{"id":16641,"date":"2012-10-23T01:33:01","date_gmt":"2012-10-23T00:33:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/?p=16641"},"modified":"2012-10-23T09:42:06","modified_gmt":"2012-10-23T08:42:06","slug":"major-breakthrough-for-cannabis-law-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/editorials\/major-breakthrough-for-cannabis-law-reform\/","title":{"rendered":"Major breakthrough for cannabis law reform"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mick Meaney<\/a> |<\/p>\n

The British people are finally waking up to the draconian laws surrounding the use of cannabis.\u00a0A new poll conducted by the BBC has revealed that an astounding 69% of people now support decriminalisation.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nImage credit: NORML UK<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Sunday Morning Live Show<\/a>\u00a0examined the issues, presenting a fair and balanced view by giving a platform to campaigners on both sides of the debate.<\/p>\n

The show was joined by\u00a0Peter Hitchens, an anti-cannabis journalist for the Mail on Sunday, who claimed that cannabis use can lead to mental illness – a direct contraction\u00a0to what current scientific research has revealed.<\/p>\n

He also showed himself to be\u00a0uncredible\u00a0by\u00a0incorrectly\u00a0stating that cannabis has already been\u00a0decriminalised.<\/p>\n

James O’brien,\u00a0Germaine Greer and former government drugs advisor Prof. David Nutt, who was famously fired for speaking the truth, also joined the debate.<\/p>\n

Drugs rehab worker, Gary Parker and\u00a0Multiple Sclerosis sufferer and member of NORML UK, Clark French, were also given a platform to share their views.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the\u00a0NORML UK website<\/a>, Clark French said:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cI\u00a0was\u00a0incredibly\u00a0pleased and excited to be invited on BBC1 this morning for a live debate, I had so much to say and so little time to say it, but I am pleased with the points I managed to convey. I hope to build on the current\u00a0momentum and reach out to more television shows to share my story and campaign for our right to use cannabis as a safer form of medicine and recreation.<\/p>\n

\u201cGermaine Greer said \u2018the people have spoken<\/strong>\u2019 I hope the government will take note of this poll and change these unjust laws on cannabis, so people like me can get access to the medicine I need.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The on-air poll asked viewers\u00a0whether\u00a0cannabis should be decriminalised or not. The yes vote received a landslide 69%\u00a0victory with the no vote \u00a0and only receiving 31%.<\/p>\n

The programme follows on from the announcement made last week that a 6 year study from the\u00a0UK Drug Policy Commission (UKDPC) found that cannabis should be likened to \u201cmoderately risky\u201d gambling or junk food.<\/p>\n

However, there is still much confusion in the UK over the legal status of the herb.<\/p>\n

In 2004, cannabis had been reclassified from a Class B drug to a Class C, but in 2009 the government reversed its decision.<\/p>\n

Cannabis was originally outlawed in\u00a01928, despite being used a medicine for over 4000 years. In fact, while big pharma prescription drugs kill around 100,000 people globally each year, cannabis has no toxicity level.<\/p>\n

Research shows that the plant is\u00a0beneficial to patients with a wide range of medical problems including;\u00a0Alzheimer’s,\u00a0Arthritis,\u00a0Multiple sclerosis and\u00a0Glaucoma.<\/p>\n

Scientific research mainly focuses on 2 components of cannabis, THC and CBD, although it is thought that there are around 70 active ingredients, and the medicinal\u00a0benefits\u00a0that are being uncovered from just these two components are astonishing.<\/p>\n

THC is the main psychoactive component and relieves pain.<\/p>\n

The lesser known CBD has been shown to\u00a0increase alertness, and is an anti-psychotic – which possibly reduces schizophrenia. It has also been suggested that it may prevent, or completely stop, cancer growth.<\/p>\n

This wonder-plant also provides uses far beyond the medicinal. For centuries Hemp has been used as food, paper, fabric, building materials and even as an\u00a0\u00a0environmentally friendly fuel.<\/p>\n

When you look at cannabis from this rational point of view, isn’t it obvious how outdated our laws have become?<\/p>\n

If you want to do something about this, take a look at the NORML websites:
\nNORML USA<\/a>
\nNORML UK\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

The campaign is working to reform cannabis laws and is our best hope of change.<\/p>\n

You can watch\u00a0Sunday Morning Live Show\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mick Meaney | The British people are finally waking up to the draconian laws surrounding the use of cannabis.\u00a0A new poll conducted by the BBC has revealed that an astounding 69% of people now support decriminalisation. Image credit: NORML UK The\u00a0Sunday Morning Live Show\u00a0examined the issues, presenting a fair and balanced view by giving a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[461],"tags":[86],"class_list":{"0":"post-16641","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-editorials","7":"tag-drugs"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16641\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}