RSA 2 year Study Concludes UK Drugs Policy "Not Fit For Purpose"

The law as it stands is not fit for purpose. The principal
statute, the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, is now more than thirty years old. It is unwieldy, inflexible and at some points addresses problems that no longer exist. It fails to embrace alcohol, tobacco and other harmful substances. It is driven more by ‘moral panic’ than by a practical desire to reduce harm. It relies too heavily on discretion in its enforcement. It sends people to prison who should not be there. It forces people into treatment who do not need it (while, in effect, denying treatment to people who do need it). Efforts to implement the law as it stands waste a great deal of money. Not least, the law as it stands embodies a classification of illegal drugs that is crude, ineffective, riddled with anomalies and open to political manipulation.

I'll have to count them but I think this is something like the 20th successive report in either the US or UK in the last 100 years to reach broadly similar conclusions about the War on Drugs. This one echoes most of the previous findings but does contain one little political bombshell (if it was ever implemented) viz:

If ministers reject the advice of their scientific advisers, the new Misuse of Substances Act should require them
to state formally and publicly their reasons for doing so.

Given that politicians have routinely commissioned and ignored all the previous reports, to date, this single recommendation could have the power to break the logjam. Having to explain their "moral panic" in public might be enough to embarrass them into changing the policy. (RSA March 8 2007)

The Emperor Wears No Clothes

This is the book that started the hemp revolution. More than 600,000 copies have been sold to date. The print version of The Emperor Wears No Clothes is available in Jack's Hemporium. Jack wants this information to be available to everyone, so he has published the text of the book here on the internet for free. This is only half of what is actually in the book. If you want all the source material and graphics, please buy a copy of the book.

Cannabis Suppresses Tumours

not even the cure for cancer is a big enough story to crack the Berlin Wall of media censorship in this country. Toss in the facts that the cure appears to be a benign substance that has been illegal for 63 years, and that the government knowingly suppressed evidence of its curative powers 25 years, and you get twice the story and twice the censorship.

Cannabis may prevent virus induced Cancer

Scientists have discovered the active ingredient, delta-9-tetrahydrocannibol can block the spread of gamma herpes viruses. The viruses are linked to an increased risk of the cancers Kaposis sarcoma, Burkitts lymphoma and Hodgkins disease. The research, by the University of South Florida, is published in the online journal BMC Medicine.