|
Newsbrief:
British
Doctors
Don't
Say
Legalize
It
7/11/03
The British Medical Association,
the largest physicians' organization in the United Kingdom, rejected a
motion calling for the legalization of cannabis and other recreational
drugs at its annual conference in Torquay on July 1. The motion was introduced
on behalf of Cornwall physicians by retired surgeon Dr. Connie Brizzard,
who told the BBC she hoped it would spark more debate on the topic.
"The government has a responsibility
to the public to reduce crime," she told BBC News Online. "Prohibition
does not work. Just look at the experience of the United States when they
tried to ban alcohol. What arose out of that was Al Capone and armed gangs,
and that is what is happening now in this country. This is also about the
nanny state," she said. "Consenting adults should be allowed to do what
they like. We want the BMA to debate this; we want the public to debate
this."
The BMA did debate, and the
good doctors were not persuaded, but that is nothing new. The BMA advised
against the legalization of cannabis when it testified before Home Affairs
Select Committee last year. That committee and Home Minister David Blunkett
eventually called for rescheduling of cannabis from a class B to class
C drug -- a move that has now been put off until year's end at the earliest.
According to the BBC, doctors
voted on the motion after hearing a report from Professor Robin Murray
of the Institute of Psychiatry, who told them that cannabis use increases
the risk of schizophrenia.
-- END --
|
Issue #295, 7/11/03
Editorial: More Than One Kind of Pain |
Alaska Court Rules Marijuana Possession Okay -- Judicial Day of Reckoning Coming |
Doctors' Group Advises Physicians to Avoid Treating Pain with Opiates, Cites Persecution of Pain Doctors -- Tucson Case Illustrates Point |
DRCNet Interview: Brazilian Antiprohibitionists Luiz Paulo Guanabara of Psicotropicus and Cecilia Szterenfeld of the Integrated Programs on Marginality |
Medical Marijuana Bill Introduced in Argentina |
In Memoriam: Don Topping, Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii |
Newsbrief: Feds Appeal Ed Rosenthal Sentence |
Newsbrief: Ruling Expected "Soon" in Santa Cruz Medical Marijuana Suit |
Ashcroft Seeks Supreme Court Permission to Overturn Free Speech Ruling on Physician-Patient Discussion of Medical Marijuana |
Newsbrief: Oregon Appeals Court Overturns Asset Forfeiture Reform |
Newsbrief: Canadian Government to Distribute Medical Marijuana |
Newsbrief: New DEA Administrator Karen Tandy Approved by Senate Judiciary Committee Following Medical Marijuana Controversy |
Newsbrief: Former Scottish High Court Judge Says Legalize It |
Newsbrief: British Doctors Don't Say Legalize It |
The Reformer's Calendar
|
This issue -- main page
This issue -- single-file printer version
Drug War Chronicle -- main page
Chronicle archives
|
PERMISSION to reprint or
redistribute any or all of the contents of Drug War Chronicle (formerly The Week Online with DRCNet is hereby
granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and,
where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your
publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks
payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for
materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we
request notification for our records, including physical copies where
material has appeared in print. Contact: StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network,
P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202)
293-8344 (fax), e-mail [email protected]. Thank
you.
Articles of a purely
educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of the DRCNet
Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
|
