UK Federal Drug Advisor Says Cannabis Safer Than Alcohol

[Puffin13]

UK Federal Drug Advisor Says Cannabis Safer Than Alcohol

The UK's chief drug advisor to the federal government has suggested Ecstasy, LSD and cannabis are less dangerous to society than alcohol and cigarettes.

The possession and use of Ecstasy, LSD and cannabis are punished much more severely that similar crimes with alcohol and cigarettes in both the UK and the US, leading many to question whether the nation's drug policy is on target with real information.

David Nutt, who is the acting chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, says the repeat classification of certain drugs as dangerous and others, like alcohol and cigarettes, as not dangerous is a blatant disregard for scientific evidence. The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, was responsible for originally reclassifying cannabis.

A Class B drug classification is actually a downgrade from cannabis's former Class A status in the UK. However, it is still placed in a category that makes it a highly risky drug, and it is still considered criminal, where alcohol and cigarettes are not. Nutt says scientific research points to the opposite fact, that cannabis is not highly risky, and that it in fact presents only a small risk of danger. He is proposing a "harm" index that would classify drugs according to real statistics on how they harm society.

According to the advisor's "harm" index, the most harmful drugs are: cocaine, heroin, barbituates and methadone. These are followed closely by alcohol, which takes the fifth place spot. Tobacco is placed in ninth place, ahead of cannabis, LSD and Ecstasy. He published this opinion in a paper for the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at Kind's College London.

Nutt has been arguing for years that alcohol should be rated more harmful than other drugs. He first suggested the harm index in 2007. In fact, he goes so far as to say taking Ecstasy is no more dangerous than riding horses frequently.

He says the government has long placed an "artificial" separation on the drugs tobacco and alcohol. The separation is due to their widespread use, but it is even more due to the ability for the government to generate a healthy tax revenue from these drugs.

These statements come at the same time the Obama Administration has announced a policy to no longer prosecute use of federally illegal drugs in states where they are legal. For example, federal raids on cannabis facilities in California were a constant threat in the past even though California is one of the states providing for legal use of the substance with a medical prescription.

Now, the federal government will only look to enforcement if the action is against both state and federal laws. This move was long expected due to previous statements from the Administration, but it was only now made official.

The government has maintained, however, it will still punish those who drive under the influence of the drug. It is illegal to drive under the influence of cannabis in all states that provide for its legal use.

Source
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[Ash333]

The UK is not a Federation. The US is, and the EU could be argued to be. How can one be expected to read a news story and accept it as true when the author clearly does not understand the words which he is writing? The headline stopped me getting any further...
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Free Marc!

[Kingdoc]

Yes its the talk of the airwaves here puffin,& They went against there own people`s advice thats the weird thing in all this.

[echc1]

the wishes of the people were crushed under the jackboots of jaqui and gordo.......remember they are sooooooo trustworthy....NOT......now she's outta office and he's on his way out the door the real facts come available,strange that

[stonerdave79]

jaqui the porn collector was on question time last night and she was asked about this,her answers were bad.she was saying that he was there to advise and she was the one who decided what happens.
What is point of having qualifed people telling us that its safe and then she goes against her goverenment advisors,She was talking about how this new skunk is not the same as the stuff in 60s n that,Dimbleby then asked her if her advisor knew of this stuff and had it been in his report.yes,she replyed. she was shot down a few times.There was plenty more detail in what was said,im stoned at minute and cant remeber everything that was said.
All the things the labour lot have told me in the past i no who i will be trusting on this 1.Free the weed

p.s. sorry about spelling mistakes n all

[Fat Freddie]

[darkglobe]

Just saw him on 6pm bbc news ,saying how he got so frustated by the Luddite attitudes of Brown and his gang...great interview...
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Fuck the customs...

[Kingdoc]

Yes kermit it was on the 6pm news,They govt dont let the grass grown i give them that! (no pun intended).

[Dobern]

For fuck's sake. That's all I say on the matter.

[echc1]

i saw the interview....kudos to him he told it how it was and the junta didn't like it.......it seems anything that doesn't toe the "party line" gets banned or vetoed.......just as an obsevation;the next news item featured robert mugabe ,another very similar DICTATOR who also like the fingers in ears going" lalalala" technique........how can we trust these politicians? ..answer: we can't;they spend millions to be elected for a job that pays a few 100 thousand.....sounds a bit daft until they screw each and every country they happen to be in out of as much money as they can...and then tell us it for our own good!!! VIVA THE REVOLUTION