Response to "Is Pot Going Off the Boil"

http://www.ofsubstance.org.au/archive/pdf/ofsubstance_2007_4.pdf

My response to this article:

“Results from research into attitudes towards cannabis suggest that its reputation as a relatively harmless drug (Freeborn: 40,000 to 1 death ratio -toxicity and not known to have killed anyone from its own volition) may be changing.

Around 1/3 of young adults (Freeborn: who now believe that ethanol is an ‘all good drink’) says their peer group finds Cannabis use (consumption) unacceptable, according to the Pfizer Australia Health report (Big Pharma Drug Cartel), published with the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, based at the University of NSW.

The findings, released in February, and based on responses from 1439 Australians (no prizes for guessing what their three drugs of choice and poly drug consumption are…ethanol, nicotine and caffeine), aged 18 and over include:

83% of all Australian adults believe there are social problems associated with the USE (?) of Cannabis.

(Freeborn: Welcome to an apartheid lie taught by the Government. Use benefits all and you cannot create a social problem from beneficial application and/or action, only from the perversion of that application and/or action, which is ABUSE, not use).

3 in 4 Australians believe Cannabis use is dangerous or very dangerous. (Freeborn: Meanwhile, glug, glug, chug, chug - let’s go and abuse yet another legal, and proven to be dangerous drug under the Criteria of Harm and not Political bias, apartheid discrimination and Revenue raising).

Half of all Australians believe Cannabis can cause schizophrenia, depression and anxiety disorders to a moderate or large degree“. (Freeborn: Welcome to yet another apartheid lie, burned into the brains of our people by a Drug Cartel Sponsored Government and other Vested Interests).

FREEBORN;

Propaganda is an extremely effective tool (remember Nazi Propaganda, Capitalist Propaganda, Communist Propaganda, Imperial Propaganda, Anti-Christian Propaganda, Anti-Muslim Propaganda etc, etc.) , regardless of whether it’s true or not and our Government wields it like a Weapon of Mass Destruction to excuse the simple fact that they have replaced the Criteria of Harm (mortality, morbidity, toxicity, addictiveness and relationship with crime) and the Law of Respectful Use with Apartheid Discrimination Policies and a mentality of ‘our drugs all good, your drugs all bad”. “Our drugs essential for human survival - ‘10’ News statement - vs “Your drugs have no Medicinal Use/Benefit whatsoever…… and even if they do ‘we’ will still deny you your rights to use/gain benefit“.Take for instance the apartheid, bias, discrimination and prejudice against other things in History that were all lumped together under one of the most hate-filled crimes on the planet - Prohibition of Use and Choice.

Slavery propaganda had practically everyone believing it was okay to ‘enslave the sub-human/lower than yourself human breeds of the human race‘, which is why it was eventually stated that “all men (humans) are created equal” and started a new trend of some showing respect to other breeds. However, with all the lies and propaganda that had gone before, it has taken (and is still taking) a heck of a long time to remove apartheid discrimination/social segregation from not only Law, but from people’s mindsets.

The same goes for Homosexuality, Abortion, Drug Choice, Religion, Freedom of Expression, Equal Rights for Males and females, Rights for Children (e.g. child slavery/labour abolished) and so on and so forth. The list is endless. All brought about by someone’s hate against someone else’s beliefs and choices, while at the same time wielding this abuse to excuse their own abuses.

i.e. Prime Minister John Howard stated, at a Community Function in Adelaide, “Well, I can tell you, I will never favour legalisation of any kind of drug taking”. Did someone forget to tell the P.M. that ethanol (a drug he admits to regularly taking), nicotine (which he took at one time) and caffeine/tri-methyl-xanthine (which we know he takes) are all drugs. Never mind Big Pharma and their drugs that are now on Mr. Howard’s Pharmaceutical Benefits (???) Scheme. The question is, if Mr. Howard segregates between drugs of choice, and does not know the difference between use and abuse (which is benefit vs perversion), how can he state the word BENEFIT when it comes to his Drug Dealing Scheme?

Don’t take our word for it though, let’s see what the Health Dept has to say about everyone’s favourite drug of choice:

“Alcohol is the most widely used (D & J: no, consumed as it is also abused) psychoactive drug in Australia. (And we might, add…the World). The World Health Organisation, who also know it’s a drug, states that the Global Disease Burden difference between Alcohol and Cigarettes is 0.1%. In other words, alcohol is 4.0% and Cigarettes is 4.1%. When it comes to ALL illicit drugs put together, the Global Disease Burden is…..wait for it….0.8% (most of that being opiates). This explains why the drug ethanol, in its destructive applications, is called “the quiet epidemic”. It’s not talked about, it’s swept under the carpet (in favour of glorification and pedestal raising) and excuses galore are made for it - including one of the most sickening ones, the statement that a Class A drug (ethanol) which is on par with heroin under the Criteria of Harm, in this country is classed (and allowed to be classed by our Politicians, by our Police, by our Celebrities etc) as the “all good drink”. And…..ethanol drug abuse is called, ‘binge drinking, drinking to excess, drink driving” and ethanol drug consumers are lovingly called ‘drinkers, party-goers and revellers’ whether or not they respect their drug of choice and consume in moderation, or blatantly and disrespectfully choose to abuse it. Yes, ABUSE IS A CHOICE, and it makes no difference on the subject matter or whether there are the buzzwords ‘licit’ or ‘illicit’ attached. The Criteria of Harm does not recognise the buzzwords ‘licit’ or ‘illicit’, it only recognises mortality, morbidity, toxicity, addictiveness and relationship with Crime.

