The way we and several other countries look at drugs completely wrong. The supposed hard line on drugs has only made drug kingpins richer over the years. Some are worth est. several billion! There are huge factories in Mexico making crystal meth, and huge pot and cocaine farms all built from American money because they can sell it at such a high price here. And yet, they give people less time in jail for having powdered cocaine than crack rocks. Its like the way they treat white collar crime vs someone robbing a bank.
You rob a bank by embezzling money you may get 8 years. If you rob a bank by breaking through the wall you get 25. Marijuana should be taken off the list as a dangerous drug. It is always associated with addictive drugs like cocaine, and heroin when it is like comparing ginger ale to gasoline. Amsterdam had no problems with their coffee shops selling marijuana and hash. What they had problems with was people smuggling in heroin from Afghanistan. (that is another topic all together that hasn't been addressed. Thanks to our "help" we have allowed heroin production increase dramatically) On Sat, Oct 31, 2009 at 9:10 AM, Keith Johnson <[email protected]>wrote: > > > Ha-ha! I guess Mr. Nutt learned the hard lesson that they don't always want > you to be honest in office! I'm reminded of C. Everett Koop, who outraged > the right by at least speaking openly about AIDS, and suggesting that sex > education be beefed up--in elementary school! And who, by comparing the > dangers of tobacco to those of hard drugs, stunned and angered all manner of > folk. I think of of Jocelyn Elders, who was fired for frankly discussing > issues of sexuality. Or of Lani Guinier, who lost a chance to be Assistant > Attorney General for Civil Rights because her views were deemed to extreme > in terms of supporting Affirmative Action and proportional voter > representing. How could she?! What kind of Civil Rights attorney would > actually endorse--Civil Rights?! :) > > Oh well, maybe Mr. Nutt will be another in a long line of people who learns > that he can affect more substantive change from an activist/educator > position outside of government than from within its confining workings. > Incidentally, I can't speak to ecstasy, but I absolutely agree with him on > marijuana. I can't remember the last time I read of a fatal car accident > being caused by someone smoking a joint, or heard of a man beating his wife > in a cannibas-induced fury. I'm not crazy about smoking *anything*, and I > don't use drugs or drink, and have never done either (You hear that, Mr. > Potential Employer Who's Googling Me?!) > > But if we're gonna be honest, let's quit pretending that alcohol is somehow > any safer or morally correct than some other forms of recreation people > choose. > > ************************************************************** > > http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6897905.ece > > The UK’s drugs czar, who was sacked for publicly criticising government > policy, has branded Gordon Brown and his cabinet "irrational Luddites". > > Professor David Nutt, who was dismissed as chairman of the Advisory Council > on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) yesterday after he claimed that illegal drugs > such as cannabis and ecstasy are less dangerous than alcohol and tobacco, is > warning that more senior scientific advisors are set to walk out over the > row over drug classification. > > He was asked to resign by Home Secretary Alan Johnson, who claimed he has > "lost confidence" in the expert’s political impartiality. > > Today, Professor Nutt claimed Gordon Brown’s government was alienating > themselves from the scientific community appointed to advise them. > Related Links > > - Home Secretary sacks drugs adviser > <http://tol/news/politics/article6897209.ece> > > > - Removal of David Nutt is warning to others > <http://tol/news/politics/article6897497.ece> > > He said: "Gordon Brown makes completely irrational statements about > cannabis being 'lethal', which it is not. > > “He is the first Prime Minister, this is the first Government, that has > ever in the history of the Misuse of Drugs Act gone against the advice of > its scientific panel. > > “And then it did it again with ecstasy, and I have to say, it’s not about > [me] overstepping the line, it’s about the Government overstepping the line. > > > “They are making scientific decisions before they’ve even consulted with > their experts.” > > Professor Nutt, who has been a vocal critic of the Government’s > reclassification of cannabis from Class C back to Class B, claims that many > of the other 30 members of the drugs advisory council could also be set to > resign. > > “I know that my committee was very, very upset by the attitude the Prime > Minister took over cannabis. We actually formally wrote to him to complain > about it.” > > “I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them stepped down. Maybe all of them > will. I'm not prepared to mislead the public about the harmfulness of drugs > like cannabis and ecstasy. > > "I think most scientists will see this as a further example of the Luddite > attitude of this Government, and possible future governments.” > > Professor Nutt’s sacking came after he used a lecture at King’s College, > London, and a briefing paper, to attack what he called the “artificial” > separation of alcohol and tobacco from illegal drugs. > > He had previously claimed that the risks of taking Class A drug ecstasy > were no greater than those of frequent horse riding. > > In a letter to the professor, Mr Johnson accused him of crossing the line > from evidence-based scientist to political activist. > > He wrote: “It is important that the Government’s messages on drugs are > clear and as an adviser you do nothing to undermine the public understanding > of them. > > “As my lead adviser on drugs harms, I am afraid the manner in which you > have acted runs contrary to your responsibilities. > > “I cannot have public confusion between scientific advice and policy and > have therefore lost confidence in your ability to advise me as chair of the > ACMD.” > > > > -- Bringing diversity to perversity for over 9 years! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/
