Buckdog

If we can save one child from the munchies it will all be worth it. What a clown harper is. He knows this wont play with the people, thats why he's sticking a bunch of treatment money in the mix to try and separate himself from the republicans and their war on drugs. It wont work.This is the same old weed will ruin your life bullshit.

Harper is doing this one to appease the police unions across Canada and he's playing to his hardcore right wing base. I keep wondering how many of the 'Blogging Tories' use cannibas?

I work as a tradesmen so like 80 percent of the people I talk too are conservative. Many of them smoke dope and the rest think it is as about as harmless as a kitten. Your right, only the hard core righties and the cops have a problem with weed.

If the media is worth their salt, they will make Harper's news conference a living hell for him on this topic tomorrow.

. . .I keep wondering how many of the 'Blogging Tories' use cannibas? . . .

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I should imagine that there is a high concentration of Conservatives who do smoke up. With a leader like Harpo, wouldn't you want to, too?

Even statistically there is likely quite a few of them ... but they are silent on this issue and too chickenshit to speak up!

Actually, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that marijuana use can lead to psychosis. Here is the abstract to a study published in the lancet this past summer.


Background

Whether cannabis can cause psychotic or affective symptoms that persist beyond transient intoxication is unclear. We systematically reviewed the evidence pertaining to cannabis use and occurrence of psychotic or affective mental health outcomes.

Methods

We searched Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, ISI Web of Knowledge, ISI Proceedings, ZETOC, BIOSIS, LILACS, and MEDCARIB from their inception to September, 2006, searched reference lists of studies selected for inclusion, and contacted experts. Studies were included if longitudinal and population based. 35 studies from 4804 references were included. Data extraction and quality assessment were done independently and in duplicate.

Findings

There was an increased risk of any psychotic outcome in individuals who had ever used cannabis (pooled adjusted odds ratio=1·41, 95% CI 1·20–1·65). Findings were consistent with a dose-response effect, with greater risk in people who used cannabis most frequently (2·09, 1·54–2·84). Results of analyses restricted to studies of more clinically relevant psychotic disorders were similar. Depression, suicidal thoughts, and anxiety outcomes were examined separately. Findings for these outcomes were less consistent, and fewer attempts were made to address non-causal explanations, than for psychosis. A substantial confounding effect was present for both psychotic and affective outcomes.

Interpretation

The evidence is consistent with the view that cannabis increases risk of psychotic outcomes independently of confounding and transient intoxication effects, although evidence for affective outcomes is less strong. The uncertainty about whether cannabis causes psychosis is unlikely to be resolved by further longitudinal studies such as those reviewed here. However, we conclude that there is now sufficient evidence to warn young people that using cannabis could increase their risk of developing a psychotic illness later in life.

Just FYI.

"However, we conclude that there is now sufficient evidence to warn young people that using cannabis could increase their risk of developing a psychotic illness later in life."

And so Adam, the Harper response is to criminalize the use of cannabis and to make criminals out of those who use it??? You have raised a valid health concern - fair ball ... but you deliberately ignore the core message of this post ... THIS IS NOT CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR! You are using your argument to 'justify' the criminal conviction of thousands of Canadians ... your argument might affect a microscopic number of individuals and as a consequence you want to criminalize over 16% of the Canadian population.

Your argument is ridiculous!

As far as I know, marijuana was never decriminalized, so how can Harper be the one to criminalize it and the people who use it?

"And so Adam, the Harper response is to criminalize the use of cannabis and to make criminals out of those who use it???"

Here's a crazy thought:

Seeing as how the use of cannabis has been illegal in Canada since about 1923, do you think that maybe the people who ingested it (in whatever form) made criminals of themselves? What a radical thought! Once again the concept of personal responsibility is completely lost on a leftie.

I for one think our laws should reflect the danger behind a particular activity. Too many people only think of "the munchies" or "harmless kittens" when thinking about cannabis. It is a serious drug, with serious effects and there should be serious consequences for using it.

Adam ... Harper stopped the process that was underway to decriminalize. He made a policy decision to retain criminalization and more so, to encourage increased persecution!

Why?

Adam, you said, It is a serious drug, with serious effects and there should be serious consequences for using it."

NONSENSE!! Says who? Not the LeDain Commission! Not the Senate review?
Where do you get your erroneous information?

You are obviously of the 'authoritarian mindset' which generally translates itself into right wing tactics.

" ... lost on a leftie." So NO members of the Conservative Party of Canada use cannabis in any form?

