For
advert-free site
go to www.palad.org.uk
PALAD's campaign aims to provide
current information about recreational drug risks as
outlined in recent government reports. Extensive
quotes from these reports are presented on this
website together with links to the original online
government documents. These are summarised in our
leaflets, downloadable from the 'Action' link above.
PALAD can be contacted by e-mail: [email protected]
In an ideal world people would not need
recreational drugs. Realistically we know that the
world is not ideal - life is stressful. 90% of the UK
adult population takes alcohol, the most popular
recreational drug, as an easy way to unwind
occasionally. But drugs have health risks along with
the benefits of stress-reduction. Society has chosen
to use the law to prohibit the use of the most
dangerous drugs. Now with cannabis being reclassified
many feel our government seems to be moving the goal
posts and shattering the confidence we have in the
law.
The reason for the Government's decision is clear.
Past governments' assessment of the dangerousness of
drugs has been called into question by
incontrovertible evidence which shows that legal
drugs are more dangerous than the illegal ones. Our
current government is now reluctantly beginning to
accept this evidence.
Government committees have stated that
"Smoking is the most important cause of
premature death in developed countries. It accounts
for one fifth of deaths in the UK: some 120,000
deaths a year", that "between 28,000 and
33,000 people die annually as a result of
alcohol" and that "the high use of cannabis
is not associated with major health problems for the
individual or society." Also: "tobacco has
the greatest potential for dependence followed by
heroin, then cocaine and alcohol. Cannabis has the
lowest 'addictability' of all the drugs listed
above."
Drug
|
Number addicted in UK |
Annual UK deaths |
Annual UK death rate |
| Tobacco |
12 million addicts |
120,000 |
1 in 100 |
| Alcohol |
4 million addicts |
30,000 |
1 in 130 |
| Heroin |
300,000 addicts |
600 |
1 in 500 |
| Coffee |
only mildly addictive |
1 [caffeine] |
0 |
| Cannabis |
less addictive than coffee |
0 |
0 |
So tobacco is the most dangerous
drug; alcohol and heroin are dangerous; coffee and
cannabis are relatively safe. According to the World
Health Organisation tobacco users have a death rate
about 5 times greater than those using illegal drugs.
The facts are disturbing enough but for some they can
be very hard to accept. It seems almost unbelievable
that past governments' assessment got it so wrong.
There is a good reason why that assessment might have
favoured alcohol and tobacco - and why many of us
might now feel prejudiced against illegal drugs.
A significant fact is that the government who
makes our drugs laws is also the government that
receives £20 billion every year from the alcohol and
tobacco trade, profiting from the supply of lethal
addictive drugs that kill 1 in 5 UK citizens. We call
it tax revenue in this country but in a developing
country we might call it bribery of government by
drug cartels. By focusing on a 'War Against [illegal]
Drugs' government has focused public concern about
drug dangers on the illegal drugs, shifting attention
from the more dangerous legal drugs that they profit
from. Many of us remain a victim of past governments'
propaganda - having had this instilled into us for
decades we can't help but be prejudiced against the
illegal drugs. Now we need to see through that
propaganda inside our heads to see the grim reality,
the facts.
Cannabis poses a particular threat to Government's
drug 'tax revenue'. It is a far safer alternative to
both alcohol and tobacco since it is neither lethal
nor addictive. If legalised a whole new generation
might chose this safer alternative instead of the
lethal addictive drugs government has classified as
legal. The lost revenue from alcohol and tobacco
could not be made up from tax on cannabis. The best
quality cannabis can be grown by anyone at home for
free avoiding any tax revenue demanded by government.
The Government's 'Drugs Strategy Update 2002'
says, quite rightly, that "it is vital that the
Government's message to young people is open, honest
and credible. Drug laws must accurately reflect the
relative harms of different drugs if they are to
persuade young people in particular of the dangers of
misusing drugs". It is the failure of drug laws
to 'accurately reflect the relative harm of different
drugs' that explains why the misuse of all drugs is
escalating out of control.
Ending the prohibition of cannabis will give
teenagers the opportunity to adopt the safest
recreational drug available, a drug which most people
give up once they have adapted to an adult lifestyle.
The majority of the top 5 political parties now
favour drug policy reform as does the anti-smoking
charity ASH. Let's not condemn our children to the 1
in 5 chance of being killed by legal drugs that we
currently face.
NEXT:
