47cc9701   
   XPost: uk.legal, uk.politics.drugs   
   From: Blah@hotmail.com   
      
   sobriquet wrote:   
   > On 29 jul, 13:26, Blah  wrote:   
   >> agnon wrote:   
   >>> On Tue, 28 Jul 2009 21:58:38 -0800, Pete nospam Zakel wrote:   
   >>>> In article  agnon    
   >>>> writes:   
   >>>>> Fair enough.  I know many mentals, and many cannabis users, and I firmly   
   >>>>> think that there is a clear link.   
   >>>> The link may be that they are self-treating.   
   >>> For most people that is probably the case.   
   >>> There's a few people who have existing, known, mental health problems   
   >>> whose problems are probably made worse by cannabis   
   >>> There might be a few people with underlying mh problems whose condition   
   >>> is brought to the surface by cannabis use, especially heavy cannabis use.   
   >>> There's a possibility that people with no underlying mh problem have a mh   
   >>> problem that's caused by cannabis use, especially if that use is heavy,   
   >>> and especially if they are young when they start, but the evidence is far   
   >>> from clear about this.   
   >>> Note that even though I think cannabis may cause mh problems I'm still   
   >>> strongly in support of legalizing all drugs.  I'm very much against piss-   
   >>> poor reporting like that in the Mail, which makes common sense harm   
   >>> reduction harder.   
   >> My gf has bipolar syndrome, and her pshycologist is quite insistant that   
   >> it was caused by her canabis abuse during her teens. There is no other   
   >> bipolar history in her extensive family.   
   >>   
   >> The psychologist also tells us that a growing number of mental health   
   >> problems he sees are cannabis related.   
   >>   
   >> Perhaps the Mail reporting might come across as sensationalist, but   
   >> don't shoot the messanger just because you don't like the tone,   
   >> legalising something with many outstanding questions about what it   
   >> really can do to the mind is just plain foolish.   
   >   
   > The facts are crystal-clear: Cannabis is not particularly harmful nor   
   > risky for   
   > well-informed adults. There is no reason whatsoever to waste time and   
   > energy   
   > protecting adults against themselves as far as cannabis is concerned,   
   > especially   
   > given that the government entrusts them with lethal quantities of   
   > alcohol for   
   > recreational purposes.   
      
   Well there is lies the point - MOST cannabis is being smoked by   
   uninfomed teenagers (and into the twenties), whose brains are still   
   developing and prone to damage.   
   And to say 'ah, but alcohol is dangerous and thats allowed' is lame - we   
   now allowed to let kids do MORE dangerous things, just because one exists?   
      
      
      
   > Cannabis prohibition is very harmful and counterproductive. It means   
   > drug education is   
   > ineffective, because the emphasis is not on responsible use as opposed   
   > to abuse, but   
   > on a rather arbitrary distinction between legal and illegal drugs,   
   > with no scientific basis whatsoever   
   > for that legislative bias.   
      
      
   There is NO responsible use for a teen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)