The government plans a campaign emphasizing the dangers of all illicit drugs in any quantity, he said. "We will discourage young people from thinking there are safe amounts or safe drugs," he said, later telling doctors that the marijuana available today isn't the same as what they might have smoked experimentally during their youth.
They must have gotten their drug information from the drug czar, John Walters. Marijuana is not stronger or more dangerous than it used to be. Saying it over and over again doesn't make it true.
Luckily sensible harm-reduction polices are being supported by the Canadian Medical Association and the provincial NDP health critic. Anyway, my reason for bringing this up is the recent brouhaha calling for a brand-new drug education campaign. The problem is, it isn't brand new at all. It's just a re-packaging of some very old ideas. You know what I mean, the ideas that all use is abuse, marijuana is a gateway drug, there is no safe amount to ingest and marijuana is stronger and more powerful than it used to be. None of these ideas are accurate and they define the pitfalls of our past attempts at drug education. What is wrong with telling kids the truth about drugs? There is nothing wrong with telling kids that marijuana does not cause cancer or schizophrenia. Why is the truth so scary to these people?
Just read some of the prize quotes in this "editorial" that happens to be completely short of any sort of critical analysis.
If the Conservatives have made up their minds against decriminalizing marijuana - an option we continue to favour - the next best solution is to make sure the law is understood, and to inform Canadians of the legal and health consequences of using it.
They then go on to criticize the government if they go ahead and increase the number of citizens they are currently arresting. (OOOPS! They are already increasing the number of possession arrests in Canada.) They also continue onward with the reefer madness propaganda.
Studies have found even a so-called soft drug like marijuana is not entirely harmless. Among some users predisposed to mental illness, specifically schizophrenia, marijuana might heighten the risk of mental-health problems.
If this was true we would be swimming in schizophrenics. But the number of schizophrenics has stayed the same over the years even though the number of marijuana users has gone way up. Could it be that pot isn't as dangerous as its' made out to be? They even go on about an anti-smoking campaign. The problem is they don't explain that there is a huge difference between the health risks of smoking tobacco and the health risks of smoking cannabis. Cannabis does not cause schizophrenia, lung cancer or heart disease. The overdose rate is still zero. If we decide to lie by omission in future anti-drug campaigns, they will fail just like the anti-drug campaigns of yesterday. I remember clearly how I felt when I discovered that most of what I was taught about drugs in school was inaccurate or misleading. We owe our kids better than that.
Speaking of child abuse, I ran across this absolutely terrible letter to the editor written by Peter John Mitchell of the basket-of-puppies institute. Oh so sorry, I meant the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada. He sings the same old song about marijuana causing schizophrenia (it doesn't) and depression.
At least Mitchell has the good sense to mince his words when they are published in the newspaper and read by the general public. But you should go on and take a look at the whacky anti-family ideas espoused by the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada on their website. I found these papers on their homepage: A foul screed blaming single mothers for the downfall of humanity and A disgusting homage to child abuse. I wonder if they have an article about beating your wife when she gets out of line. I really don't want to know.
Anyway, if that gets you down, I also found this interesting document on the Swedish governments' web-site. I will have to read it if I get a minute. In the meantime, I will be re-organizing my office and making anti-drug war propaganda in anticipation of the upcoming provincial election. This could be a lot of fun.
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