view to its illegal trade remains as it does will all and every illegal drug, that the illegal dealers are deserving (upon a second offence) of the ultimate criminal sanction.

I see fractelle trawled the “altnews” conspiracies-r-us to find some dross to supposedly support the litany of pseudo-facts commonly espoused by the semi-literate agitators.

Cevelia “There is no evidence that decriminalisation/legalisation of cannabis leads to increased use.”

And there is no evidence that its legalization would reduce its use.

Trading in a drug which induces paranoia is a heinous act.
Using a drug which induces paranoia is stupidity.

Even as a libertarian, I can understand that we have a moral responsibility to protect the habitually stupid from themselves.

ruawake,

I actually believe that Cannabis has some beneficial properties, and that those in need should not be denied.

The question is how to do this while preventing its misuse. The two things that could do this are:
- Only allow doctors in the relevant field to prescribe ie. oncologists,
- Make the users register on a national data base (restricted access to pharmacists) so that limited quantities are issued. Much like what is done for ritalin etc.

The point I was trying to make with the previous post is that the strictures should be even tighter for tobacco.

I suffer from chronic pain which is only partly relieved by a combination of opioid and neuropathic drugs (along with exercise, meditation and CBT). I would welcome the opportunity to try cannabis to see if it helps reduce my pain. Drugs used for pain control do not normally lead to addiction. I imagine cannabis would be the same. There may be a causal link between over-use of cannabis and psychotic illness, however, the amounts used therapeutically are much smaller.

I agree that if marijuana became legal, it should be subject to tight controls. Some of my current drugs can be prescribed only after consultation with two doctors, for others, the doctor must be registered specifically to prescribe that drug. Marijuana would need similar controls.

But it is odd that our laws permit me to use heavy opioids (some made from Tasmania poppies) but do not allow the use of much less potent THC.

Ted
Your question is entirely valid and is the reason I started researching the history of cannabis use. And I continue:

John Craig Lupien, writes in his very comprehensive history: UNRAVELING AN AMERICAN DILEMMA: THE DEMONIZATION OF MARIHUANA

http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/history/conspiracy_toc.htm

“The surge of commercial interest in utilizing hemp to produce paper, plastics, and textiles crucially affected the Bureau’s decision to launch its final assault against marihuana in 1935. Without a doubt, the Bureau was fully aware of the promising economic potential of hemp, and, between 1935 and 1937, this observation was rapidly becoming an economic reality. It certainly seems rather ironic that the marihuana issue spontaneously mushroomed into “the greatest narcotic peril in America” during the same period of time.”

Commercial hemp and narcotic marijuana became linked as one and the same product, hence a sustainable and valuable industry was effectively eradicated.

There is substantial evidence for medicinal cannabis and, as Ted rightly points out, we grow medicinal heroin, so why the problem with marijuana?

Compare the toxicity with alcohol:

According to research conducted by Jack E. Henningfield, PhD for NIDA, Reported by Philip J. Hilts, New York Times, Aug. 2, 1994 "Is Nicotine Addictive?" Marijuana is far less addictive than alcohol. ……. Marijuana has been smoked by nearly 50% of all Americans, and only 1% of that number smoke regularly. When compared to the ratio of alcoholics to the total people who tried alcohol, marijuana intake frequency is ten times lower.

There are hundreds of reported deaths due to alcohol consumption. The consumption of alcohol, and it's resulting impairment also directly cause tens of thousands of deaths in the U.S. each year. In 2001, there were 331 alcohol overdose deaths, while 0 marijuana overdose deaths. Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC)."

Now I am not against the occasional glass of red, but since when has alcohol offered the range of products that is possible with cannabis?

Legalising pot would immediately eliminate the black market and allow controls on the THC levels, which at present have no limits and I find too strong for personal consumption.

Firstly, there is no such thing as "addiction", only habitual behaviour. Anyone who says otherwise is kidding no one.
Secondly, the only reason marijuana is considered an illegal substance here in Australia is on the say so of a cross dressing law enforcement loony from the US back during prohibition.
Thirdly, if the government had any sense, they'd put the kooris in charge of growing and supplying pot legitimately and split the profits with them. Taxation, control and welfare dealt with in one hit.
Fourthly, to those who say it promotes the onset of schizophrenia, so does alcohol ABUSE, probably moreso. I know this because my uncle was a schizophrenic alcoholic who took his own life. My cousin controls HIS schizophrenia with a hideous cocktail of prescription drugs. No pot use, but a fair slurp of ALCOHOL involved there, too. Nevertheless, a predisposition must exist and self accountability comes into play, in those cases. No excuses.
The tobacco and alcohol industries provide our government(s) with a lot of revenue. Employing a similar model for pot would gain similar revenue results without the health spend, methinks.
My opinion.