You fire back at me with a report from the 60s, and a senate review? Here is some real scientific research, and it's from this century!

"Among young adults who had not been using amphetamines at age 20 years, the strongest predictor of use at age 24 years was the use of other drugs, particularly cannabis, at 20 years. Those who were smoking cannabis at the age of 15 were as much as 15 times more likely to be using amphetamines in their early 20s." From Wikipedia

Meaning that marijuana is a gateway drug.

Here is a link to an information sheet from Manitoba about the harmful effects of marijuana.

www.hsc.mb.ca/addictions/Media/Harmful%20Effects%20of%20Marijuana.pdf

How do you propose we screen for people who are driving under the influence of cannabis?

How do we persuade young people that drugs are bad, all the while lightening up on punishment for using those drugs?

Should all drugs be decriminalized?

I never said that the CPC is pot free (though I would suspect that it is much more so than the other major Canadian political parties). I merely said that a CPC member would be much less likely to blame the PM and state that Harper is responsible for the illegal activity that he/she is engaging in.

Adam .. as an apologist for Stephen Harper, you are doing a pretty shitty job!

Nothing you have said here in your lengthy posts CHANGES THE FACT that your boy Harper is determined to ensure that Canadians who use small responsible amounts of cannabis are charged with criminal offenses. Shame on you!!!!

Look dog, I am going to spell it out slowly for you:

1) Even small amounts of marijuana use can lead to harmful health effects. I think that I have adequately shown this in my posts.

2) Therefore it follows that there is no such thing as "responsible use" of cannabis, and it should remain a criminal offense to do so.

3) People who choose to violate the law of the land, regardless of whether or not they agree with it, are making criminals of themselves. It is not the fault of the "backwards, regressive, extreme right wing neanderthals" running the country. Rather, the blame lies squarely on that individual who has made a choice to break the law.

I have shown you facts and you have shown me posters of days gone by, and a police training video from the 60s. If you honestly think that you are "smoking" me in this exchange, then perhaps your next post can be about living with reefer madness.

As a totalitarian 'leaning' right winger, you have not convinced anyone that the ongoing prohibition of small amounts of cannabis is wise. If you were consistent in your arguments, then we would have prohibition against and criminal prosecution for alcohol, trans fats, driving bicycles without a helmet, rollerblading etc, etc.

I am using 1930's and early '60's propaganda to mock your arguments.

Bad laws should be changed not TOTALLY ACCEPTED as you would argue. Your totalitarian attitude disgusts me. It is attitudes like that which eventually allow dictators to put individuals in boxcars and send them to concentration camps. Shame on you!!!

Ahhhhh, yeah, because I have argued against the decriminalization of marijuana, I also believe that rollerblading should be outlawed... yeah, and concentration camps are totally cool. That was supposed to be point number four in my previous comment. Right.

Are you for real?

-A BAD law was about to be changed.
-The Tories stopped the initiative and decided to keep a bad law on the books.
-Bad logic is used by Tories to now justify retaining a bad law.

If you were talking about cocaine or crystal meth, I would be in total agreement. You see painting cannabis as so 'dangerous' when it isn't, tells youth that society (in this case our Conservative government) is lying about pot. So when it comes to coke or meth, they don't believe the warnings because they have been lied to.

In your desire to do good, you are actually making the problem of hard drugs worse.

It is time for Conservatives to get real, get educated, get honest and get on with educating the public in a meaningful way.

So you are against the use of crystal meth and cocaine, but pro the use of the drug that often leads to the use of those drugs?

Not making any sense.

You believe that the law is bad, but the only argument that you have given is that Harper is bad because he is calling for the enforcement of a bad law that possibly might have been changed had he not gotten into power.

You have to do better than that if you are going to be taken seriously with sceptics of decriminalization (of which there are about 15 million of us in the country).

you falsely believe that cannabis is a so called 'gateway' drug - meaning that use of one leads to use of another. That is nonsense and there is NO scientific proof that what you say is so. Most heroin addicts have used corn flakes ... by your reactionary style of reasoning you could argue 'most heroin addicts have used corn flakes, therefore there is some indication that corn flakes is a gateway for heroin use'.

Drug addiction is a HEALTH problem. I appreciate that Harper wants to do something about it, but I believe that you should treat a HEALTH problem with investments that do not treat it as a CRIMINAL offence or a MORAL failing.

Stop charging individuals criminally for using a substance that is not as dangerous as alcohol is. Alcohol KILLS many people. It is controlled, but it is not completely prohibited as cannabis is.