Research Indicates Health Effects of Air Pollution Are Underestimated
Air pollution may be a bigger health threat than previously believed, a 20-year study of residents of Los Angeles indicates. Researchers report that the contribution of particulate matter to chronic health problems may be as much as two to three times greater than current estimates.
http://intangiblethings.blogspot.com/2005/09/air-pollution-worse-than-thought.html
Blair Anderson
Crime-fighting dogs make a case for congressional support: “They performed flawlessly: finding hidden explosives and a bag of marijuana that had been sneaked into a desk.
Lawmakers are considering federal standards for how these dogs are bred and trained, as well as a possible boost in funding. The canines sniff out explosives, drugs and suspects at airports, border crossings and crime scenes. Soon they may also be deployed in mass transit systems and commuter trains.”
Crying Wolf, A Grim Tale by by Marian Barnes: “Once upon a time there was a little boy called Sonny, whose parents wanted the very best for him. Because of all the publicity, scare-mongering and hysteria about drugs, Sonny’s parents were very concerned that their little boy should not be sucked into this scary scene. You can imagine their horror when one day they discovered that Sonny had been using marijuana – and he was only thirteen!”
Dear Phil, the sheep is on the right
<http://technorati.com/search/Helen+Clark?from=http://mildgreens.blogspot.com>
> I feel that your comments regarding Helen Clark require a response.
>
> …But its just as well Helen is not being invited to give an
> opinion as to whether she deserves a toilet brush award
> for lying and deception, not to mention malfeasance!!!!
> (Golly!)
Someone who, in choosing not to intervene (do nothing to prevent harm to another human being) is as complicit as those who conspire to do so.
Negligence is an unlawful behavior. Malfeasance describes negligence in service of others. The standard of proof associates profit or gain (tangible or otherwise) with degrees of complicity. I suggest the governership of a nation is at the tall end of this non-monetised scale. Helen Clark’s sorry arse is every bit deserving of an applied toilet brush. The only matter in question is the vigor at it should beapplied and perhaps more interestingly, seen to be done.
The process of review of the law may not have produced ‘legalisation’ but since Helen Clark in her ’94 conclusion said of Helen Shaw at Waikato University,
I would like to end my address today by reissuing the challenge Helen Shaw made at the Cannabis and Health conference in Wellington last October to
have the courage to use to best effect the available information and understandings on marijuana.
Commission sound research to provide a scientific base to underpin present and future policies and programmes; and
Be honest and address the real issues (not just the politically safe ones) in a sensible productive and purposeful way.If we can explore alternative policies with open minds and without petty political agendas intruding, I believe a consensus on a new, more rational approach may well emerge.
Helen Shaw was given to understand that the review would be as embracing, that the EACD was a ‘safe pair of hands’ and due process would not bow to mammon.
I heard the expression “House Nigger” used on Linda Clark’s Radio New Zealand Nine to Noon this morning. Malfeasance not just a malediction describing Helen Clarks eleven years of perpetuated misadministration.
I like the comic metaphor of whuppin the old girl with a toilet brush for this dereliction [especially] if the weekends political choices are prohibitory.
Helen Clark’s Seed Bed and for SHORE issue must be to fix what’s broken now, any delay is prohibition in drag.
M@WSA: “Why not the NORML or the Aotearoa Decriminalisation of Cannabis Party?
Because they are all just old stoners that do nothing for the cause.”
Transform : TDPF: “The Home Secretary’s decision to refer the reclassification issue back to the ACMD was all about pre-election politics and nothing to do with new evidence of cannabis-related health risks.”
Politicians were asked to answer questions on their policies as part of the Herald’s commitment in this election campaign to informed choice – our promise to explain the real issues.
-snip-
We don’t have a policy on it, and we would treat it as a conscience issue, as we [treat] anything to do with alcohol, sex, gambling, etc. We’ve had select committees look at the issue twice, but it hasn’t resulted in law reform.
When we entered into the confidence-and-supply arrangement with United Future, the Government specifically undertook not to advance cannabis law reform.
Would you like to preside over a government where there is reform and where potentially it would be possible to smoke a joint out in Queen St?
My first answer to that is that drug use, including cannabis, and tobacco for that matter, is dopey. Pardon the pun. The second issue is, I like to be guided by the evidence on it.