Now let’s put these two side by side - Cannabis vs Ethanol.Mortality - In Australia…….

ETHANOL deaths go between 3,000 and 4,000 dead per year. (Toxicity ratio 4:1 to 20:1 depending on body mass.

CANNABIS has never been recorded as killing anyone of its own volition (toxicity ratio 40,000:1) (NSW Health Dept. Booklet stated, “There is no record of any deaths being caused by Marijuana” - or any other form of Cannabis for that matter. However, by people abusing this drug and then abusing other choices in life (e.g. cars, families etc) there is a manifested death toll from the outcomes of abuse going from the abuse of their drug of choice to abusing other choices in life.

Morbidity -

ETHANOL - 70,000 in one year. (Hospitalisations, emergency room visits). Plus 60 known medical conditions caused by the abuse of this drug., including cancer, psychosis, dementia, organ damage and failure, irreparable CNS damage and the list goes on……..oh, we can’t forget Foetal Alcohol Syndrome, even though some do.

CANNABIS - Some people may have psychological effects. This is more likely if the person already has a schizophrenic condition. (NSW Health Dept. booklet) (Yet, our Gov’t is teaching people that Cannabis causes schizophrenia).

Some of the other things that people are ‘horrified’ (sic) to learn about Cannabis are:

Increases the heart rate (no more than a good dose of exercise can do).

Increases the risk of getting bronchitis, lung cancer and other diseases of the respiratory system. (Not a problem - don’t criticise…encourage to vapourise, eat it or drink it as tea - in moderation and respect, of course, like ALL drugs must be treated if we are to negate any of the negative effects of ANY drug of choice).

A decrease in sperm count in men. (Tell that to the thousands+ of adult cannabis users who have 3-4 kids who are healthy…and anyway, it‘s not necessarily a bad thing, as women are encouraged to take a chemical pill to stop them falling pregnant).

Irregular menstrual cycles in women. (For many thousands of years native tribeswomen have applied the Cannabis herb beneficially as a menstrual aid. However, mix alcohol and cannabis together and it could very well do this…or not, There are many factors - stress and nutritional depletion, for instance, - as to why women have menstrual problems).

Toxicity -

ETHANOL’S drug toxicity is 4:1 to 20:1 and it is toxic to all the body’s organs as well as being a neuro-toxin. The reason being, that ethanol breaks down from ethane hydroxide to acetaldehyde to acetate to CO2 and water. Acetaldehyde is the neurotoxin responsible for what people lovingly class as ‘just a hangover’….and, as the ad tells us “a Panadol/acetaminophen drug will fix that……….Panadol, it’s my choice!” It may be yours, but it ain’t ours. What if someone else said, “Cannabis, it’s my choice” and then stated that “acetaminophen/Paracetamol is a known killer, which is why ’I’ choose Cannabis as my choice” which does not kill. Why can’t they have that choice?

This also includes the fact that NSAIDS kill 2,000 a year on average, and Cannabis does not kill. This also includes the fact that Prescriptions kill 10,000 a year on average, and Cannabis does not kill. This also includes the fact that OTC’s kill 1,000 a year, while Cannabis does not kill.

Addictiveness -

In Health, Nov/Dec 1990 Research by John Hastings

"To rank today's commonly used drugs by their addictiveness, we asked experts to consider two questions: How easy is it to get hooked on these substances and how hard is it to stop using them? Although a person's vulnerability to drug also depends on individual traits -- physiology, psychology, and social and economic pressures -- these rankings reflect only the addictive potential inherent in the drug. The numbers below are relative rankings, based on the experts' scores for each substance:

100 Nicotine

99 Ice, Glass (Methamphetamine smoked)

98 Crack

93 Crystal Meth (Methamphetamine injected)

85 Valium (Diazepam)

83 Quaalude (Methaqualone)

82 Seconal (Secobarbital)

81 Alcohol

80 Heroin

78 Crank (Amphetamine taken nasally)

72 Cocaine

68 Caffeine

57 PCP (Phencyclidine)

21 Marijuana

20 Ecstasy (MDMA)

18 Psilocybin Mushrooms

18 LSD

18 Mescaline

(There is a newer report that also mentions these statistics: www.rsadrugscommission.org/

Relationship with Crime -

ETHANOL - 80% street & ethanol drug dealing establishments’ assaults; 74% Domestic Violence; 45% reported child abuse; 45% ethanol drug driving fatalities; Foetal Alcohol Syndrome is one hell of a crime committed against children before they even have a chance to speak out against it or take their first breath. Wanton destruction/’vandalism’ is another crime that is rising - smashed bottles all over our streets and parks, as well as raining down on Ambulance Officers, Police Officers, Security Guards etc.

