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MARIJUANA
IS BAD NEWS
The weapons
of choice for those who campaign to change established social policy
are, unfortunately, lies, distortion and misrepresentation of the
facts in order to create confusion and doubt in the public's mind,
which decreases resistance to the proposed changes.
We have seen
the application of this technique in regard to the abortion issue
(See "Let the Abortion Debate Begin, p. 7) and the homosexual
issue (see "Homosexuals Manipulate Society", p. 9).
We are now
witnessing the start of a campaign to decriminalize the possession
and use of marijuana in Canada. The techniques of deliberate lies,
distortion and misrepresentation of the facts are also being used
to achieve this proposed change.
The Dangers
of Marijuana
Marijuana (the dried leaves), hashish and hashish oil (compressed
resin of the flower) all come from the cannabis plant (hemp) which
is the most complex of all illegal drugs. It has 425 known constituent
parts and all these parts alter the biological function of some
organ in the human body.
One of the
most active parts of this plant is referred to as THC or Tetrahydrocannibinol
and its effects depend on the strength of the marijuana used. For
example, back in the 1950s, THC potency usually ranged from ½
to 1 or 2%. In the year 2000, however, it is usually between 4%
to 8% with the result that it can cause up to 10 times more intoxication
than it did 20 years ago. Hybrid plants are now being cultivated
with a potency of up to 30%.
Many people
who believe marijuana is merely a harmless soft drug, base their
conclusion on their knowledge of the marijuana used in the past,
not realizing the huge increase in potency of marijuana today. The
increased potency clearly invalidates many earlier studies. Supporters
of legalizing marijuana, however, are not about to disclose this
crucial difference.
How Marijuana
Affects the Body
Marijuana
lodges in those body organs which have significant fat content such
as the brain, the testes and ovaries, as well as in the general
fat stores. Because the body eliminates such fat soluble substances
slowly, half the THC from a single "joint" remains in
fatty tissue and cell membranes for approximately one week after
it is smoked. The rest is slowly eliminated over a period of some
weeks. About a month is needed for the body to completely eliminate
the harmful substance. If another "joint" is smoked within
a week before the previous "joint" has been eliminated,
the level of THC in the body increases.
Marijuana
produces both acute and chronic effects. The acute effects include
a subjective intoxication, usually referred to as "being on
a high" or "stoned." There is a feeling of euphoria,
an intensification of ordinary sensory experiences and poor visual
perception. There is also an impairment of the ability to perform
complex and precise motor, visual or mental tasks, such as operating
equipment, playing sports, driving a car or engaging in a rational
discussion. The increased number of accidents that have been reported
in the last few years, on both the roads and the ski slopes, may
have been due to the increased use of cannabis.
Chronic and
regular users of marijuana lack motivation, becoming more listless
and passive. They may lose interest in school or work and fail to
meet the everyday demands of ordinary living. They become irrational
and alienated from family and former friends and drift into a marginalized
state in society. There is also the possibility that sub-clinical
changes may occur in the lungs, liver, kidney, adrenal glands, bone
marrow, ovaries, testes and the most sensitive of all organs - the
brain. Not infrequently, serious mental illness such as psychoses,
similar to schizophrenia, can arise in regular users of cannabis.
The effects of marijuana use has been verified and documented by
the United Nations International Narcotics Control Board (INCB)
which represents the international scientific community. It is incorrect
to claim there is a lack of "scientific proof" of the
detrimental effects of marijuana.
THE LIES
ABOUT MARIJUANA USE
LIE NUMBER
1
Marijuana is Less Dangerous Than Alcohol and Tobacco Use.
Even though
the tar content of cannabis smoke is higher than that of an ordinary
pure tobacco cigarette, no filter is used. Cannabis smoke contains
twice as much carcinogenic substance as tobacco. The risk of it
causing cancer is greatly increased.
Marijuana
use leads to an addiction. Mild withdrawal symptoms are due to the
slow elimination of the drug from the body. Breaking of the habit
is a tedious process in which, over many months, the former chronic
user is faced with negative psychological effects.
Users of cannabis
move more easily on to using other narcotic drugs than their drug-free
contemporaries. At least 80% of those who later become heroin and
cocaine addicts started their career in drugs with hashish or marijuana.
Clearly, marijuana
is a more pervasively dangerous substance than tobacco because of
its intoxicating effects, plus the long term harmful effects on
several organs of the body which are not affected by the use of
tobacco.
