The release of the recent survey that showed that most young people now believe that cannabis ‘causes schizophrenia’ goes to show how effective the government’s propaganda and misinformation campaign has been. I expect programs like ACA and Today Tonight to mercilessly bang the government's pots and pans on any issue they want promoted but I have been mortally disappointed in the ABC for propagating these misinformations.

I wonder who is monitoring the ABC for ‘right-wing bias’? I was absolutely appalled when last year Four Corners, which used to be the gold-standard in tv journalism, ran a program pushing the government’s specific line of misinformation on the subject. Recently the 7:30 Report toed the same line. I wonder if the right-wing propaganda promotion is the price the ABC has to pay to fend off accusations of left-wing bias?

Actually - to be fair - I recall a programme on ABC Radio National's "Big Ideas" on January 14th this year that addressed many of the popular misconceptions about marijuana.

During that (excellent) programme they explained and debated the "media and political spin" at work and some of the motives behind it.

For what it's worth, the notion that 70% of pot smokers are schizophreneic is a mis-translation of the true fact that 70% of schizophrenics are pot-smokers - a subtle but important distinction.
Many are drawn to this drug to relieve symptoms of an existing illness.

The sudden high media profile given to this drug was also reported to be the result of political rather than social pressure.

The problem with cannabis laws is that they are not based on the 'truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth'.
Long term cannabis use does not always lead to use of other illicit drugs, just as long term use of alcohol does not always lead to the use of hard liquor and alcoholism.
Long term use of cannabis does not always lead to mental disorders.
While cannabis can be detected in drivers weeks after they use it, it doesn't mean that it always lowers their driving ability weeks after its use.
Cannabaloids (an active ingredient in cannabis) are found in all human beings.
Further info can be found at many websites including LEAP.com ( Law Enforcement officers Against Prohibition (of cannabis).
Become enlightened, not frightened.

This is a very informative site on the subject as it discusses the healthbenefits from this beautiful plant.
http://www.globalhemp.com/Archives/Essays/Hempseed/hempseed1.html
Make sure to look on the right column of this site.
The history of its uses has been well documented as so many products have been made from it before and during ww2. From food,uniforms to a type of bakelite and medicine you name it.It's a shame that industrial clout (oil&coal companies) have gotten the hand in this also.

You are obviously monitoring the ABC for 'Right wing bias' Rob. I hope you have lots and lots of time as you will surely need it.

Posted by wobbles, Monday, 26 February 2007 9:07:11 AM
"Actually - to be fair - I recall a programme on ABC Radio National's "Big Ideas" on January 14th this year that addressed many of the popular misconceptions about marijuana."

Probably need to differentiate abctv from abcradio – they are 2 quite separate 'functional entities' as I understand it.

As Gore Vidal pointed, out in a democracy the controlling mainstream don’t have to worry about 100% media suppression-or-control all they have to worry about is 'prime-time' ie, the major media funnels. If they control all the big avenues of ‘information’ they control enough to get their electoral majorities and that is all they need to govern.

This suggests that it is even profitable for the controlling mainstream to be showing minority voices in non-major media slots because it allows the non-mainstream to feel they do actually have a voice. In this respect it acts as a pressure-release valve for people who might otherwize be more militantly discontent. It also allows the Government to claim to be fair-minded, saying that they afford fringe groups coverage commensurate with their constituency. This adds to their ‘street-cred’ as a free-society to those with no idea of what a free society would be like.

cont

....inue

“For what it's worth, the notion that 70% of pot smokers are schizophreneic is a mis-translation of the true fact that 70% of schizophrenics are pot-smokers - a subtle but important distinction.”

I didn’t see the program, is that a quote? Because there is nothing subtle about that distinction if that mistake has been made. Seventy percent of pot smokers could be 13 million people – if you believe the hype about one time use causing schizophrenia all one time users would have to be included. The same proportion of schizophrenics would probably be about 65 thousand. Last I heard incidence of schizophrenia were about 1 in 250 and interestingly stable across both cultures and time periods.

“The sudden high media profile given to this drug was also reported to be the result of political rather than social pressure.”

Yes, it comes across in the misinformation. If people are genuinely making mistakes interpreting data they all make different mistakes – when all the mistakes are all the same right across various media formats – you hear the single voice behind them all.

Moderator: Where do I send Suggestions for changes to the site on update?

Rob513264

I downloaded a Podcast of the radio programme but it’s since been removed from the site.

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bigideas/stories/2007/1817650.htm

The discussion was not about justifying its use – rather about dispelling some myths that surround it.

The quote I mentioned was that “up to 70% of people with schizophrenia use marijuana, often regularly, often heavily, and will end up in a very bad way with regard to their long-term outcome”. It was not a justification for it’s use – rather a warning that people with these illnesses should NOT be using marijuana. Unfortunately, the “drivers” that attract people toward substance abuse are more predominant in schizophrenics so it’s a bigger problem for them than for the general population.

Several other myths were exposed (data about the comparative strength of hydroponics etc) and the politics behind it all.

The comparative social harm caused by alcohol abuse was also interesting.

Posted by wobbles, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 8:06:10 AM
‘The quote I mentioned was that “up to 70% of people with schizophrenia use marijuana, often regularly, often heavily, and will end up in a very bad way with regard to their long-term outcome”. It was not a justification for it’s use – rather a warning that people with these illnesses should NOT be using marijuana. Unfortunately, the “drivers” that attract people toward substance abuse are more predominant in schizophrenics so it’s a bigger problem for them than for the general population.’

It sounds like it was an interesting program. Yes. that quote is very different from, ‘70% of pot smokers are schizophrenic’ which you cited earlier. As a parent whose schizophrenic son gets psychotic episodes triggered by cannabis I have to wonder at its widespread use by people suffering this condition. If it just makes them feel worse the obvious thing for anyone to do would be to stop using it. So, I think it is perhaps a little simplistic to write off its widespread use to simple ‘substance abuse’.

I wonder if there is not also a powerful positive effect that these people gain from use of the drug and that the psychotic episodes are more like an unwanted side-effect that they suffer through their attempts at self-medication. After all, as a society, we accept many side-effects from many medications in trade-off against their positive effects. I am not implying that the trade-off is necessarily worthwhile but simply that there may be some valid reason why schizophrenics continue to use cannabis despite its negative effects.

'...recent survey that showed that most young people now believe that cannabis ‘causes schizophrenia’...'

I find this quite disturbing, particularly since young people are binge drinking more than ever. Alcohol is considered a perfectly acceptable drug (and quite often forgotten that it is, in fact, a drug. If I see one more 'Drug and Alcohol' free event I'm going to scream. It is so unhelpful to make the suggestion that alcohol is somehow independant of the 'drug' category), while the reputation of cannibus, a significantly less harmful drug, is in the gutter.

This misconception among the young can only be a direct result of a deliberate and systematic campaign of misinformation within the educational system and media. That children believe such obvious fallacies cannot be an accident.

So what possible motivation could there be for the perpetuation of the harmful and dangerous lie that 'alcohol = acceptable, cannibus = not'?

**ed if I know. But maybe its got something to do with 'soma' from brave new world, or that gross gin stuff in 1984.

Valid conspiracy theory? Or just spendocrat smoking too many bongs? YOU BE THE JUDGE!

See y'all in another couple of weeks

70% of schizophrenics breathe air, perhaps more.