CANNABIS - The fact that people are forced to associate with criminals to get their drug of choice is a crime in itself. The fact that it’s illegal and the price of gold contributes to crime through abusers breaking into people’s places and robbing others to get money so they can buy drugs (not only the illicits, but the buzzword’ legals’ as well. Our newspaper has been reporting a lot of ‘thirsty thieves’ of late….in other words ethanol drug abusers who break in to clubs and pubs to steal the drug ethanol and its counterpart, nicotine/cigarettes).

There is a true factor that some people who abuse Cannabis (usually with ethanol, nicotine and caffeine), are being violent to their family, their friends and others around them, but this just proves one simple fact - and it makes not one iota what the subject matter is - respect one respect all, abuse one abuse all.

When it comes to ANY drug of choice in Australia, whether medicinal or recreational, and whether buzzwords ‘legal/licit’ or ‘illegal/illicit’ are attached, we stand by the Criteria of Harm and not Revenue and political Control. We stand by the statement, that “there is a difference between use and abuse, no matter the drug of choice - it’s not all just ‘consumption’ - and when it comes to believing in the individual human right of making choices and decisions on things that pose a risk to us, we stand on our Prime Minister’s Statement (even if he doesn’t believe it himself) that, “The role of Government is NOT to tell people what risks and choices they can and can’t take”. We stand by Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd’s statement that, “Australians should not kow-tow to anybody when it comes to freedom in this country”, and yes, we even stand by Mr. Christopher Pyne’s statement that, “The Government MUST NOT usurp the role of families by substituting heavy-handed and ill-considered regulation for individual responsibility, and I mean individual responsibility”.

When talking about his drug of choice, Ethanol, Mr. Pyne stated, “Australia is not a giant health farm with the Government acting as personal trainer” (they could have fooled us), “it is not the place of Government to seize CANDY from the mouth of babes, or send inspectors into private homes to check whether parents are keeping the liquor (ethanol drug) cabinet locked”. (NOTE: Toohey’s New Ethanol Drug Promotional Campaign applied the word ‘Candy’ at the beginning of their drug ad….”Just like Candy on a shelf….followed by the words “help yourself”. Our parody to this is: “Just help yourself to our drugs, to our drugs and tell the world that they are yours”…because we certainly do!” signed, the Toohey’s Ethanol Drug Cartel).

Mr. Pyne continued: “The Government will continue to run programmes of information and education (as well as programmes containing apartheid discrimination, lies, prejudice, condemnation, persecution and name calling/slander - i.e. dickheads and losers vs ‘party-goers’ and ‘revellers’)……….”but as parents and citizens the rest is up to us”. (BUT ONLY IF YOU TAKE THE DRUGS WE TAKE AND ADVOCATE, regardless of the problems associated with our particular drug of choice”. Signed - The Political Anti-Choice Klan, a collective of Government, Drug Cartels, Media, Sports and Celebrity, as well as teaching parents to wield this apartheid hate-filled propaganda crime as well as teaching it to the next generation. The “Our Drugs all good” vs the “Your Drugs all bad” policy.

Which is why Mr. Abbott, instead of stating that ‘Drug ABUSE kills’, stated that, “Illicit drugs kill” in his BODY BAG CAMPAIGN that left the biggest killing collectives of drugs out of it - namely, ethanol, cigarettes, prescription drugs, NSAIDS and OTC’s. We take it he didn’t have a body bag big enough to fit these in, or the amount of obese people created from the abuse of food.

Just because someone says something is bad or wrong, does not mean that I cannot find something useful/beneficial/good and respectful to do with it. (Personal statement - D. Nentwig).

In March 1998, the World Health Organisation Stated that, “There are good reasons for saying that the risk from Cannabis would be unlikely to seriously compare to the public health risks of alcohol and tobacco even if as many people use (consume) as now drink (consume the drug) alcohol or smoke tobacco“.

Dr. Russell Skeba, USA, stated, “Zero Tolerance is a Political Response, not an educationally sound solution”.

“The popularity of Zero Tolerance Policies/(zero acceptance policies) may have less to do with their actual effect than the image they portray of the Government actually pretending to show that they ‘give a damn’.

Dr. Alex Wodak stated, “The failure of Prohibition (Drug Apartheid) is obvious to all who wish to examine the evidence. If Prohibition is a success, where is the evidence of this magnificent success?”

And last, but not least, Abraham Lincoln stated, “Prohibition goes beyond the bounds of REASON

In that it attempts to control a man’s appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things which ARE NOT CRIMES! A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our Government was founded”.

And….”We in America (Australia) need to make up our minds. We cannot be both drug free and free”. Prof. Lester Grinspoon.

FREEBORN: There will never be a Drug Free Australia even if all the illicit drugs were eradicated. Our country is drowned in drugs of the licit nature! And just because something is ‘licit/ legal/advocated/ praised’ does not make it safe, healthy or good for you. Drug Free Australia is a myth and a joke……

Let us replace it with Drug Respect Australia.