LIE NUMBER
2
Marijuana Is A Medically Necessary Drug
In 1979, Keith
Stroup, then director of the National Organization for Reform of
Marijuana Laws (NORML), which also has an active branch in Canada,
stated his organization was attempting to get marijuana medically
reclassified in order "to use the issue as a red herring to
give marijuana a good name." This "red herring" strategy
of NORML has been most effective in causing confusion and controversy
among the general public.
The facts
remain, however, that in 1989, after an extensive inquiry, the US
government issued an order rejecting an application to reschedule
marijuana for medicinal use.
In its report,
it stated that NORML and ACT (Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics),
…
have attempted to perpetuate a dangerous and cruel hoax on the
American public by claiming that cannabis has currently accepted
medical use.
In 1993, the
US Congress issued another statement which confirmed the previous
findings. It stated:
Following
exhaustive studies of existing data by the National Institute
for Health, scientists concluded that there is no clinical evidence
to suggest that smoked marijuana is superior to currently available
therapies for glaucoma, weight loss and wasting associated with
AIDS, nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy,
muscular spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis or intractable
pain.
Similar conclusions
have been published in reports from other countries, including the
Netherlands (which is the home of one of the most liberal drug policies
in the world).
LIE NUMBER
3
Police and Court Time Should Be Spent on More Important Matters
Never before
in the history of civilization have young people been so exposed
to and affected by mind-altering drugs. The cumulative effect of
their use has widespread implications for our future.
Young people are confused and misinformed about the dangers of marijuana,
particularly when prominent public figures and drug advisers promote
decriminalization. Some have even recommended legalized possession
and the right to grow cannabis for personal use. This is neither
rational nor sensible and such proposals undermine the efforts of
parents who are trying to influence their children not to use drugs
to protect both the health and future of their children.
One of the
major arguments is that the greatest harm is produced by the criminalization
of the use of illicit drugs. But mind-altering drugs are not harmful
because they are illegal; they are illegal because they are harmful
to use and cause serious social problems when they are used widely
in the community.
It is a great
disservice to young people and to society to facilitate the use
of marijuana by decriminalizing it. The law plays an important role
in reinforcing preventive strategies which protect society. Criminalizing
marijuana use is extremely important. It underscores the truth -
namely, that marijuana use is a serious health and social risk.
Criminalizing marijuana also enables those found guilty of using
it to be given treatment, education and rehabilitation.
LIE NUMBER
4
Marijuana
Use Does Not Lead to Other Drug Use
There is no
doubt that most heroin and cocaine addicts started their drug taking
careers with marijuana use. Far more importantly, it has been established
that young people who do not use marijuana rarely become regular
users of any other illegal drug.
Clearly, if
the numbers of cannabis users can be reduced, the number of users
of other illegal drugs will be reduced as well. This in turn will
influence the profile of the drug trade. In other words, because
marijuana is often the link between legal and illegal drugs, it
is therefore the lynchpin of the drug culture.
THE COURT'S
ROLE IN MARIJUANA USE
Supporters
of marijuana use have been unsuccessfully attempting to overcome
the restrictions on it for over thirty years. However, just as happened
with regard to the abortion and homosexual issues, the judges in
the Canadian courts are now stepping in and interfering with the
legislative process to "rectify" the situation, at least,
concerning the medical use of the substance.
Naturally,
when the Ontario Court of Appeal handed down its decision on July
31, 2000, that marijuana may be used for medicinal purposes, it
did so on the basis of its own typically skewed left-wing philosophical
and ideological assumptions, not on any established social or scientific
facts. The propaganda of the left-wing marijuana crowd figured prominently
in the Court's judgment. For example, it concluded that marijuana
use was relatively harmless, that there is no evidence of mental
change, that it does not induce psychosis, that it was non-addictive;
and that there was no relationship between cannabis use and criminality,
etc. It also said, of course, that it had a beneficial therapeutic
effect, etc., etc.
The court
gave the federal government one year, to August 2001, to rewrite
the law on possession of the drug for medicinal purposes or the
whole law will become null and void in Ontario. This, of course,
greatly increases the pressure to decriminalize marijuana use for
medicinal purposes in the other provinces as well.
The Minister
of Justice and the Minister of Health must now decide what to do
about this egregious court decision.
Please write to the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Health
and your MP to demand that this case be appealed to the Supreme
Court of Canada and that the present law for the use and possession
of marijuana be maintained.
Minister
of Health
Tunney's Pasture
Brooke Claxton Bldg.
Postal Locator 09 16 A
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K9
Tel. 613.957.0200
Fax: 613.952.1154
Minister
of Justice
Department of Justice
284 Wellington Street, 3rd Floor
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8
Tel: 613.992.4621
Fax: 613.990.7255
Your MP
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
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