Cannabis to be returned to class B status

[trowie246]

Yes, your right MaxFusion - there is plenty of medication used that is both addictive and dangerous. That is why it is prescribed by a doctor who is usually prescribing it for a reason ( depression, severe pain etc)

 

People who drink alcohol, smoke or take drugs of any kind do it for "recreation" purposes ( for want of a better expression) I actually agree with Fjool in that its really not going to make any difference which "class" cannabis is put into. It doesn't matter to me whether it is A, B, C, or Z and it won't matter to the teenagers who want to experiment with it. It shouldn't be a criminal matter.

 

I don't know what the Royal Collage of Psychiatrists definition of "withdrawal" is. The information I found is from a leaflet they produce to try and educate people re. cannabis and is published on their website. I certainly think that educating youngsters is the way to go but at the end of the day teenagers/youngsters think they are invincible and that "it's not going to happen to me" but it doesn't help if people are going to argue with the information that is out there.

 

It reminds me of when it was proven for definate that smoking causes lung cancer. People were forever saying that " My grandad was a heavy smoker all his life and he died of old age in his 90's" So more or less dismissing it. I would always say " He must have been in the lucky 50%"

People will always believe they are in the "lucky 50%" but there is the flip side to that and some aren't all that lucky.

[ArabiaTerra]

You also suffer withdrawal symtoms which is comparitable to someone stopping smoking.

 

People can develop an absolute "need" to have it and they can become highly irritable and agitated when they can't get it.

I can tell you from personal experience of giving up cannabis (successfully) and trying to give up smoking (unsuccessfully so far) that the above statement is complete rubbish. There is no comparison between the addictive properties of dope (non-existent) and tobacco (absolutely hellish).

[trowie246]

Arabia Terra, can I ask you why you gave up cannabis?

[KOYAANISQATSI]

You also suffer withdrawal symtoms which is comparitable to someone stopping smoking.

 

Comparitable in the same way as deciding not to wear the green hat when you go out for a walk is comparitable to chewing both your own legs off when you go out for a walk.

[ArabiaTerra]

Arabia Terra, can I ask you why you gave up cannabis?

To be honest, I think I just grew out of it/got bored with it though I will still occasionally have a toke if someone else is smoking. The thing is, you can just have an occasional spliff if you fancy. Try doing that with tobacco and you'll be smoking again pretty quick.

[trowie246]

Is cannabis addictive?

It has some of the features of addictive drugs such as:

 

tolerance – having to take more and more to get the same effect

withdrawal symptoms. These have been shown in heavy users and include:

- craving

 

- decreased appetite

 

- sleep difficulty

 

- weight loss

 

- aggression and/or anger

 

- irritability

 

- restlessness

 

- strange dreams.

 

These symptoms of withdrawal produce about the same amount of discomfort as withdrawing from tobacco.

 

 

 

For regular, long-term users:

 

3 out of 4 experience cravings;

half become irritable;

7 out of 10 switch to tobacco in an attempt to stay off cannabis.

 

 

The irritability, anxiety and problems with sleeping usually appear 10 hours after the last joint, and peak at around one week after the last use of the drug.

 

 

 

Compulsive use

 

The user feels they have to have it and spends much of their life seeking, buying and using it. They cannot stop even when other important parts of their life (family, school, work) suffer.

 

 

You are most likely to become dependent on cannabis if you use it every day.

 

 

The above is an extract from the leaflet produced by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

 

Anyway, we're splitting hairs now as most people who have given an opinion on here think that there is a psychological dependence on cannabis if nothing else. Thank you for answering my question Arabia Terra. I've never tried cannabis and don't intend to. Seeing a young teenager who was diagnosed with 'drug-induced schizophrenia' while I was a student-nurse at Kingseat hospital was enough not to be tempted to try it when I was offered.

[Siffy]

Personally i think the addiction that many claim to have or claim to happens to cannabis users is down to an addictive personality or an addictive genetic makeup.

It wouldnt matter what these certain people smoke/drink even gamble etc they would become addicted.

As for cannabis causing schizophrenia and other mental health issues, these poeple probably have mental health problems before they even start smoking.

Its not the dope that causes the problems its the mental state of those people who use it.

[Pooks]

[mod]Several posts have been removed from this thread. Could all posters please be reminded to try and keep the posts relevant to the topic and refrain from childish antics. You know who you are.[/mod]

[Styles]

I hate smokeing, will niver doo it, have to admit all my close pals took dope, i looked like an idiot, just glad i drunk like a fish.

[KOYAANISQATSI]

These symptoms of withdrawal produce about the same amount of discomfort as withdrawing from tobacco.

 

Very wrong

 

The user feels they have to have it and spends much of their life seeking, buying and using it. They cannot stop even when other important parts of their life (family, school, work) suffer.

