New York
Times Does Report That "U.N. Drug Board Urges Research on Marijuana as Medicine"
But Serves It With A Large Dose Of Prohibitionist Propaganda
UNITED NATIONS—The board that oversees international drug
control treaties for the United Nations has recommended that governments sponsor impartial
research into the medicinal benefits of marijuana, which some users say alleviates the
pain and nausea associated with AIDS, cancer and other diseases.
But the International Narcotics Control Board stressed that such research must not
become a pretext for legalizing cannabis, as marijuana is called in many parts of the
world. If the drug is determined to have medicinal value, the board said, its use should
be subjected to the same stringent controls applied to cocaine and morphine, the opiate
from which heroin is derived.
(Marijuananews note: That is not my interpretation of the UN report,
which simply said,
"Furthermore, Governments considering engaging in cannabis cultivation and production
and making licit the use of cannabis should also bear in mind all of the control
requirements set by the relevant provisions of the 1961 Convention, as well as the
security measures that may be needed to reduce the risks of cannabis being diverted or
abused." That would not necessarily mean that whole cannabis would have to be a
Schedule II drug.
It is my opinion that these treaties are nothing more than a prohibitionist charade
which DEAland will ignore when it becomes the USA again, and almost any other major
country will ignore when DEAland loses its will to carry on the charade, which has already
begun.)
"Any decision on the medical use of cannabis should be based on
clear scientific evidence," the board said in its latest annual report, which was
made public on Tuesday through the United Nations.
"Political initiatives and public votes can easily be misused by groups promoting
the legalization of all use of cannabis and/or the prescription or cannabis for
recreational use under the guise of medical dispensation," the board said.
See
Is medical
marijuana just the opening wedge to legalize marijuana generally?
and
The Lancet Reports On
Israeli Plans For Medical Marijuana;
"We don’t want people to have to break the law
to get treatment when no other drug is effective".
and
Finnish
Medical Association Supports Medical Marijuana
And Says Its Negative Effects Have Been Greatly Exaggerated.
and
Chairman of the House
of Lords Science and Technology Committee
Criticizes UK Government’s Rejection Of Report On Medical Marijuana
– 2 Articles With 2 of the Worst Prohibitionist Arguments
and
The Lancet reports on the Terry Parker
case."Canadian Judge Allows Marijuana as Therapy"
and
Canadian
Medical Association Passes Resolution Urging Possession Of Marijuana
Not Be Punishable By A Jail Term
and
Medical Community
United In Support Of Medical Marijuana Reform
-- NORML Foundation NEWS ALERT
and
Nahas versus
Kassirer
Its report appeared in advance of an American study of medicinal properties of marijuana
that the National Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, is
expected to release next month. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy
commissioned that study, prompting groups that favor marijuana to complain that it would
be biased.
The president of the international board, Dr. Hamid Ghodse, alluded in a statement to
the debate in the United States, where voters in eight states have approved referendums
expressing varying degrees of support for medicinal uses of marijuana.
"The increasingly politicized battle over cannabis must end,
since it has had a negative effect on attitudes toward drug abuse, particularly from young
people," said Ghodse, an Iranian-born psychiatrist working in Britain.
(Marijuananews note: Last year Ghodse referred to Sir Paul
McCartney as "a middle-aged former rock star.")
See, really...
International
Narcotics Control Board Criticizes Media, Urges More Responsible Reporting On Efforts To
"Legalize Drugs"
"Should the medical usefulness of cannabis be established, it will be a drug no
different from most narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. Cannabis, prescribed for
medical purposes, would also be subject to licensing and other control measures under the
international drug control treaties."
The International Narcotics Control Board reported that marijuana
abuse had become widespread in virtually all countries and that it was the most
commonly abused drug in North America. The agency noted a trend toward higher potency in
marijuana cultivated in greenhouses in Canada and the United States.
See
UN Narcs Complain
That Canadian Web Sites And B.C. Marijuana
Are Contributing To The "Cannabis Problem" – Interesting Article In The
National Post
While reserving its opinion on the benefits, the board, whose
mandate includes ensuring an adequate world supply of drugs for medical purposes, said
many poor countries had a severe shortage of morphine-based painkillers needed by patients
suffering from terminal diseases.
"You’re dealing with terrible physical pain, and the situation in the poorest
countries is a tragic situation that continues to go unnoticed," said Herbert S.
Okun, the sole American on the 13-member board.
See
Three Articles On Pain -- From
Washington, The UK, And Arkansas –
And Two Are Even About Medical Marijuana -- Analysis By Richard Cowan
and links
Its report simultaneously described a mounting dependence on prescription stimulants by
Americans and on tranquilizers by Europeans. The study said the United States consumed 85
percent of the methylphenidate, a stimulant marketed under the trade name of Ritalin. It
is prescribed for children, adolescents and adults who have been given diagnoses of
attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders.
The board further expressed concern about the computer-assisted engineering of more
powerful designer drugs and about drug recipes that circulate on the Internet.
The treaties supervised by the board include the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of
1961, ratified by 166 countries; the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971,
ratified by 158 countries; and the Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs
and Psychotropic Substances of 1988, ratified by 148 countries.
|
Supported