marijuana

Tim Black

There are plenty of good reasons to legalise cannabis: prohibition has done nothing to limit its use; there’s little evidence to suggest it’s any more damaging to one’s health than other legal drugs; and it ought to be up to people themselves to decide how best to live their lives, whether that’s sober or with a joint stuck to the lip. But perhaps the most persuasive reason for decriminalising cannabis is the sheer relief that comes from knowing that one will never have to go through the tedious should-it-be-legalised debate ever again. Unfortunately, given the British state’s bewildering approach to drugs, especially cannabis, such respite looks unlikely.

The World Health Organisation suppressed a report which said cannabis was safer than alcohol or tobacco, it has been claimed.

Lynn Matthews looks at the background to the WHO report (1' 52')

A WHO report on cannabis, its first in 15 years, was published in December but New Scientist magazine said comparisons between cannabis and legal substances were dropped because it was feared they would give ammunition to the "legalise marijuana" campaign.

"It is understood that advisers from the US National Institute on Drug Abuse and the UN International Drug Control Programme warned the WHO that it would play into the hands of groups campaigning to legalise marijuana," the New Scientist said.

Growing fury at 'disgraceful' decision that undermines relations between politicians and scientists

By Danny Brierley

Nutt: His sacking could cause 'meltdown' of drugs advisory council

"I think this would be a good time for a beer," Franklin D. Roosevelt said upon signing a bill that made 3.2 percent lager legal, ahead of the full repeal of Prohibition. I hope Barack Obama will come up with some comparably witty remarks as he presides over the dismantling of our contemporary forms of prohibition—laws that prevent gay marriage, restrict cannabis as a Schedule I controlled substance, and ban travel to Cuba. "You may now kiss the groom," perhaps, or a version of the comment he once made about smoking pot: "I inhaled—that was the point." (Click here to follow Jacob Weisberg)

By Michael Roberts

SAFER's Mason Tvert thinks drug czar Gil Kerlikowske has some splainin' to do

The Obama administration's relaxed rules regarding enforcement of laws regarding medical marijuana has led to renewed optimism among weed advocates that across-the-boards legalization might be a more realistic possibility. But shortly thereafter, Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske issued a statement referring to such a move a "non-starter."

By JENNIFER MUIR