 

Is this user someone they know, because it sounds like a personal report by someone who seems to be taking more than they can cope with and if they think they can't stop, then it may be more to do with personal control over their own actions, than the drug itself.

 

You are most likely to become dependent on cannabis if you use it every day.

 

If I use every day, I will be a regular user; not dependent.

I drink coffee (a lot) every day and eat meat too. If I had to choose one out of the three I had to go today without; it would be the cannabis, because I do need the other two but I am only truly addicted to one of them, 'the coffee'.

 

decreased appetite

 

Yes, someone else will get a look at the chocolate biscuits.

 

craving

decreased appetite

sleep difficulty

weight loss

aggression and/or anger

irritability

restlessness

strange dreams.

 

Lies and stretched truths most relating to perhaps the day after running out. A dope hangover, tiny when compared to, say an alcohol hangover.

 

3 out of 4 experience cravings

 

8 out of 10 cats prefare it.

 

7 out of 10 switch to tobacco in an attempt to stay off cannabis

 

9 out of 10 will have been long hooked on the fags. Many find they smoke a lot less fags if they have the odd joint.

 

Seeing a young teenager who was diagnosed with 'drug-induced schizophrenia'

 

This would be an individual case study statement, with not much backup details on where, when, and why and it's a bit of a stretch to use it as an excuse to persecute millions using criminal justice resources.

 

I've never tried cannabis and don't intend to.

 

Can't fault you here.

Using and being allowed to exercise personal choice over your own body is, one would hope, a right to be shared by everyone.

 

 

P.S -

tolerance – having to take more and more to get the same effect

 

If this was anything close to the truth, by now I would have to smoke my way through an entire Jamaican harvest before I got the head on.

[trowie246]

I'm sorry KOYAANISQATSI there is a lot of your argument I just don't understand and to be blunt I can't be bothered to get into because then we would be getting into the argument of "what is addiction/dependence?"

 

I think if you read some of my earlier posts you might see the point I was trying to make but if not I will try to spell it out

 

a) some people can take cannabis and enjoy it with no ill effects. They can stop taking it with no ill effects.

 

some people take it and it takes over their lives. Someone wrote in an earlier post about the youngster who stayed in his room all day smoking pot.

 

c) some people develop mental illness. There is plenty of research been done and now they are more sure than ever that taking cannabis can lead on to mental illness in some people. There has been research done into whether schizophrenics take cannabis to relieve symptoms rather than become mentally ill because they use cannabis but research shows that the latter is the more likely to be the case.

 

Obviously everyone would like to fall in to the bracket a) group of being able to enjoy it with no ill-effects. But how do you know when you first try it that you will?

 

It is accurate what someone wrote about the different strenghts of cannabis and that it is the 'skunk' that is the higher strength cannabis and although I haven't looked at the research in great depth as far as I know it is with skunk that the research was conducted with.

 

As far as making life choices goes, that's fine we all do that everyday but has most 14 year olds got enough good judgement to make that choice?

Will they be asking what strength the cannabis is when they are offered their first spliff?

 

The young patient at Kingseat left a big impression on me as he was so tormented by auditory and visual hallucinations that he was unable to communicate and lay outside under a tree all day. If I could go back and ask the psychiatrist how he had reached his diagnosis I would but unfortunately I can't.

[KOYAANISQATSI]

As far as making life choices goes, that's fine we all do that everyday but has most 14 year olds got enough good judgement to make that choice?

Will they be asking what strength the cannabis is when they are offered their first spliff?

 

Do you think upgrading cannabis will help make life choices easier for 14 year olds or that they will find out more truths about the types of strengths available if it is kept more illegal.

 

The young patient at Kingseat left a big impression on me as he was so tormented by auditory and visual hallucinations that he was unable to communicate and lay outside under a tree all day.

 

He didn't say where he went to score, by any chance, did he

[trowie246]

What made you think I am in favour of upgrading ?

[KOYAANISQATSI]

There has been research done into whether schizophrenics take cannabis to relieve symptoms rather than become mentally ill because they use cannabis but research shows that the latter is the more likely to be the case.

 

You do seem to tow the governments line, in that they know what makes a person schizophrenic, if you follow only the research that makes the point (badly) that says cannabis is to blame and therefore must remain banned.

 

there was still no conclusive evidence that cannabis use causes psychotic illness.

Their prediction that 14% of psychotic outcomes in young adults in the UK may be due to cannabis use is not supported by the fact that the incidence of schizophrenia has not shown any significant change in the past 30 years.

 

The idea that reclassification upwards will do anything to reduce psychosis is naive and runs the risk of perversely inflicting even greater suffering - through increasing criminal sanctions - on vulnerable individuals already afflicted with mental illness.

[JAStewart]

Cannabis use increases risk of psychotic illness

 

I don't really know what to think of it, because New Scientist and the quotes from the Professors KOY supplied are both accurate/trusty sources I assume.