Now a number of countries have gone down a partial prohibition or partial decriminalisation route, which in the past I’ve expressed interest in.
Even when I was Minister of Health I had advice that partial decriminalisation should be a path that New Zealand went down. I didn’t act on it at that time. I’m happy to keep the issue before select committees, before expert panels.
But having been Minister of Health and having to grapple with the problems of tobacco and alcohol, one does hesitate before doing anything that might be seen to encourage the use of other drugs.
A Healthy Concern – Helen Clark 1994 Spring NORML
Labour leader Helen Clark recently stated that she supports marijuana law reform. Her words excerpted from a recent speech show…
Marijuana is certainly a current issue. The Drugs Advisory Committee is about to report to the Government on issues relating to cannabis. I hope that the report will foreshadow better public policy in this issue. That is what I believe we need.
We need public policy on drugs based on a health perspective.
From 1984-1192 there was a 42% decline in tobacco consumption. We should learn from that success. It certainly wasn�t based on prohibition!
Historical and political factors, rather than sound public policy, have led to the different treatment of various drugs.
Good public policy requires of us to ask: is our current policy working? Does prohibition reduce the supply and use of marijuana? I sumit that it does not.
Prohibition might in theory provide parents with some leverage in exhorting children not to use drugs and young people with a means to resist peer pressure. Frankly I doubt that it is effective in either respect.
Prohibition is certainly not stopping people trying marijuana.
Prohibition is costly, both in terms of social harm and the economic costs of enforcement. Prohibition may actually act to drive families apart as parents react adversely to the illicit habits of their children.
Prohibition actually causes harm by involving otherwise law-abiding citizens who are marijuana smokers in the criminal scene.
Offenders are predominantly young and male. Youthful indiscretion resulting in a criminal conviction may restrict employment and travel opportunities for the rest of a person’s life.
The costs of prohibition are high…It is hard to defend spending on that scale enforcing a law which has little effect in deterring use of marijuana.
The truth is that prohibition inhibits effective health treatment. People are reluctant to explore issues honestly when to do so may reveal that they have commited an offence punishable by imprisonment!
Prohibition is not good public policy. It has not been able to reduce the demand for or the supply of marijuana. Obviously it can’t reduce the the harm to health caused by marijuana use and it has harmful social effects in criminalising citizens who are otherwise law abiding.
It is my view that the resources we currently spend on enforcement would be better spent on initiatives to discourage and prevent marijuana use and on other socially useful purposes. $30 million per annum [in 1994] diverted from detecting, detaining, judging and punishing cannabis offenders would be welcomed by our schools and our health services!
Good public policy must be based on reality – not an image of the drug free world the way we would like it to be, but on the reality of how the world actually is. That is why I reject the view that our approach should be one of prohibition. it does not work. A quarter of young New Zealanders aged between fifteen and seventeen have tried marijuana as have 43% of the entire population. I do not believe we ought to make criminals out of those users.
Grayson Sigler, of Hampton, Virginia, shows off his 1983 Mercedes turbo diesel wagon that runs on fuel produced from hemp plants.
Also see http://hempcar.org
Addaction news: “Sunday Times report on mental health and cannabis was a �distortion and factually wrong�, says Addaction.
Release date: September 19th 2005
Addaction, the national drug and alcohol treatment charity today issued the following statement:
The Sunday Times published a story on September 18th under the heading �Mental Health Problems Soar Among Children Using Cannabis� by Will Iredale and Holly Watt that bore little relation to any information supplied by Addaction, and was, in our view, entirely misleading.”
Rosie Brocklehurst, Director of Communications at Addaction said: �The subject of cannabis-related psychosis is a very serious subject and the report in the Sunday Times made serious claims, based on no evidence supplied by us. We suspect the story was influenced by the Sunday Times wish to write a piece before the imminent deliberations by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. The ACMD will be reviewing the scientific evidence on cannabis use and misuse and will be making recommendations to the Government in the light of those deliberations.
“Beyond Zero Tolerance is a comprehensive, cost-effective approach to high school drug education and student assistance that is all about helping teenagers by bolstering the student community and educational environment. This unique approach combines education, interaction, assistance when needed, and restorative practices”
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