Try the same logic with Alcohol and Tobacco if you want people to treat you with any semblance of respect.

Firstly, I would like to point out that I have expertise in this area. I was a Prosecution and Defence Barrister and Judge for several years. During this time, I interacted with drug addicts, doctors and other experts in drug addiction. This gave me ample opportunity to witness the negative effects of drug abuse including Cannabis.

Drugs particularly have a devastating impact on many bright, young people. Cannabis may be perceived as a ‘soft’ drug but it often starts a chain reaction that leads some young people into a hard core, self-destructive drug addiction.

I therefore believe that young people need a clear message: illegal drugs are wrong. Cannabis needs to be upgraded from a class C to a class B drug to deliver this message. Many people do not have the strong moral compass that Senex speaks of. The Government’s previous wavering on this issue, I believe, sends people a confused message: that cannabis is o.k. really. It is not!

I believe that, with this hard message, a good support network needs to be put in place for drug addicts. Those who wish to come off drugs are not getting the full help they need. Investment needs to be made into this area across all levels.

A greater understanding of the dangers of drug use and drug addiction is also needed. It is an immense subject, but I do try to keep as updated and informed as possible. Harvard University have recently published an interesting article concluding the following: (it can be found on their website)

“marijuana is at the root of many mental disorders, including acute toxic psychosis, panic attacks (one of the very conditions it is being used experimentally to treat), flashbacks, delusions, depersonalization, hallucinations, paranoia, depression, and uncontrollable aggressiveness. Marijuana has long been known to trigger attacks of mental illness, such as bipolar (manic-depressive) psychosis and schizophrenia. This connection with mental illness should make health care providers for terminally ill patients and the patients themselves, who may already be suffering from some form of clinical depression, weigh very carefully the pros and cons of adopting a therapeutic course of marijuana.

In the short term, marijuana use impairs perception, judgment, thinking, memory, and learning; memory defects may persist six weeks after last use. Mental disorders connected with marijuana use merit their own category in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) IV, published by the American Psychiatric Association. These include Cannabis Intoxication (consisting of impaired motor coordination, anxiety, impaired judgment, sensation of slowed time, social withdrawal, and often includes perceptual disturbances; Cannabis Intoxication Delirium (memory deficit, disorientation); Cannabis Induced Psychotic Disorder, Delusions; Cannabis Induced Psychotic Disorder, Hallucinations; and Cannabis Induced Anxiety Disorder”.

You might also find the following websites useful:

•www.sarnia.com/GROUPS/ANTIDRUG/reality/updatejl.html, for information on links between marijuana use and mental health risks.
•www.sarnia.com/GROUPS/ANTIDRUG/mrr/21.96.10.html, for more information on the indirect effects of marijuana on health
•http://www.adf.org.au/drughit, the Australian Drug Foundation’s website
•http://marijuananews.com/a_safe_ high_.htm, a reprint of New Science magazine’s “Marijuana Special Report: A Safe High?” with commentary
•http://marijuananews.com/claim_four.htm, an article about the similarity of long-term marijuana use’s effect on the brain to that of “hard” drugs, with commentary
•www.drugs.indiana.edu/publications/iprc/misc/smokescreen.html, for general information on the health risks of marijuana.
•http://www.health.org, the homepage of the National Clearinghouse on Alcohol and Drug Information, for general information on marijuana.

Judging by the court appearances in my local town, cannabis seems to be at the root of most court appearances,

Moreso than alcohol? I’d dearly like to know what town you in where it’s easier to get high than hammered. Where are the court records that show these astounding statistics?

That’s a pretty bold statement to be making without providing any evidence. Could you please enlighten us as to which studies you read to come to that conclusion.

“While Blunkett’s handling of the downgrading was confused it did at least save the police some time. “

Did it? Judging by the court appearances in my local town, cannabis seems to be at the root of most court appearances, theft to feed the habit, destroyed lives leading to criminal behaviour. Being soft on the cause is just leading to increased crime elsewhere.

Let’s have a bit more of the common sense exhibited by Lord Taylor and less so called “expert” derived legislation.

Personally, I believe cannabis should be legally available and dispensed by the authorities preferably local police. Shocking as this may sound it would provide control over the plant species used, that is, the softer drug variety and fund the cost of pursuing criminals growing and selling the more dangerous types.

The precedent for this is alcohol itself. For very practical reasons it is illegal to sell methanol based drinks but without this control many would drink ‘methylated’ spirits and poison themselves. Food ethanol is an alcoholic drug on a par with the softer variety of cannabis.

Until very cheap, practical technology is available for the authorities to measure the type of cannabis intoxication it should remain illegal and rightly so, for all our sakes.

Ref: Problems with cannabis use
http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mentalhealthinfo/problems/alcoholanddrugs/cannabisandmentalhealth.aspx
Effects on the central nervous system:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol
Health and safety:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methanol

What a surprise: a politician who is prepared to put forth strong rhetoric is conspicuously absent when asked to account for his claims. At least our friends on the other side of the pond know better than to appoint their legislators for life. Such things absolutely destroy any semblance of democratic oversight. Sadly this effect is too often lauded by those in the lords…