Reefer Madness 2

Comment by Dr Hemp

THE New World Order have stepped up their campaign to demonise cannabis in what is being dubbed Reefer Madness 2.

Following years of scientific evidence that cannabis use is far less harmful than legally available alcohol or tobacco and in some cases can even be beneficial, pot users in Britain finally believed that some common sense was at last coming through on the issue of cannabis. The experts advised the Government to downgrade cannabis to a Class C drug, which they duly did back in 2003.

The decision, together with increasing evidence of the benefits of cannabis, led some to believe it signaled a move to the eventual legalisation of cannabis, however, it appears this progressive change in direction was a step too far for the global elite that determine world policies. Within a few years of the Government's announcement that they would listen to the experts and reclassify cannabis to a Class C drug, the New World Order sent orders to Tony Bliar that this policy was unacceptable and to put the herb back to a Class B drug, however, the then Home Secretary, David Blunkett, resisted these moves, as even he realised that the argument for the prohibition of cannabis had been lost and it was a massive waste of police resources.

Eventually, Blunkett was forced to resign in a corruption scandal and new Home Secretary, Charles "Jug Ears" Clarke was ordered by Bliar to start the process to put cannabis back into a Class B drug, who subsequently asked the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to look again at cannabis, however, they once more recommended that cannabis should be a Class C drug, it is rumoured that Bliar ordered Clarke to put it back to a Class B drug anway, however he backed off when the Advisory Council threatened to resign en masse if he did this. So cannabis users breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed that sensible policies on cannabis were here to stay and there would be no return to the failed policies of prohibition.

This failure of the British Government to reverse the downgrade of cannabis did not please the New World Order, or the American Government who have a vested interest in keeping cannabis illegal worldwide. The private prison system in the USA relies on draconian drug laws to make sure that the USA has the largest incarceration rate in the world, with each prisoner being billed to the US tax payer by privatised prison companies who can use these prisoners for enforced slave labour. The Republican Party also has a vested interest in keeping strict drug laws, as in several key States in the USA convicted felons are denied the right to vote for life. Needless to say, the vast majority of these felons have drug convictions and are from are from black or Hispanic backgrounds who guess what? Don't tend to vote Republican. According to the Sentencing Project about 5.3 million Americans have lost their right to vote, many permanently, with the rate of disenfranchisement among African Americans being seven times the national average. When one considers the fact that if convicted black felons were allowed to vote in the State of Florida, George Bush would have never been president, it's easy to see why the Neo-Cons are so determined to keep cannabis illegal.

In the mean time, determined to get their own way and pave the way for the eventual return of cannabis to a Class B drug, the compliant media were ordered to publish a string stories to demonise cannabis and we saw the beginning Reefer Madness 2 in Britain, named so after the 1936 exploitation film, Reefer Madness, that was filled with lies and scare-stories about marijuana that implied its use would lead people to commit suicide, rape and even murder.

The Independent on Sunday issued a front page retraction and apology on the tenth anniversary of its 1997 call to legalise cannabis, publishing a host of dodgy science and mistruths about skunk cannabis, stating that it no longer believed cannabis was not particularly harmful and should be legalised.

Meanwhile, an almost daily barrage of scare stories and misinformation appeared in the media claiming that cannabis was no longer a mild recreational drug and was in fact a highly dangerous, addictive, even hallucinogenic drug that must be outlawed from society. Of course, none of these scare stories bear anything to reality or the facts to the millions of cannabis users in the UK, who do so causing no harm to themselves or society whatsoever.

Skunk cannabis

The story about 'skunk' cannabis being up to 20 times stronger than the stuff our current politicians and journalists used to smoke while they were at university is particularly disingenuous. Skunk is technically a Sensi Seeds strain that was developed over 20 years ago and named so because of its strong smell, however, the media have coined the term 'skunk' to mean a new kind of cannabis that has suddenly appeared and is stronger than old kinds of cannabis. If we assume by 'skunk' we are referring to cannabis grown indoors under lights, then yes it is true to say this cannabis is stronger than outdoor bushweed that was imported from places like Thailand and was more prevalent back in the 70s. Typically outdoor bushweed would have a THC level of 1-5% whereas indoor cannabis grown under artificial lighting typically has a THC level ranging from 10-20%, though the higher THC levels are much harder to come by.

These kinds of indoor cannabis grown under lights have been around for years, it is totally misleading to say they are up 20 times stronger. Yes they may be 2 - 20 times stronger than the outdoor bushweed that used to be around, but people use less, which is surely a good thing if you are smoking it, as less smoke goes into your lungs, and it is much nicer to smoke than outdoor bushweed. People smoke cannabis for the same reason now that they did when our current Home Secretary, Jacquie Smith, was smoking at it university in the early 1980s, because they like the effects, i.e., they enjoy getting stoned. Furthermore, the really strong types of cannabis that the media are harping on about are quite hard to find, as most cannabis in the UK is grown by organised criminals for purely commercial reasons, so they tend to grow the shorter flowering ones, using the cheapest growing methods available, which will produce less strong cannabis. To get cannabis with very high THC content you need expensive seeds, expensive growing equipment, and more time, as it takes longer to harvest. Criminals are only interested in making money, so they don't waste time growing stronger cannabis, which is why you don't see much of it in the UK.

Yes for sure, cannabis can be abused, as can alcohol, but to label all cannabis users with the same brush is like assuming the wino passed out in the gutter is a typical drinker. There is such a thing as responsible drug use, and it is the rule, not the exception. Most people control their cannabis use, rather than let their cannabis use control them, as with alcohol, the primary motivation in using cannabis is to enjoy ourselves, not to destroy ourselves.

Despite the overwhelming evidence, in May 2008 the New World Order finally got their own way when Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, who has herself admitted to using cannabis, announced the British Government would ignore the advice of their own experts and put cannabis back to a Class B drug.

The Government's justification for not only keeping cannabis illegal but for upgrading it to the same category of drug as amphetamine sulphate is on grounds of protecting public health, yet this is complete nonsense. In The Netherlands, where cannabis use is tolerated and can be bought in licensed coffeeshops, they have lower cannabis usage than in the UK, particularly amongst under 18s, which is no doubt because the Dutch coffeshops have a very strict policy on selling cannabis to minors, as they lose their license if they are caught doing so. Given the supply of cannabis is purely left to the black market in the UK there are no such deterrents to selling to minors, which is why usage in under 18s is higher in the UK than in Holland.

Moreover, in the UK there are dangerous forms of cannabis, such as soapbar, which contains nasty substance such as henna, plastic, rubber or there is gritweed, which is cannabis sold in herb form that has had some kind of glass silicone added to it to make it heavier and look like it has more THC. These dangerous forms of cannabis are produced by unscrupulous criminals and are unheard of in The Netherlands where there is some form of quality control

So there you have it, a Government that upgrades cannabis because it claims it cares about people's health actually implements a policy that ensures more under 18s will consume it and more dangerous forms are smoked, not to mention keeping huge tax free profits for the organised criminals who facilitate the importation or production to the millions of end consumers that will always be there regardless of its legal status.

The New World Order's cannabis policies make no sense, they only seek to serve the criminals or moralising killjoys, or perhaps those who seek to keep a Republican President in the White House. The truth is, there are millions of cannabis users who think this too and know it is nowhere near as bad as our Government or media would have us believe.

Caned in Totnes will continue to campaign for sensible cannabis policies, we do not accept the media and Government lies about cannabis, which is why we are urging everyone to sign The Legalise Cannabis Alliance's pledge not to vote for a prohibitionist candidate. You can add your name to the pledge at www.pledgebank.com/cannabis-votes.